Monthly Archives: April 2017

CALL FOR PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS

April 25, 2017 By in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Silent Cinema and the Transition to Sound

Symposium 13 September 2017

Phoenix Cinema, Leicester

as part of the 19th British Silent Film Festival, 13-17 September

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The transition from silent to synchronised sound cinema in Britain between 1927 and 1933 was a period which changed British cinema as both industry and art form forever, but which has largely been overlooked by cinema historians.

This symposium, which will precede the British Silent Film Festival, will examine the transition from silent to sound across the cinema industry in terms of economics, employment, technology and infrastructure, as well as the shift in film form and style including its impact on production, distribution, exhibition, reception and critique.

We invite papers and presentations from a range of disciplines that help to advance our understanding of the film industry during this tumultuous period. We particularly welcome contributions which consider the transitional period in European cinemas along with Britain’s own international relationships to both Anglophone and non-Anglophone countries. We also invite papers that consider the role of music and sound in silent cinema, before the period of the transition to sound.

The symposium is part of the AHRC-funded project on British Silent Cinema and the Transition to sound (a collaboration between De Montfort University and the University of Stirling) and will precede the 19th British Silent Film Festival which will include four-days of screenings and presentations on the transitional period 1927 – 1933.

Possible topics include:
– technology and industry
– economics
– personnel
– film form, style and the impact of new production processes
– exhibition, reception, cinema-going and audiences
– cinema markets
– the transitional period’s impact and legacy
– music and sound in early cinema

Please send abstracts of 200-500 words to Laraine Porter at

lporter@dmu.ac.uk

Deadline for contributions: 31 July 2017.

 

Les Misérables (*pg) Sun 23 April 2.00pm Barbican Cinema 1

April 19, 2017 By in Uncategorized Leave a comment

UK premiere with live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand

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We welcome pianist Neil Brand, one of the world’s leading accompanists for silent film, to Barbican Cinema 1 for what will without doubt become one of the landmark events of the 2017 UK film year. Neil will accompany Henri Fescourt’s seven hour adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. Never before screened in the UK, and known until now only in a black & white version, it will be presented in a new restoration with all the riches of the various colour techniques employed by Fescourt in 1925 (tinting, toning, and mordanting).  With its 365 chapters divided into 48 books and 5 volumes, Victor Hugo’s 1862 masterwork is perhaps the world’s most adapted novel, with upwards of 50 film adaptations since 1909, as well as innumerable stage productions, animation films, video games, and radio adaptations (including Orson Welles’ 1937 series in which he played the role of Jean Valjean). Among all these, however, it is not too much to surmise that Henri Fescourt’s 1925 version is the most faithful in every sense – to the narrative, the philosophy, the humanity, and the morality. Join us for this epic, landmark event.
France 1925-26 Dir. Henri Fescourt 397 min
For info:
·        It’s never before been screened in the UK – it’s a UK premiere
·        Only previously existed in a black & white version – now presented in a ravishing new restoration with all the original colour tints!
·        Neil Brand will be playing for 397 minutes – an epic undertaking!
·        Will be screened in 4 parts as director Henri Fescourt intended – with 3 refreshment breaks, including a one-hour dinner break between Parts 2 & 3
Barbican Cinema 1
Silk Street
London
EC2Y 8DS
Tubes: Barbican / Moorgate
 

 

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