Historic Northampton

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Historic Northampton

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Fast Forward Film Series

Not-So-Silent Film

Sunday, September 21, 2014 at 3 pm
A screening of six short silent films
Pianist Ellen Cogen will accompany the films on keyboard and discuss the challenges of performing live for silent film.

Silent films were accompanied by live musicians, bringing delight to movie-going audiences from America to Japan. Accompaniment was a difficult and revered profession, demanding consummate musical skill, both to sustain solo performance for so long a period and also to tailor the sound to enhance the image. This is a unique opportunity to re-live the silent era.
Program
			L'Arroseur arrose, 1895 (aka The Sprinkler Sprinkled) An 1895 French short silent black-and-white silent comedy film directed and produced by the pioneer French filmmaker Louis Lumiere. It features a trick we have all played on our friends.
			Annabelle Serpentine Dance, 1894 A performance by Broadway dancer Annabelle Moore (nee Annabella Whitford). Directed by William K.L. Dickson and William Heise from Edison Studios.
			Dream of a Rarebit Fiend, 1906 A 1906 American silent film directed by Edwin S. Porter. It tells us why we dream - too much rarebit of course. The film is a seven-minute live-action film adaptation of the comic strip of the same name by American cartoonist Winsor McCay.
			The General, 1926 A beloved 1926 American silent comedy film starring Buster Keaton who co-directed it with Clyde Bruckman. Inspired by the Great Locomotive Chase of 1862, it was adapted from the memoir by William Bensinger (train chase excerpt).
			A Trip to the Moon, 1902 An amazing 1902 French silent film directed by George Melies featuring the filmmaker as a mad interplanetary explorer. It is widely regarded as the example of the science fiction film genre.
			*Way Down East, 1920* An American silent romantic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. We will see an excerpt showing a daring rescue on an ice flow moving toward a precipice. No special effects on this one!

Screening Time: approximately 35 minutes total
Musical Accompanist Ellen Cogen is Professor of Music at Holyoke Community College.
This program will take place at Historic Northampton in the new enlarged program space.

The Fall 2014 Fast Forward Film Series is curated by Justin West, Professor of Electronic Media at Holyoke Community College.

With sponsorship from the Northampton Arts Council
	This program is supported in part by a grant from the Northampton Arts Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.