This feature was published in conjunction with the screening of His Greatest Bluff at SFSFF 2026 Long before the term “action cinema” became commonplace, German filmmakers had already mastered its essential grammar. In the 1910s and ’20s, the so-called Sensationsfilm—a cycle of thrill-driven … [Read more...] about The Thrill of the Real: Germany’s Sensationsfilm
What’s in a Title?
“The setting is familiar to each and everyone—a Moscow flat, or more precisely ’33 square arshins of living space,’ which belongs to an ordinary Soviet employee and is situated in a semi-basement, from the only window of which you can see a reflection of the life of the town.” — Abram Room The … [Read more...] about What’s in a Title?
Born to Be Bad
This feature was published in conjunction with the screening of Hula at SFSFF 2026 VAMPING IT UP The vamp craze took the movies by storm in the tumultuous mid-1910s, with Theda Bara, Louise Glaum, and Valeska Suratt driving men to lust, madness, and heresy for the very good reason of “they felt … [Read more...] about Born to Be Bad
Gordon Conway
This feature was published in conjunction with the screening of High Treason at SFSFF 2026 It was the dawn of a new era and Gordon Conway had arrived in time to represent. Illustrating for top fashion magazines in New York, London, and Milan, designing theater sets, window displays, and ad … [Read more...] about Gordon Conway
Asta Nielsen Debuts in The Abyss
What’s striking about the Danish actor Asta Nielsen’s debut film The Abyss, marketed in the English-speaking world in the 1910s as Woman Always Pays, is how frankly it acknowledges and depicts female desire and its costs, as the original English title makes plain. Asta’s character Magda is a … [Read more...] about Asta Nielsen Debuts in The Abyss
1925
January 1 For her Harvard fellowship, twenty-four-year-old English-born astrophysicist Cecilia Payne publishes data revealing the universe’s most abundant element by far is hydrogen, upending bedrock science. She is obliged to insert a line that her results are “almost certainly not real” by an … [Read more...] about 1925
Damsels: The Drama of Trauma
This feature was published in conjunction with the screening of The Unknown at SFSFF 2025 Trauma haunted the screen in the early decades of silent cinema, often adapted from melodramatic subject matter dripping with sentimentality and victimhood, particularly for women. Gothic tales featured … [Read more...] about Damsels: The Drama of Trauma
The Honey Trap: Fall Guys, Patsies, and Saps
This feature was published in conjunction with the screening of Song at SFSFF 2025 FOOLS FOR LOVE There’s one born every minute and in 1911’s Across the Mexican Line, Romaine Fielding plays an American Army telegraphist who is seduced by Frances Gibson, a spy for the Mexican forces. She has a … [Read more...] about The Honey Trap: Fall Guys, Patsies, and Saps