• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
San Francisco Silent Film Festival

San Francisco Silent Film Festival

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about silent film as an art form and as a culturally valuable historical record.

MENUMENU
  • Events
    • Festival 2025, Nov 12–16
    • Plan Your Visit
  • Support
    • SUPPORT SFSFF
    • Ways to Support
    • Letter from the Director
    • Grantors and Sponsors
  • Preservation
    • The SFSFF Collection
    • Film Loan Applications
  • Library
    • Browse the Library
    • Our Musicians
    • Screening Room
    • Event Archive
Sign In Become a Member
Sign In
  • Event
  • San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2025

Asphalt

Live musical accompaniment by the Sascha Jacobsen Ensemble
Director
Joe May
Cast
Gustav Fröhlich, Betty Amann, Albert Steinrück, Else Heller

The last Großfilm released by Germany’s Ufa studio and the silent-era swan song of director Joe May, Asphalt dazzled with its virtuoso recreation of a busy Berlin street. The shoot required so much power to light that parts of the actual city had to go dark during production. Moviemaking magic aside, at its heart, it is the story of a man drawn to the wrong woman who finds out too late he’s misjudged her.

 

 

  • 94 min.
  • Germany
  • 1929
  • DCP
Underwriter
Cynthia Walk and Sunrise Foundation for Education and the Arts

Live musical accompaniment by the Sascha Jacobsen Ensemble

Bassist and composer SASCHA JACOBSEN is a Latin Grammy-nominated musician who draws on an eclectic range of styles, classical, jazz, flamenco, klezmer, and Argentine tango among them. Joining him for the SASCHA JACOBSEN ENSEMBLE is Ken Cook (piano), Sheldon Brown (woodwinds), Michele Walther (violin), and Andy Lewis (percussion).

Details

Director
Joe May
Country
Germany
Year
1929
Cast
Gustav Fröhlich, Betty Amann, Albert Steinrück, Else Heller
Runtime
94 min.
Source
F.W. Murnau-Stiftung
Format
DCP
Sun, Nov 16, 2025
5:00 PM
Orinda Theatre
$20 general
$18 member
12 and under, free
Buy Tickets

Footer

How can we help?

info@silentfilm.org 415-777-4908
MENUMENU
  • WRAPPER
        • True Art Transcends Time

        • ABOUT

        • About Us
        • Press Materials
        • Resources
        • SOCIAL

        • Facebook
        • Instagram
        • Subscribe

        • Photos by Pamela Gentile and Tommy Lau.
          Copyright © 2019 San Francisco Silent Film Festival Privacy Terms