Up-coming: SF Silent Film Festival 2014

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is one of my favorite events in the City. It's a great case where the right films have found the right audience. The festival runs at the Castro Theatre for 4 days, starting May 29th with the Rudolph Valentino classic The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. It will be shown in a restored version by Kevin Brownlow & David Gill that is over 2 hours long. Closing night stars Buster Keaton in The Navigator.

The varied program includes science fiction from the Soviet Union, a Mount Everest documentary from the UK, a comedy by Max Linder, a social drama from China & a gangster film by Ozu. The delightful Serge Bromberg will present a program of rare films from his collection.

Amazing Tales from the Archives is the festival's free, informational event. This year Bryony Dixon will present early nature films from the BFI National Archive, Daniel Streible will discuss Edison's 1894 film of a sneeze, & Craig Barron & Ben Burtt will talk about the technical effects in Charlie Chaplin movies.

All the films will have live musical accompaniment, provided by either solo piano or a small ensemble. For some reason the Castro's Might Wurlitzer is not being played for any of the shows.

Tickets can be purchased online. Festival passes can be purchased without a fee at the McRoskey Mattress Company, 1687 Market Street at Gough.

§ The 19th San Francisco Silent Film Festival
May 29 – June 1, 2014
Castro Theatre

San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2014 Schedule 

Thursday, May 29

7:00 pm
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Rex Ingram, USA, 1921 • 132 minutes
Accompanied by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

Friday, May 30

10:00 am
Amazing Tales from the Archives

1:00 pm
The Song of the Fishermen (Yu Guang Qu)
Cai Chusheng, China, 1934 • 60 minutes
Accompanied by Donald Sosin on piano

3:00 pm
Midnight Madness
F. Harmon Weight, USA, 1928 • 61 minutes
Accompanied by Stephen Horne on piano

5:00 pm
The Parson’s Widow (Prästänkan)
Carl Th. Dreyer, Sweden, 1920 • 88 minutes
Accompanied by Matti Bye on piano

7:30 pm
Ramona
Edwin Carewe, USA, 1928 • 80 minutes
Accompanied by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

10:00 pm
Cosmic Voyage (Kosmicheskiy Reys)
Vasili Zhuravlyov, USSR, 1936 • 70 minutes
Accompanied by the Silent Movie Music Company

Saturday, May 31

10:00 am
The Good Bad Man
Allan Dwan, USA, 1916 • 80 minutes
Accompanied by Donald Sosin on piano

12:00 Noon
Serge Bromberg’s Treasure Trove

2:00 pm
The Epic of Everest
John Noel, UK, 1924 • 87 minutes
Accompanied by Stephen Horne and Frank Bockius

4:30 pm
Underground
Anthony Asquith, UK, 1928 • 77 minutes
Accompanied by Stephen Horne on piano

7:00 pm
Under the Lantern (Unter der Laterne)
Gerhard Lamprecht, Germany, 1928 • 129 minutes
Accompanied by the Donald Sosin Ensemble

10:00 pm
The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (Neobychaynyye Priklyucheniya Mistera Vesta v Strane Bol’shevikov)
Lev Kuleshov, USSR. 1924 • 74 minutes
Accompanied by Matti Bye Ensemble

Sunday, June 1

10:00 am
Seven Years Bad Luck
Max Linder, USA, 1921 • 62 minutes
Accompanied by Donald Sosin and Frank Bockius

12:00 Noon
Dragnet Girl (Hijosen no onna)
Yasujiro Ozu, Japan, 1933 • 100 minutes
Accompanied by Guenter Buchwald

2:30 pm
The Girl In Tails (Flickan i frack)
Karin Swanström, Sweden, 1926 • 110 minutes
Accompanied by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

5:00 pm
The Sign of Four
Maurice Elvey, UK, 1923 • 83 minutes
Accompanied by Donald Sosin on piano with Guenter Buchwald on violin

7:00 pm
Harbor Drift (Jenseits der Straße)
Leo Mittler, Germany, 1929 • 93 minutes
Accompanied by Stephen Horne on piano with Frank Bockius on percussion

9:00 pm
The Navigator
Buster Keaton, Donald Crisp, USA, 1924 • 60 minutes
Accompanied by Matti Bye Ensemble