13th Annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival July 11-13

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moira finnie
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13th Annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival July 11-13

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Yo, Members who are San Franciscans or are just in the neighborhood of that lovely city:

The 13th Annual Silent Film Festival is on now in your town! Hope that you'll post about it if you go. Here's a link to a San Francisco Chronicle article about the splendor to be on display.

Here are some more details:
Tickets are on sale now for The 13th Annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival, scheduled for July 11-13 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. “This is our most ambitious festival yet,” announced Artistic Director Stephen Salmons. “We’ll present 12 programs, all with live music, in the space of 30 hours – it’s an all-out silent film marathon, designed to showcase the astonishing breadth and depth of the silent era.”

“In regard to music, we’ll welcome back many of the performers who were a hit at the 2007 festival,” Salmons said. “The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra will accompany both the Opening Night presentation of Harold Lloyd’s 1927 comic masterpiece THE KID BROTHER, and the ethnographic drama THE SILENT ENEMY (1930), which is set in the time before Columbus and depicts the struggle of the Ojibway Indians to survive hunger.”

Pianists Donald Sosin and Stephen Horne, who brought down the house at last year’s festival, will also return. “Donald Sosin will accompany Carl Theodor Dreyer’s MIKAËL (1924), an emotionally charged drama considered to be a landmark in gay cinema, and Lotte Reiniger’s dazzling THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED (1926), not only the earliest surviving animated feature but the first made by a woman” Salmons reported. Stephen Horne will play for the gritty, humanistic THE SOUL OF YOUTH (1920), the bizarre Lon Chaney-Joan Crawford starrer THE UNKNOWN (1927) and the Japanese avant-garde tragedy JUJIRO (Crossways, 1928).

Also returning will be pianist Michael Mortilla to play for the fast-paced Colleen Moore comedy HER WILD OAT (1927), and Clark Wilson to make the Mighty Wulitzer roar for the THE MAN WHO LAUGHS (1928), a macabre love story whose disfigured protagonist provided the visual inspiration for Batman’s arch-nemesis The Joker in the soon-to-be-released The Dark Knight. Wilson will also play for the uproarious Marion Davies comedy THE PATSY (1928) directed by King Vidor, which will close the festival.

Bay Area ensemble the Baguette Quartette, who specialize in Parisian dance hall music of the 1920s, will make their festival debut with comedy provocateur René Clair’s LES DEUX TIMIDES (Two Timid Souls, 1928). “The combination of Clair’s innovative visual comedy and Baguette Quartette’s high-energy tangos and fox trots is a match made in heaven,” Salmons said.

The festival will also present the third edition of its free-admission spotlight on film preservation, AMAZING TALES FROM THE ARCHIVES, and, throughout the weekend, screen shorts preserved by students of the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation through the Haghefilm Conservation Fellowship. Titles include: LES FROMAGES AUTOMOBILES (The Skipping Cheeses, 1907) by George Méliès; an expedition to the Swiss Alps in LOST- A YODEL (1920); and detective Nick Carter solving the mystery of THE LAST CALL (1922). “We’re delighted to present these rare shorts, saved from extinction by students of the Selznick School, as part of our ongoing effort to promote the importance of preserving world film heritage,” Salmons said.

Last year’s popular raffle will once again occur at select programs throughout the festival weekend, culminating in a Grand Prize $5,000 Shopping Spree at San Francisco’s own McRoskey Mattress Company.

For complete program information and to buy tickets, go to the newly revamped festival website at www.silentfilm.org.

Friday July 11
7:00pm THE KID BROTHER Opening Night Film $17 Member/$20 General
9:00pm OPENING NIGHT PARTY $20 Member/$25 General

Saturday July 12
10:00am AMAZING TALES FROM THE ARCHIVES Free Admission
11:40am THE SOUL OF YOUTH $12 Member/$14 General
2:15pm LES DEUX TIMIDES $12 Member/$14 General
4:15pm MIKAËL $12 Member/$14 General
7:45pm THE MAN WHO LAUGHS Centerpiece Film $15 Member/$17 General
10:45pm THE UNKNOWN Director’s Pick: Guy Maddin $12/$14

Sunday July 13
10:30am THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED $12 Member/$14 General
1:10pm THE SILENT ENEMY $12 Member/$14 General
3:50pm HER WILD OAT $12 Member/$14 General
6:10pm JUJIRO $12 Member/$14 General
8:45pm THE PATSY Closing Night Film $15 Member/$17 General

FESTIVAL PASS $120 Member/$140 General

HOW TO BUY TICKETS
May 27–July 10
ONLINE: www.silentfilm.org
BY PHONE: 1-800-838-3006 24 hours a day 7 days a week
BY MAIL OR FAX: download order form at www.silentfilm.org
June 13-July 10
IN PERSON: Festival Box Office, 833 Market Street, Suite 811, San Francisco
Hours: Thursday-Friday Noon-6pm
Day of Show
Castro Theatre Box Office

Hours: Friday 5:00-8:00pm; Saturday 9:00am-11:00pm; Sunday 9:30am-9:00pm
Avatar: Frank McHugh (1898-1981)

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