The new BFI DVD of the surreally beautiful films of scientific filmmaker Jean Painlevé, Science is Fiction, looks marvellous just by itself, but for lovers of early scientific films (there are a handful of us) the DVD also includes Percy Smith‘s The Birth of a Flower (1910) and The Strength and Agility of Insects (1911, though this is actually the retitled The Balancing Bluebottle from 1908), with its cork-juggling flies.
Monthly Archives: June 2007
As you were with British Pathe
What is going on with the British Pathe website? Having written one post on the early fiction films to be found there and another on the newsreels, I had to write a third pointing out that the free low resolution downloads were no longer available (but could be found on the ITN site), and that high resolution copies for which you had to pay were all that were available. But now the free download films – all 3,500 hours of them – are back on the British Pathe site. I think the only advice must be to download while you can.
San Francisco Silent Film Festival
The San Francisco Silent Film Festival takes place 13-15 July, and the programme has been announced. Here are the main features:
Friday, July 13
THE STUDENT PRINCE IN OLD HEIDELBERG (1927)
Saturday, July 14
HAL ROACH: KING OF COMEDY (1924-29)
THE VALLEY OF GIANTS (1927)
MACISTE (1915)
CAMILLE (1921)
BEGGARS OF LIFE (1928)
Sunday, July 15
MORE AMAZING TALES FROM THE ARCHIVES
RETOUR DE FLAMME (SAVED FROM THE FLAMES) (1900-28)
MISS LULU BETT (1921)
A COTTAGE ON DARTMOOR (1929)
THE GODLESS GIRL (1929)
The festival site has details of the individual programmes, including special introductions and musical accompaniment. There is information on purchasing tickets, hotels, and even a raffle.
The Bioscope 