Festival 2016
About
The 21st San Francisco Silent Film Festival included 19 live-cinema programs with films from six countries. Amazing Tales presenters included restoration expert Georges Mourier from France, who described the project to restore a six-and-a-half cut of Abel Gance’s Napoleon! The 2016 San Francisco Silent Film Festival Award was presented to former Giornate del Cinema Muto director David Robinson for his commitment to the preservation and presentation of silent cinema.
The Program
At SFSFF we strive to bring you cinema from all over the world, and in 2016 the festival featured titles from France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. We presented Within Our Gates, the oldest surviving film made by an African-American director, Oscar Micheaux. We also screened a deep dive into the wonderful history of early film color with Fantasia of Color in Early Cinema!
The Musicians
2014 musicians included Berklee Silent Film Orchestra, Frank Bockius, Guenter Buchwald, Stephen Horne, Matti Bye Ensemble, Jon Mirsalis, Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Maud Nelissen, and Donald Sosin. Composer Adolphus Hailstork’s score for Within Our Gates was performed by members of the Oakland Symphony and Oakland Symphony Chorus conducted by Michael Morgan.
New SFSFF Restorations
SFSFF’s Preservation department was proud to present four new restorations at SFSFF 2016—Behind the Door in collaboration with Gosfilmofond, Mothers of Men in collaboration with BFI National Archive, and two René Clair titles, Les Deux Timides and The Italian Straw Hat, in collaboration with Cinémathèque Française.
