23. Silent Film Festival: TRANSFORMATIONS
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23. SILENT FILM FESTIVAL
T R A N S F O R M A T I O N S
December 8-11, 2022
Kino Pod Baranami
December 8th marks the start of the 23rd Silent Film Festival - Poland's oldest festival presenting silent films with live music. This year's edition is held under the theme of TRANSFORMATIONS, which includes technological and social changes, but also brave experiments with film form. Included in the programme are: the classics of silent cinema (Broken Blossoms and Nosferatu), avant-garde works by Maya Deren and Germaine Dulac seeking new means of expression as well as films standing on the threshold of a sound revolution (such as William A. Wellman's Wings and Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail). The event, organised by Fundacja Dla Kina and Kino Pod Baranami, will last until December 11.
The theme of the 23rd edition of the Silent Film Festival is understood very broadly. TRANSFORMATIONS can be found in the content films, in the changing style of silent films and in the film avant-garde. A special kind of transformation in the early cinema was the introduction of sound, which is reflected in a special way in the Festival's programme.
Most of the Festival titles will be presented with live music. Light will be shed on forgotten folk songs by the duo Chvost, while the traditions of Slavic ritual and free jazz will be combined by the Polish-Ukrainian TANŌK. BLED immerses itself in electronic music - united with jazz and sci-fi film inspirations - while the Pin Park band gives it an analogue twist with old EMS synthesizers and early samplers. The Festival will also feature regulars: multi-instrumentalist Maciej Trifonidis in a quartet, Paweł Pruski and Eta Hox (as the duo Cisza), film music composer Stefan Wesołowski and his band, and Semi-Invented Trio, a squad that was born at the 12th Silent Film Festival.
The 23rd Silent Film Festival will be opened with films by Maya Deren, one of the most famous avant-garde artists. Mykola Shpykovskyi's Bread is an unknown Ukrainian silent film which also impresses with its avant-garde style - a thoughtful cinematography and editing, which turned a simple propaganda plot into an innovative work. The masters of unconventional thinking about cinema will be presented during a screening of the French Avant-Garde Films. Included are shorts by Fernand Léger (The Mechanical Ballet), Germaine Dulac (The Smiling Madame Beudet) and Jean Vigo (À propos de Nice).
Created at the dawn of the sound revolution, William A. Wellman's Wings is the only silent production to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. The war melodrama telling the story of love, friendship, rivalry, heroism and sacrifice still impresses today with its grandeur and stunning aerial sequences. An interesting case is Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail, which was made in two versions - as a silent film and as a ‘talkie’ (it was the first British spoken film!). The Festival will screen the silent version, which includes Hitchcock's intriguing formal experiments - a true display of editing mastery. Charlie Chaplin - the great master of silent comedy, who created a sharp satire on German National Socialism in The Great Dictator - also successfully tackled sound. The screening is worth supplementing with the contemporary documentary The Real Charlie Chaplin by James Spinney and Peter Middleton, which is an absorbing study of the life and work of this great cinema icon.
The Festival’s program also includes a screening of Ryszard Ordyński's Janko Muzykant, one of the first Polish full-length sound films, which for decades had been considered silent. It was only a few years ago that the original gramophone records with the soundtrack were found in Italy. The film gained a new look thanks to a digital restoration carried out by the Filmoteka Narodowa - Instytut Audiowizualny and will be screened with recorded music. Also worth noting is Croquis Polonais - one of the most interesting and unique images of life in interwar Poland, the result of several trips by Belgian lawyer Maurice Bekaert to Poland.
As every year, a special place at the Silent Film Festival is given to the most popular silent films. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of its release, Nosferatu - made by the outstanding representative of German film expressionism, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, who masterfully exploited the capabilities of the cinema of that time, will be on the screen. Broken Blossoms by D. W. Griffith - one of the most important melodramas in history - is the most intimate film by an American director known for his expensive, lavish productions such as The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. Focused on the emotions and complex psychology of the characters, it still impresses with its subtlety and mysterious aura.
A special club music event - an afterparty - will be held on Saturday evening at Betel Klub, where a 1924 documentary The Great White Silence will be screened with live music by DJ duo Cisza. Admission to this event is free.
The youngest viewers are invited on Sunday morning to participate in Baranki w niemym kinie - a screening of animations music workshop with Maciej Trifonidis.
PROGRAM:
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8TH
18.30 MAŁGORZATA RADKIEWICZ - AUTHOR’S MEETING
Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology.
(ul. M. Konopnickiej Street 26) - auditorium lobby
Meeting with dr hab Małgorzata Radkiewicz (in Polish only).
Free entrance
19.30 OPENING SCREENING
EXPERIMENTAL FILMS OF MAYA DEREN
(Maya Deren) US 1943-1959, 70’
Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology.
(M. Konopnickiej Street 26) - auditorium
live music: Stefan Wesołowski with band
Cocktail after the screening!
Partner: Goethe-Institut
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9TH
18.15 BREAD | KHLIB
(Mykola Shpykovskyi) USSR 1929, 44’
live music: Chvost
Partner: Goethe-Institut
19.30 WINGS
(William A. Wellman) US 1927, 144'
recorded music
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10TH
15.00 CROQUIS POLONAIS
(Maurice Bekaert) BE 1920-1931, 56’
live music: TANŌK
Partner: National Film Archive - Audiovisual Institute, Goethe-Institut
17.30 NOSFERATU | NOSFERATU, EINE SYMPHONIE DES GRAUENS
(Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau) DE 1922, 94’
live music: Trifonidis/Czekała/Chojnacki/Staromiejski
Partner: Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung
19.30 JANKO THE MUSICIAN | JANKO MUZYKANT
(Ryszard Ordyński) PL 1930, 105’
recorded music
Partner: National Film Archive - Audiovisual Institute
21.30 FRENCH AVANT-GARDE FILMS
(varia) FR 1923-30, 77’
live music: Pin Park
Partner: Institut Français - Poland
23.00 AFTERPARTY IN BETEL KLUB (Szczepański square 3)
THE GREAT WHITE SILENCE
(Herbert G. Ponting) GB 1924, 106’
live music: Cisza
free entrance
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11TH
11.00 BARANKI W NIEMYM KINIE
Kids’ screening and music workshops.
13.00 THE REAL CHARLIE CHAPLIN
(James Spinney, Peter Middleton) US 2021, 114’
15.30 BROKEN BLOSSOMS OR THE YELLOW MAN AND THE GIRL
(D.W. Griffith) US 1919, 90’
live music: Semi-Invented Trio
17.30 THE GREAT DICTATOR
(Charles Chaplin) US 1940, 126’
recorded music
20.00 BLACKMAIL
(Alfred Hitchcock) GB 1929, 76’
live music: BLED
TICKETS:
Films with live music: 40 PLN | 33 PLN
Films without live music: 20 PLN
Kids screening: 15 PLN
Afterparty at Betel Club: free entrance
Entry pass (11 screenings): 200 PLN
ABOUT FILMS:
BREAD | KHLIB
(Mykola Shpykovskyi) USSR 1929, 44’
Barely known Ukrainian silent film about a soldier returning to his home village. Shot as a propaganda film, it’s dazzling with avant-garde form.
BLACKMAIL
(Alfred Hitchcock) GB 1929, 76’
Silent version of the thriller by the “Master of Suspense” made during the transition to the sound era. A woman commits a crime in self-defense, after some time the witness of the incident begins to blackmail her.
BROKEN BLOSSOMS OR THE YELLOW MAN AND THE GIRL
(D.W. Griffith) US 1919, 90’
A Chinese man falls in love with an English teenager tormented by a violent father. A breakthrough masterpiece of the melodrama genre, filmed with great attention to detail.
CROQUIS POLONAIS
(Maurice Bekaert) BE 1920-1931, 56’
Unique and touching images of life in Poland before WW2 (e.g. Krakow, Warsaw, Zakopane and Gdynia) recorded on film by Belgian amateur filmmaker.
EXPERIMENTAL FILMS OF MAYA DEREN
(Maya Deren) US 1943-1959, 70’
Films of Maya Deren (born in Kiev, Ukraine) - pioneer of American avant-garde films: Meshes of the Afternoon, At Land, A Study in Choreography for Camera, Ritual in Transfigured Time, Meditations on Violence, The Very Eye of the Night.
FRENCH AVANT-GARDE FILMS
(varia) FR 1923-30, 77’
Leading filmmakers of the French avant-garde: Fernand Léger (The Mechanical Ballet), Germaine Dulac (The Smiling Madame Beudet), Jean Vigo (À propos de Nice).
JANKO THE MUSICIAN | JANKO MUZYKANT
(Ryszard Ordyński) PL 1930, 105’
One of the first Polish sound feature films about a struggling violinist. Reconstructed, digitally restored and sounded with the original soundtrack.
NOSFERATU | NOSFERATU, EINE SYMPHONIE DES GRAUENS
(Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau) DE 1922, 94’
An outstanding example of German film expressionism. A story of a vampire (Max Schreck) told with innovative cinematic means. 100th anniversary of the premiere!
THE GREAT DICTATOR
(Charles Chaplin) US 1940, 126’
Nominated for 5 Oscars, Chaplin's first “talkie” (in a double role!) with the cult final speech scene. Through a series of mistakes, a Jewish soldier and barber is mistaken for a tyrannical dictator. Original music by Chaplin and Meredith Willson.
THE GREAT WHITE SILENCE
(Herbert G. Ponting) GB 1924, 106’
A fascinating documentary about the British expedition to the South Pole with Captain Robert Falcon Scott in 1910.
THE REAL CHARLIE CHAPLIN
(James Spinney, Peter Middleton) US 2021, 114’
Documentary film about the life and work of Charles Chaplin, with archival materials, fragments of films and statements by the artist himself from an interview given in 1966.
WINGS
(William A. Wellman) US 1927, 144'
Spectacular film about American pilots during the First World War. Innovative special effects, stunning aerial sequences. Starring: Charles Rogers, Richard Arlen, Clara Bow and Gary Cooper. Original composition by J. S. Zamecnik re-orchestrated by Dominik Hauser.
ABOUT THE MUSICIANS:
Polish duo combining jazz and electronic music, organic and cosmic sounds. A minimal trumpet-and-drum setup with a modular synthesizer.
Vocalist Paulina Bisztyga and music producer Minoo (Paweł Pruski) in this joint project reinterpret forgotten folk songs.
An ambient vision, based on modulars, samplers, synthesizers and creatively processed recordings.
Two EMS synthesizer enthusiasts providing an ambient and krautrock inspired, melancholic sound.
Adrian Konarski, a film and theatre composer together with Sławomir Berny (drums) and Michał Chytrzyński (violin).
Polish violinist and composer (also of film music) together with Anna Pašić (harp) and Oliwier Andruszczenko (clarinet, saxophone).
The duo of Natalia Kordiak and Kateryna Ziabliuk, girls from Poland and Ukraine, who combine Slavic ritual and free jazz into a coherent musical story.
TRIFONIDIS / CZEKAŁA / CHOJNACKI / STAROMIEJSKI
Maciej Trifonidis is a composer and multi-instrumentalist. Passionate about ethnic music and folk instruments. Accompanied by: Łukasz Czekała (violin), Zbigniew Chojnacki (accordion) and Bartek Staromiejski (drums).
BARANKI DZIECIOM:
A screening of short animated films and music workshop during which the kids - under the watchful eye of composer and multi-instrumentalist Maciej Trifonidis - will perform music to silent film. The activities take the form of a game and are addressed to children at preschool and early primary school age.
SPOT:
ORGANISERS:
Fundacja Dla Kina
Kino Pod Baranami
CO-FINANCED BY:
Miasto Kraków
Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego
Polski Instytut Sztuki Filmowej
PARTNERS:
Instytut Francuski w Polsce
Goethe-Institut
Filmoteka Narodowa - Instytut Audiowizualny
Betel Klub
Studio Kropka
Pałac pod Baranami
Muzeum Sztuki i Techniki Japońskiej Manggha
Sieć Kin Studyjnych
Europa Cinemas
MEDIA PATRONS:
Radio Kraków
Off Radio Kraków
Wyborcza.pl
Kraków Culture - Karnet
krakow.pl
Ekrany
Klatki na oczach. Blog Roberta Siwczyka
Typowy Jędrzej - Student Filmoznawstwa
DESIGN:
BLEKA
Project co-financed from funds of the City of Krakow.
Subsidized by funds from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Fund for Promotion of Culture.
Co-financed with funds from the Polish Film Institute.
Funded by the Stabilization Fund for Culture and Education 2022 of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany and the Goethe-Institut.
