Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 11-18 October 1997

PORDENONE 11 - 18 OCTOBER, 1997
Le Giornate del Cinema Muto - The Festival of Silent Cinema - was mounted for the 16th time in Pordenone, Italy, an hour’s train journey north of Venice. An invaluable annual event for those seriously interested in film history, it is the only opportunity anywhere to see comprehensive screenings of films from the first 40 years of the history of cinema - from the years 1890 till 1930, when films did not have soundtracks. Professionals of film history from all around the globe - from Beijing to Washington, from New Zealand to Helsinki meet there each year. The prints screened represent the state of the art of archival preservation and restoration. The prints may be brilliant, or border on the unwatchable. All screenings have music. The Birth of a Nation with live symphony orchestra accompaniment was unforgettable, and The Jazz Singer and Der weisse Teufel had memorable soundtracks. Other screenings had piano accompaniment.
This year’s offerings included:
* the first films of William Friese-Greene from 1890 - not seen in generations
* the first films of Thomas Alva Edison from 1890 till 1900 - a retrospective with hundreds of titles
* the first 94 films of D.W. Griffith, from the years 1907-1908
The participants had the luxury of experiencing some of the founding artefacts of the Seventh Art - from the birth pangs to the violent growth of the Gargantuan baby.
The fest was capped with two specials:
* The Birth of a Nation (1915) with full symphony orchestra accompaniment, and
* The Jazz Singer (1927) - 70th anniversary screening