• 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.

  • Events
        • Events

        • 29th SF Silent Film Festival - May 6–10
        • Live Music

        • Musicians ♬
        • Learn about our musical accompanists

        • Visit

        • Plan Your Visit
        • Accessibility
        • Things We Like
  • Support
    • SUPPORT SFSFF
    • Ways to Support
    • Letter from the Directors
    • Grantors and Sponsors
    • Volunteer
  • Preservation
    • The SFSFF Collection
    • Film Loan Applications
  • Library
    • Browse the Library
    • Our Musicians
    • Screening Room
    • Event Archive
Sign In Memberships
Sign In
  • Event
  • San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2026

HIGH TREASON

Music by Stephen Horne and Frank Bockius
Director
Maurice Elvey
Cast
Benita Hume, Jameson Thomas, Basil Gill, Humberston Wright

The future brings aerocopters, videochat boxes, and apparently the same headgear across genders, but all the gadgetry in the world cannot save humankind from its destructive self as it teeters on the brink of war after a terrorist act. High Treason simultaneously looks back to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and forward to Michael Radford’s 1984 but what this prescient piece of science fiction grasps on its own is that the fate of nations can pivot on the act of a single person.

  • 75 minutes
  • United Kingdom
  • 1929
  • 35mm
Introduction by
Bryony Dixon

Live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne and Frank Bockius

Based at London’s BFI Southbank, STEPHEN HORNE is considered one of the leading silent film accompanists working today and his music has met with acclaim worldwide. Principally a pianist, he often incorporates other instruments into his performances, sometimes playing them simultaneously. He has recorded music for DVD releases and television broadcasts of silent films and regularly performs internationally.

Versatile percussionist FRANK BOCKIUS specializes in jazz and is versed in medieval, flamenco, and Latin music styles. He has performed for dance and theater companies as well as in his own bands, including the jazz quintet Whisper Hot and the percussion ensemble Timpanicks. He joined Guenter Buchwald’s Silent Movie Music Company twenty years ago and has since performed for silent films at festivals in Kyoto, Pordenone, and Sodankylä, Finland. He made his first appearance at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in 2014.

Details

Director
Maurice Elvey
Country
United Kingdom
Year
1929
Cast
Benita Hume, Jameson Thomas, Basil Gill, Humberston Wright
Source
British Film Institute
Runtime
75 minutes
Format
35mm
Fri, May 8, 2026
11:00 AM
Castro Theatre
$20 general
$18 member
Buy Tickets

Footer

How can we help?

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

        • ABOUT

        • About Us
        • Resources
        • Press Materials
        • Press Accreditation
        • SOCIAL

        • Facebook
        • Instagram
        • Subscribe

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