Event Strands
Our South West Silents ‘Event Strands’ highlight particular themes or subjects from the silent era in a series of screenings spread over the course of one year; or, for one particular strand, over the course of a decade.
100 Years of Silent Film:
1920/2020 – 1930/2030:
Launched in early 2020, '100 Years of Silent Film' is a new strand which specifically looks at the films of the 1920s over the course of the next 10 years.
2020 marked one hundred years since the start of what would become the final decade of silent film and yet, as the 1920s started, there was no sense that the introduction of sound would affect the essence of silent filmmaking at all. In fact as the decade continued the visual aspect of film became even stronger and stronger until 1927 and 1928 when sound started to creep in!
South West Silents' ‘100 Years of Silent Film’ strand will showcase the best films as well as lesser known titles from every aspect of the silent film era in the 1920s, with films from the United States, Europe and beyond. Special screenings and discussions will form the basis of a new way of looking at the film output of the 1920s.
Silent Women Film Pioneers:
‘Silent Women Film Pioneers’ is a major incentive to showcase the work of women behind the camera (whether producer, director, editor or writer) in the film industry between the dawn of film until the end of the silent era.
Spread over the course of the next few years, the ‘Silent Women Film Pioneers’ strand will include a series of events each year highlighting the work of creative talents in the field. The events will also showcase female talent through introductions and live music (where possible) by outstanding performers.
Recent events have included the work of Lois Weber and Alice Guy-Blaché and were screened at Bath Film Festival, Hippodrome Film Festival and POW!: Power of Women Festival.
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City and Silent Film:
Co-produced with Bristol Ideas’ Festival of the Future City, the ‘City and Silent Film’ strand celebrates the relationship between silent cinema and the crowded endless streets of large human settlements we call cities, throughout history and the future.
Past events have included silent films set in Berlin, London, Paris, Chicago and New York.
2019 saw a series of special Sunday screenings studying filmmakers of the Weimar Republic and their use of the city as a back drop. All of the films included in 'Weimar Sundays' were brand new restorations from key German film archives.
In 2021 we looked at 'Paris and Silent Film' and we hope to continue the season in the autumn of 2023.
Non-Fiction Silent Film
In collaboration with Bristol Ideas and The Royal Photographic Society ‘Non-Fiction Silent Film’ strand very much highlights the many aspects of early documentary film before the term ‘documentary’ was even conceived.
With special programmed screenings at the new headquarters of The Royal Photographic Society in Bristol's creative quarter at Paintworks this strand will look at certain pioneering filmmakers, travelogues, actuality films, expedition films. living portraits, city films and newsreels from around the world.
Interested in joining our cause?