April has arrived and as we type this we are stuffing ourselves silly with tons of chocolate. But before we crash on the floor for the next couple of hours after eating way to much we thought we would let you know of some great news. Over the next coming weeks we have a selection of brilliant events. In fact, some of them are totally FREE!
But before we go on to these events, in other news, we are thrilled to announce that we have joined forces with the superb Curzon Arts Cinema in Clevedon to bring you more exclusive and exciting silent film events to the area. As many of you may already know, the stunning Clevedon based cinema oozes history and is a real treat for anyone interested in the history of film. It is a wonderful venue and we are thrilled that we have a number of events planned with the cinema over the course of the rest of the year.
The Curzon is celebrating its 103rd Birthday over the weekend starting on Friday 10th April and is including a selection of different events, two of which are silent film related! One in particular is a very unique event specially put together by the BFI. More info about the whole weekend celebrating the Curzon Cinema can be found in the following listings below as well as the poster artwork at the bottom of this page.
So without further ado; get these dates into your diaries and book your tickets in advance to avoid disappointment!
Saturday 11th April 2015: The Colours of Antiquity in Silent Cinema. Live Music by Stephen Horne
Location: The Wickham Theatre, Bristol: 3:00PM: Free Entry (But please book your free ticket in advance)
This screening focuses on early cinema’s attitudes towards colour as they manifest themselves in representations of classical antiquity in the period between 1905 and 1911, a period of intense technological and aesthetic experimentation. The use of colour in films of this period participates in larger debates around polychromy and monochromy in Western art, debates for which classical antiquity has always served as both a backdrop and a stage. The chromatic worlds of silent cinema juxtapose an aesthetic preference for firm lines and contours that are colourless, pure and remote and an aesthetic preference for vibrant colours that are striking, hybrid, and immersive – in other words an antiquity of contemplation and an antiquity of the senses.
Films to be screened include ‘Serpentine dance’ by imitator of Loie Fuller (Pathé Frères, France, 1905); Amour d’esclave or A Slave’s Love (Albert Capellani, Pathé Frères, France, 1907); Dans l’Hellade or In Ancient Greece (Pathé Frères, France, 1909); Le fils de Locuste or The Son of Locusta (Louis Feuillade, Gaumont, France), and Une excursion dans la Grèce ancienne or An excursion in ancient Greece (Milan Films, Pathé, 1913).
The screening will be accompanied by live music by the silent film composer and pianist Stephen Horne. It will be introduced by Pantelis Michelakis and will be followed by Q&A with the film colour historian Vicky Jackson and a drinks reception. The event is sponsored by the Institute of Greece, Rome and the Classical Tradition at the University of Bristol.
Wednesday 15th April 2015: Bristol Silents Club Screening: A Celebration of the Italian Strongman
Intro: Tom Vincent (Aardman Animations)
Location: Lansdown Pub, Clifton: 7:15pm: Free Entry
Our regular Bristol Silents Club Screenings continue and this time we see the return of Aardman Animations’ very own archivist Tom Vincent in which he will take us on a trip through the work of the great Italian actor Bartolomeo Pagano (1878 - 1947)!
Expect a night of entertainment from one of Italy’s most celebrated icons of the Silent Era! Expect excitement! Thrills! And hairy chested action!
Sunday 19th April 2015: Bristol Silents & Curzon Cinema Presents: 1912 Remembered with Live Score from Stephen Horne
Location: Curzon Clevedon Cinema and Arts, Clevedon Time: 14:00: Ticket Prices Vary
In 1912 as the RMS Titanic went down, the Curzon opened its doors with a fundraising event for the families of victims. We will be celebrating the cinema’s great heritage and its 103 year history with a screening of 1912 Remembered. This British Film Institute compilation has been curated especially for The Curzon.
Newsreels will show the sinking of Titanic as well as Scott’s ill-fated Antarctic expedition.1912 Remembered also includes a selection of short films, most appropriately Nurse and Martyr about Clevedon’s Edith Cavell killed by a German firing squad during the first world war.
The screening will be accompanied by Stephen Horne, the UK’s premier silent film pianist.
Friday 8th May 2015: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925 / Rupert Julian) Live Music by Minima
Location: Cube Cinema, Bristol: Time 8PM : Ticket Prices Vary
Beneath the sewers of the Paris Opera House dwells a masked figure. He is the Phantom, a hideously disfigured composer whose dream is to turn chorus singer Christine into a diva. Lon Chaney, the “Man of a Thousand Faces”, dominates this classic adaptation of the 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux. His ghastly make-up and outrageous performance made this one of the great classics of American silent film.
Minima’s music is an audacious 21st-Century interpretation of silent and avant-garde film. The ensemble of drums, bass, guitar and cello combine hypnotic post-rock beats with quasi-classical arrangements, striking up a thrilling relationship with the film. “Minima are one of the leading bands accompanying silent film in Europe. (Robert Rider, Head of Cinema, the Barbican Centre)
Thursday 21st May 2015: Bristol Silents & Curzon Cinema Presents: THE LODGER: A STORY OF THE LONDON FOG (1927 / Alfred Hitchcock)
Live Music by Minima
Location: Curzon Clevedon Cinema and Arts, Clevedon Time: 8:00PM Ticket Prices Vary
Set in a foggy and unsettled London with a Jack the Ripper type serial killer on the loose, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) was Alfred Hitchcock’s first major commercial and critical success. Based on a story by Marie Belloc Lowndes, the film is a masterpiece of atmospheric thriller filmmaking.
It contains many of Hitchcock’s subsequent trademark themes, and also features his first recognisable film cameo. This screening will be accompanied by a new live score from Minima as well.
The poster below is for the 103rd Birthday Celebrations of the Curzon Arts Cinema, Clevedon which takes place in April 2015.
