Chicago-based musician Nicholas White has amassed the largest number of antique traps (whistles, blocks, bells, ratchets, anvils, and all manner of delightfully specific noisemakers to perform sound effects for silent movies) in the world, along the way researching exactly how they were put to use. … [Read more...] about Nicholas White
Crossover Artist: Maud Nelissen Plays It All
Published in conjunction with the screening of The Merry Widow at SFSFF 2023 When Dutch composer and pianist Maud Nelissen was commissioned to write accompaniment for Erich von Stroheim’s The Merry Widow, the first thing she did was look for the original score. But the music by William Axt and … [Read more...] about Crossover Artist: Maud Nelissen Plays It All
Stefan Drössler Works His Magic
Stefan Drössler received the 2023 SFSFF Award for commitment to the preservation and presentation of silent cinema at the screening of A Daughter of Destiny at SFSFF 2023 World cinema owes an incalculable debt to Germany. Some of the greatest and most iconic treasures ever committed to film come … [Read more...] about Stefan Drössler Works His Magic
Wonder Horses of the Silent Screen
Published in conjunction with the screening of Kentucky Pride at SFSFF 2023 “Can you ride?” An acting manual from 1922 warned wannabe movie stars that this would be among the first questions asked when they applied at motion picture studios. As a matter of fact, there was every chance that a … [Read more...] about Wonder Horses of the Silent Screen
A Pungent Presence: Valeska Gert in Silent Film
Published in conjunction with the screening of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at SFSFF 2023 As the projectionist changed reels, Valeska Gert held completely still, her arms raised. Through her Weimar-era piece “Pause,” the Berlin-born dancer associated her body with the material basis of film. Gert … [Read more...] about A Pungent Presence: Valeska Gert in Silent Film
Tsuru Aoki: Sketch of an Artist
Published in conjunction with the screening of The Dragon Painter at SFSFF 2023 Her career often overshadowed by her husband’s, Tsuru Aoki has a legacy of her own as one of the first Japanese actresses on film and the first to become a star. She comes from a rich acting pedigree: her uncle, … [Read more...] about Tsuru Aoki: Sketch of an Artist
Keaton and His Cameraman
This feature was published in conjunction with the screening of Three Ages at SFSFF 2023 Born in 1883 in a small town in Missouri, Elgin Lessley was the son of a Civil War veteran and a milliner. In his teens he developed a keen eye for still photography and in 1911 he became a cameraman for the … [Read more...] about Keaton and His Cameraman
Dancing in the Silents
Published in conjunction with the screening of Padlocked at SFSFF 2023 Dance and dancers have been on our screens since the very beginning. Think of the two men waltzing to the accompaniment of a violin in that early experimental Edison sound film. Performers from vaudeville, music hall, variety, … [Read more...] about Dancing in the Silents