National

January

16 – 20 January Slapstick Festival featuring a considerable number of silent films including including this year’s festival gala consisting of Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936) Further screenings TBC   Colston Hall/Watershed, Bristol Link

March

1 – 17 March Borderlines Film Festival     The seventeenth  annual Borderlines Film Festival runs in the Shropshire, Hereford and Marches areas and screens some quality silents.  Various venues.  Link

20 – 24 March.  HippFest –  Eighth Hippodrome Festival of Silent Film,   Scotland’s premier silent film festival takes place in Scotland’s oldest purpose-built cinema, with a range of British and international silent films all with live musical accompaniment.   Hippodrome Cinema, Bo’ness, Scotland Link

April

11 – 12 British Silent Film Festival Symposium.  A mix of presentations and silent screenings TBC Kings College, London  Link

27 – 28 April   Kennington Bioscope Silent Comedy Weekend  A weekend of rare, rarely screened and high quality comedy moments.  Cinema Museum, Lambeth Link

June

1 – 2 June   The Kennington Bioscope 5th Silent Film Weekend  Going from strength to strength, this will be a quality programme not to be missed.  Cinema Museum, Lambeth Link

 

July

25-28 July  Cinema Rediscovered The 4th annual event bringing the finest digital restorations, contemporary classics and film print rarities back where they belong – on the big screen, including a selection of silents.   Various cinemas across Bristol. Link

September

12 – 15 September  British Silent Film Festival  Focusing this year on Weimar cinema with From Morn To Midnight (1920), Struggle for the Matterhorn (1928) and The Oyster Princess (1919) plus other gems including The Runaway Princess (1919), Comradeship (1919) and Song of the Scarlett Flower (1919).     Phoenix Cinema, Leicester Link

October

2 – 13 October  London Film Festival    Now in its 63rd year.  Probably only a smattering of silents, but usually a couple of high quality ones including a new restoration.  Various London locations.  No link yet

10 – 11 October  Ellesmere College Silent Film Festival  A brand new  festival featuring this year Oliver Twist (1922), L&H in Angora Love (1929) and Harold Lloyd in Speedy (1928).  Live musical accompaniment comes from Neil Brand and Jonny Best.  Ellesmere College, Shropshire   No link as yet

17 – 24 October – Cambridge Film Festival     Now in its 39th year (and the third longest running film festival in the UK) the Cambridge festival always features a strong silent film theme. Various Cambridge locations Link

 

International

January

11 – 13 January Netherlands Silent Film Festival  Now in its second year the programme includes Soviet post-revolutionary drama Fragment of an Empire (1935), slapstick and child friendly presentations and something intriguingly entitled ‘amorous Friday’!  Accompanists include the excellent Daan van den Hurk and Maud Nelissen while renowned film historian David Robinson will also be speaking. Pand P Eindhoven, Netherlands  Link

February

7 – 17 February  Berlin International Film Festival.  Usually containing a strong element of silent film.  Berlin, Germany  Link

22 – 23 February    Kansas Silent Film Festival  In its 23nd year the Kansas Silent Film Festival’s mission is to provide an entertaining and educational forum for silent films and it’s one of the few  festivals to do so for free. Every year, on the last weekend in February, from Friday night through Saturday night, come rain or snow or shine, the festival showcases films from the silent era with live musical accompaniment. All films are shown on a big screen like they were originally intended.  White Concert Hall, Washburn University   Link

20 Feb – 3 March  Dublin International Film Festival  With a modest but quality silent film strand Dublin, Ireland. Link

March

TBC   17th Karlsruhe Silent Film Festival   ZKM Medientheater, Karlsruhe, Germany Link

April

5 – 8 April  Toronto Silent Film Festival   Various cinemas, Toronto, Canada Link

TBC 16th Polish Silent Film Festival (Święto Niemego Kina).      Kino Iluzjon, Warsaw, Poland  Link

12 – 14 April  7th Loud Silents Film Festival  Finnish top-notch artists and internationally acclaimed silent film musicians compose new soundtracks for classic silent films.    Tampere, Finland  Link

26 – 28 April     Denver Silent Film Festival      The Denver Silent Film Festival was established in September of 2010. It presents a broad spectrum of silent film by programming a lively and thought-provoking mix of educational and entertaining films. American and foreign classics, as well as lesser-known rare and restored films will be presented.    Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Denver  Link

May

1 – 5 May  San Francisco Silent Film Festival     Castro Theater, San Francisco, USA  Link

3 – 6 May  The 5th Nitrate Picture Show  This festival of film conservation  features screenings of vintage nitrate prints from international archives—including the Eastman Museum’s own collection—as well as lectures, workshops, and other opportunities to experience the art and science of film preservation, from print conservation to archival projection. “The Nitrate Picture Show is unlike any other festival of film preservation in that its ‘rules of the game’ are far more challenging—and often unpredictable,” said Paolo Cherchi Usai, Senior Curator, Moving Image Department, George Eastman Museum. “Our selection is based primarily on the physical condition and on the pictorial beauty of the prints; the quality and reputation of the works themselves comes next.”    Eastman Museum, Rochester, New York, USA Link

18 May  Catalina Island Museum Silent Film Benefit. Recognized as one of the world’s longest running annual celebrations of Silent Film, now in its 32nd year and this year star billing goes to Colleen Moore appearing in ‘flapper’ classic Why Be Good (1929)    Avalon Casino Theatre, Catalina Island, Calif. USA Link

23 – 26 May  Cinevent 2019  This is a gathering of fans of silent and early sound films, and of collectors of motion pictures and related items, now in its 51st year. Movie screenings take place nearly continually every day of the convention.  Dealers fill over a hundred tables full of film, video, sound recordings, posters, stills, lobby cards, books, autographs…everything imaginable associated with film.    Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel, Columbus, Ohio, USA.  Link

24 – 26 May  The 6th Silent Film Festival In Thailand Featuring an eclectic collection of quality titles including this year, Shiraz, Filibus, Seventh Heaven, Speedy and Fight For The Matterhorn.  Scala Cinema, Bangkok  Link

June

TBC  Nitrate Film Festival, Belgrade  Now in its 21st year this festival includes a considerable number of silent film screenings,  Few further details on festival programme or organisation.  Unable to find a festival link but further details apparently available from kinoteka.org.rs (in Serbian).

TBC Mostly Lost 8.  Fancy going to a film festival where talking during the films is not only allowed but positively encouraged? Then Mostly Lost is the one for you, as the audience seek to put a name to unidentified fragments of silent and early sound film.  There are also quite a few complete films being screened….where its probably best not to talk!  Library of Congress, Packard Campus, Culpepper, Va USA  Link

22 – 30 July     33rd Il Cinema Ritrovato,   A festival dedicated to the rediscovery of rare and little-known films with a particular focus on the origins of cinema and the silent movie period. It is organised every summer by the Cineteca di Bologna and is one of the world’s major festivals of film restoration. Bologna, Italy  Link

August

9 – 11 August Capitolfest – Capitolfest is Central New York’s premier summer Cinephile film festival—a place to see rarely-shown and newly-discovered films of the silent and early talkie era, held at the historic 1,788-seat movie palace, the Capitol Theatre, which opened in December, 1928. Tribute stars this year will be Frances Dee and Joel McCrea  Capitol Theater, Rome, New York, USA Link

15 – 25 August   Bonn International Silent Film Festival.  Another long running festival, now in its 35th year, featuring outdoor screenings in the courtyard of Bonn University,   Films this year include Chinese classic Fen Dou (1932), a look at the work of female film pioneer Alice Guy Blache, Greta Garbo in (a talkie) The Single Standard, Dorothy Davemport in The Red Kimono (1925) and Peter Pan (1924) with harp accompaniment from our own Elizabeth-Jane Baldry.   University Courtyard, Bonn, Germany Link

22 – 25 August  Oslo Silent Film Festival.  After last year’s debut, a second outing for this festival.  Some classics including L’Inferno, Diary of a Lost Girl and Cottage on Dartmoor.  All with live musical accompaniment from a largely Norwegian team of musicians.  Cinematekit, Oslo   Link

26 August – 1 September Forssa Silent Film Festival   In its 20th year  and this year focusing heavily on US crime dramas with The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912), Chicago (1927) and Underworld (1927).  But in a lighter mood there is Colleen Moore in Synthetic Sin (1929) and Louise Brooks in The Show Off (1926).  All films have live musical accompaniment.  Forssa, Finland Link

30 August – 1 September  Manila International Silent Film Festival  Now in its 13th year  all films accompanied live by local musicians.   Samsung Hall, SM Aura, Manilla Link

31 August – 3 September  Telluride Film Festival  This long-running (now in its 46th year) and star-studded festival usually has an interesting selection of silents.  Festival tradition is that the programme isn’t disclosed until the opening night so its all something of a surprise .  Telluride, Colorado, USA Link

September

12 – 22 September First Wave Film Festival – Now in its fourth year and focusing on films from the silent  and pre-war sound era the First Wave festival screens a broad range of films   Screenings come with live accompaniment by local musicians and a factual introduction.  Classic screenings this year include Haxan (1922) , Behind the Door (1919), Tonka of the Gallows (1930) and Madchen im Uniform (1931)  Our own John Sweeney will be accompanying a number of the films. Vilnius/Kaunas, Lithuania  Link or Link

27 – 29 September  Marie Dressler Foundation – Vintage Film Festival   In 1992, a group of film enthusiasts involved in the restoration of the Marie Dressler house had a wild idea. Why not hold a festival showing the films in which Marie Dressler had starred? This seemingly fantastic idea grew into the present form in which they show a variety of films generally made before about 55-60 years ago, often, although not always, including a film starring Marie Dressler.  This year’s theme is famous cinematic duos.     Capitol Theater, Port Hope, Ontario, Canada  Link

October

5 – 12 October   38th   Pordenone Silent Film Festival   Running since 1982 as a collaborative effort between La Cineteca del Friuli in Gemona and the Cinemazero filmclub in Pordenone, the Giornate del Cinema Muto, aka Pordenone Silent Film Festival, has established itself as the leading international event dedicated to the preservation, diffusion, and study of the first thirty years of cinema. This year there are extensive retrospectives on the films of William S Hart and  Reginald Denny, a rare look at Estonian silent cinema, examples of Scandinavian advertising, another look at the work of director John M Stahl plus lots lots more.  Cinema Verdi, Pordenone, Italy   Link

November

26 – 30 November   Mexico Silent Film Festival.   Now in its fourth year, the emphasis appears to be on new silent films.   Puebla, Mexico Link   (in Spanish)

December

4 – 8 December Istanbul Silent Cinema Days Festival.  Now in its 6th year, the festival’s opening film this year is The Ancient Law (1923, Das Alte Gesetz) and festival guests include Serge Bromberg (Lobster Films), , Gyorgy Raduly (The Hungarian Film Archive ),  Samanta Leroy and Emilie Cauquy (Cinematheque Francaise) and Annike Kross (Eye Filmmuseum).  Elif Rongen-Kaynakci and Jay Weissberg will be again presenting the sub-section Views from the Ottoman Empire.  Live film accompanists this year include Donald Sosin, Alici Svigals, Gunther Buchwald and Daan van den Hurk.  Istanbul, Turkey Link