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***NEW***Read about the festival and leave comments on the 12th Silent British Cinema Festival Diary page
June 8, 2009 at 2:13 pm
I had such a lovely time at this year’s British Silent Film Festival. It was a little peculiar at first seeing regulars of the festival for the first time in London instead of Nottingham (where it had been for several years previously). However, the Barbican staff were extraordinarily kind and welcoming – and it certainly felt like ‘home’ over the course of the four days. As usual, the screenings and events were packed in and the quality was outstanding – British silent films unimaginative and poorly made?– not likely! Standout screenings for me were Asquith’s The Runaway Princess, Elvey’s Palais de Danse and Harold Shaw’s The Wheels of Chance, the latter film that rare thing an early talkie that managed to convey atmosphere. My favourite events included The Rachael Low lecture by David Robinson, delightfully personal and very praising of the world class musicians we audiences were so lucky to have accompany the films during the festival. I feel very lucky to have become a fan of silent film only in the last ten years and therefore to have not been witness to badly projected silent films: poor quality prints, wrong speed and insensitive accompaniment that David described in his talk. These musicians dedication and passion for their subject was revealed in the event ‘Knowing the Score’ where Neil Brand, Stephen Horne and Philip Carli demonstrated how they dealt with difficulties in scoring silent films. This event absolutely confirmed their individual geniuses when it comes to interpreting silent films. Roll on next year!
Kelly Robinson