The halfway point of the Pordenone Silent Film Festival has come and gone. Even with three full days left, I’ve already seen such a diverse group of films.
Festival Highlights-So Far
The highlight for me—and a great many others I hear—so far was Monday’s screening of Saxophone Suzy. With live accompaniment led by Neil Brand, this 1920s German flapper romantic comedy was sparkling with life.
Anny Ondra stars as a rebellious woman who swaps places with her friend to attend a prestigious dancing academy. The academy strictly enforces their curfew and militantly guards the girls from any male suitors. Of course, our protagonist runs amok of conventions and treats us to a grand time.
Anny Ondra stars as the titular hero Saxophone Suzy
There is a large dance number that with the wonderful jazzy live accompaniment was so energetic it had a similar energy to a live concert! The film was offered in the online festival as well so it’s exciting that more people got to join in on the fun as well. I assume the restoration will make its way to several screenings stateside given how much it had the festival abuzz.
Another great theater experience was hearing a group of Uzbeki musicians accompanying the 1928 The Leper from Uzbekistan. A rather downbeat film following one woman’s fall of grace from Uzbeki society as the men in her life repeatedly take advantage and abuse her, the accompaniment really added beautifully to the pensive atmosphere of the arid Uzbeki landscape onscreen.
Film still from 1928’s The Leper
The festival’s series on Latin America cinema has been really fascinating as well. Seeing films with such a strong anti-colonial, American skeptic viewpoint has really opened another door to the different worlds and possibilities offered by early-world cinema.
The Biograph Project screenings-showing the newly restored D.W. Griffith shorts restored from their copyrighted paper prints-have been nothing short of revelatory for me. It’s an era I sorely need to spend more time on. The brief glimpses so far have been like watching film language evolve before my eyes. What a wonderful way to start of each morning!
The Festival Grind
I’ve been to a few smaller film festivals but Pordenone has been my first one that has THIS much happening over a whole entire week. Other than an hour and a half or so dinner break, films are screening and presentations are running from 9 am to past midnight.
As a bit of a completionist, having this much to watch and participate in has been overwhelming—a good problem to have. For the rest of the festival, I’m committed to more strategically and realistically planning downtime. Nothing is worse than falling asleep in a screening you were looking forward to after struggling through a previous film that wasn’t your cup of tea. You live and you learn!
Pumped to see this on the big screen!
The two events I am most looking forward to are the closing event screening of The Winning of Barabara Worth—a truly fantastic Western with an all-star cast—and a personal favorite Harold Lloyd’s Girl Shy complete with an orchestra.
After the festival is over, I’ll post a final recap so look for that. If you want my thoughts on a bunch of the films I’ve been watching follow me on Letterboxd. Also hope those attending the online version of the Pordenone Silent Film Festival are enjoying themselves as well!
