More programme information has been published on Le Giornate del Cinema Muto, or the Pordenone Silent Film Festival as it is also known. The festival takes place at Pordenone, Italy, 6-13 October, returning to Pordenone itself after a period of some years in exile at nearby Sacile, and housed in the new Teatro Verdi.

The outline programme was the subject of another post. Now we have more details on some aspects of the programme.

The Griffith Project, now in its eleventh year, moves on iin its chronological survey of D.W. Griffith’s suriviving film output to the years 1921-1924:

• [PROLOGUE TO DREAM STREET] (US, 1921)
• DREAM STREET (D.W. Griffith, Inc., US 1921)
• ORPHANS OF THE STORM (D.W. Griffith, Inc., US 1921)
• ONE EXCITING NIGHT (D.W. Griffith, Inc., US 1922)
• THE WHITE ROSE (D.W. Griffith, Inc., US 1923)
• AMERICA (D.W. Griffith, Inc., US 1924)
• ISN’T LIFE WONDERFUL (D.W. Griffith, Inc., US 1924)

Then there is the Corrick Collection from Australia’s National Film and Sound Archive. This is a collection of early films originally exhibited around the Pacific and Southern Asia by the Corrick family, touring entertainers from New Zealand.

• [STREET SCENES IN PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA] (Leonard Corrick, Australia, 9 March 1907)
• THE MAGICAL PRESS (Charles Urban Trading Co., GB 1907)
• CHASSE AU PAPILLON (Butterfly Catching) (Pathé, FR 1906)
• FIRE! (Williamson Kinematograph Co., GB 1901)
• LA POUDRE ANTINEURESTHÉNIQUE (The Anti-Irritability Powder) (Pathé, FR 1909)
• LA RUCHE MERVEILLEUSE (The Wonderful Bee-Hive) (Pathé, FR 1905)
• NAVAL ATTACK AT PORTSMOUTH (Charles Urban Trading Co., GB 1907)
• AN INDIAN’S GRATITUDE (La Gratitude du chef indien) (Pathé, US 1911)
• MONSIEUR QUI A MANGÉ DU TAUREAU (The Man-Bull Fight) (Gaumont, FR 1907)
• WHEN THE WIFE’S AWAY (R.W. Paul, GB 1905)
• CRETINETTI LOTTATORE (Foolshead’s Wrestling) (Itala Film, IT 1909)

Believe me, it’ll be worth travelling any distance to Italy just to see Urban’s NAVAL ATTACK AT PORTSMOUTH, companion piece to the thrillingly dynamic TORPEDO ATTACK ON H.M.S. DREADNOUGHT, which is held in the BFI National Archive.

There will also be a selection of titles from the National Film Preservation Fund’s Treasures III DVD, already trailed on The Bioscope, a René Clair retrospective, and a programme of sponsored films curated by Rick Prelinger, with these titles:

• ADMIRAL CIGARETTE (Edison Manufacturing Co., US 1897)
• AN AMERICAN IN THE MAKING (Thanhouser Co., per/for United States Steel Corp., US 1913)
• UNHOOKING THE HOOKWORM (Coronet Pictures, per/for International Health Board of the Rockefeller Foundation, US 1920)
• BEHIND THE SCENES AT HUTZLER’S (Stark Films, per/for Hutzler’s, US 1938)
• MASTER HANDS (Jam Handy Organization, per/for Chevrolet Motor Company, US 1936)

That’s how it was with silent films – it wan’t just the glamour, you had people trying to deal with hookworm too.

So, all this and much much more. Full programme details here.

Advance notice of a festival of silent and sound film in Wales. The Fflics Festival (what a great name) will be held in Aberystwyth, 25-28 October. It advertises itself as “showcasing the history of both Welsh cinema and the Welsh on the big screen; from the earliest cinematic pioneers until the end of the nitrate film era.” Full programme details have yet to be published, but on 27 October it will feature the extraordinay bio-epic The Life Story of David Lloyd George (1918), with piano accompaniment by Neil Brand.

This life of the then prime minister was made with official co-operation, or at least blessing, by the Ideal company, with Maurice Elvey directing, but it was never shown to the public. The exact reasons why it was withdrawn from release remain a mystery, but it was thought that the film was lost until a print was rediscovered by the Wales Film and Television Archive (now the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales) in 1994. At the time, we were delighted that the film had been found again, but did not hold much hopes for it as a work of art. To our amazement and delight, the film turned out to be a masterpiece, an extraordinary mix of contemporary political biography and Griffith-inspired epic. It has many marvellous scenes – a riot outside a hall where Lloyd George gave a speech criticising the conduct of the Boer War has remarkable newsreel authenticity, and the scene where the poor, who have been released from penury by Lloyd George’s introduction of old age pensions, materialise through the walls of the workhouse is incredibly moving. It’s real living history, and there isn’t any other film quite like it. Let’s hope the Archive is eventually successful in its efforts to get this genuinely great film released on DVD.

Talking of festivals, David Bordwell’s blog has a detailed report on this year’s Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna, lavishly illustrated with assorted familiar faces from the silent film festival circuit. Not that Bologna is all about silent film – as he says, “Where else can you see films from 1907, Richard Fleischer’s Violent Saturday (1955), and a tribute to Ben Gazzara in a single week?” It’s a marvellous report, enthusiastic, wise and entertaining all at the same time, from what must be the very best of all film blogs.

The Bonner Sommerkino international silent film festival takes places in Bonn, Germany, on 9-19 August. Among the featured titles are Mauritz Stiller’s Erotikon (1920), Joe May’s Das Indische Grabmal (1921), Joseph von Sternberg’s Underworld (1927) and Victor Sjöström’s The Scarlet Letter (1926). Further details, including a PDF programme, all in German, are available from the festival site.

There a good, detailed description of the line-up for the forthcoming San Francisco Silent Film Festival on the Alternative Film Guide. The Festival takes place 13-15 July.

The Great Lakes Cinephile Society is hosting its Cinesation festival over 27-30 September at the Lincoln Theatre in Massillon, Ohio. The festival covers silent and early sound films, and the silents advertised so far (subject to change) are:

Where the North Begins (1923)
Directed by Chester Franklin
Stars: Rin Tin Tin, Claire Adams, Walter McGrail

The Matrimaniac (1916)
Fine Arts Film Company
Stars: Douglas Fairbanks, Constance Talmadge

Soul of the Beast (1923)
Thomas H. Ince Corporation
Directed by John Griffith Wray
Stars: Madge Bellamy, Cullen Landis, Noah Beery

Rubber Tires (1927)
DeMille Pictures Corporation
Directed by Alan Hale
Stars: Bessie Love, Erwin Connelly, May Robson, Harrrison Ford

A Daughter of the Poor (1917)
Stars: Bessie Love, Max Davidson, Carmel Myers

Daughters Who Pay (1925)
Directed by George Terwilliger
Stars: Marguerite De La Motte, John Bowers, Bela Lugosi

The Golden Bed (1925)
Directed by Cecil B. DeMille
Stars: Rod La Rocque, Warner Baxter, Lillian Rich

The Willow Tree (1920)
Directed by Henry Otto
Stars: Viola Dana, Edward Connelly, Pell Trenton

More details as usual from the festival site.

I’ve just come across this excellent directory of silent film festivals worldwide, entitled Stummfilmfestivals. Yes, it’s in German, but it’s basically a set of links to festival sites plus a calendar which marks every day in which a silent film festival is taking place, as well as sorting them month by month. it covers Germany, USA, UK, France, Italy, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands and Finland. And it goes back to 2005, so you can find out about all the ones you missed.

I’ll have more on upcoming festivals in due course, but from Stummfilmfestivals you can find out more about the Regensburger Stummfilmfestival (2-11 August), the Internationale Stummfilmtage in Bonn (9-19 August), the Stummfest in Prague (30 August-1 September), Cinesation in Ohio (27-30 September), and of course Le Giornate del Cinema Muto at Pordenone, Italy (6-13 October).

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.