Let's Get This Funded!

So I'm really big on funding silent film restoration projects on Kickstarter and IndieGoGo (and if there are other places to do so, please let me know).

While I normally only look for films, I was pleasantly surprised to see this one. It's a project I'd really love to see funded and is on Kickstarter: A reprint of Natacha Rambova's reminiscences of Valentino.

Beyond The Silent Screen: "Rudolph Valentino Recollections" is described as "An Expanded Deluxe Edition of Natacha Rambova's 1920s Movie Star Memoir. A Revealing Look At Fame & Struggle In Hollywood's Golden Age."

Interested? Head on over and check it out (and maybe even fund it).

Disclaimer: I have no association with this project. I just love Valentino and would love to see this project cross the finish line!

Cleveland Silent Film Festival & Colloquium

 I have been busy during my long absence: Moving, new job, back in school, etc., but one of the most exciting updates I have to share is that I'm now a board member of the Cleveland Silent Film Festival & Colloquium!

I'm very excited to be a part of this, and it's been a fun and rewarding endeavor. We had our second festival last year, and are looking to expand our programming this year and offer more events (other than just the annual festival). Our founder, Emily Laurance, has just been amazing in putting this together herself these last two years, and now she has a great board to help back her up and really get silents the attention they deserve in the Cleveland area.

If you live in Northeast Ohio, then please sign up for our mailing list to be notified of events once they're scheduled.

Long-lost Clara Bow Silent Found!

 I want to say it's an amazing story, but silent film fans know that copies of long-lost full films (or even bits and pieces) show up in the strangest places...

The Pill Pounder, one of Clara's short films, was recently found in Omaha, NE, and sold to her biographer, David Stenn. He's paid for its restoration and the film will have its premiere at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival April 10-14.

Update, Cleveland Silent Film, and animation link

 Hey, look at me, blogging for the first time in how long??

What can I say; I've been busy.

Anyways, what prompted me to start up again is 1) I've been working on updating the site (I know, right??) and 2) I am happy to say I'm on the Board of Directors for the Cleveland Silent Film Festival and Colloquium, so I have started regularly scouring the web for news to post on our FB page.

Which leads me to this post, from today's NYTimes.com on a young man who has a deep library of silent animation. This is a gift link, so use it wisely!

Happy Holidays, everyone, and see you (more regularly) in 2024!

The Passion of Joan of Arc

The New York Times has a review of this digitally restored masterpiece now playing at the Film Forum in New York.

It took some 500 years for the Roman Catholic Church to declare Joan a saint. “The Passion of Joan of Arc” was canonized more or less instantly. If novels like “Madame Bovary” or “Crime and Punishment” are must-reads, then “The Passion of Joan of Arc” is a cinematic must-see.

Read the review

The Secrets of Silent-Film Footage Found Buried in the Earth

I love when silent films are found, as they tend to be found in the most interesting places: Attics, yard sales...and now in the frozen tundra of the Yukon.

From the New Yorker's Facebook page:

In 1978, a construction worker in Dawson City was excavating the site of a new recreation center when he discovered reels of film poking out from the hard-packed terrain.

The result is a film from Bill Morrison, "Dawson City: Frozen Time," that looks at the surviving films and reconstructs the extraordinary arcs of political and cultural history that are latent in them.

Myself, I'd love to know what films were found and if they're available, but nonetheless the film sounds interesting.

• Read the article

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