The festival seeks to engage audiences with a diverse array of films from this era of cinematic history, and it brings a sense of nostalgia and appreciation for the foundation upon which contemporary cinema is built.
The opening of the event holds tradition at its core, featuring a Polish film to commence the festivities. This year, the chosen film is Tajemnica starego rodu (The Secret of an Ancient Family) directed by Emil Chaberski and Zbigniew Gniazdowski in 1928.
The film, a vivid drama, stars Jadwiga Smosarska, an iconic figure and a major star in Polish cinema during the interwar period of 1918-1939.
Jadwiga Smosarska, pictured in 1934. Photo: Nationaal Archief Fotocollectie Anefo/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 3.0
The event’s curator, Michał Pieńkowski from the National Film Archive and Audiovisual Institute, emphasized the festival’s eclectic character with films from across the globe, ranging from early 20th-century works to late-1920s productions.
A special segment is dedicated to celebrating the 100th anniversary of the introduction of 16 mm film, a revolutionary advancement in 1923, that transformed cinematic production and distribution.
Projections of silent films were usually accompanied by live music, elevating the cinematic experience and engaging audiences in a multi-sensory journey. Keeping this tradition alive, the festival has invited a diverse group of musicians, who will perform live, providing a contemporary musical accompaniment to enhance with the visual storytelling on screen.
Featured in the festival are international silent classics like Demon Circus (1927) by Tod Browning, and rare gems such as People Without Tomorrow (1919), the latter starring Halina Bruczówna, a significant rival to the renowned Polish actress Pola Negri during the silent film era.
Pola Negri. Photo: Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe (NAC)/Public domain
One of the notable aspects of the festival is its exploration of technological and artistic transitions in cinema. The festival revisits the journey from silent to sound films, recounting historical milestones such as the release of The Jazz Singer in 1927, the first feature-length "talkie" that used synchronized sound.
The essence of the festival honors both the historical milestones and the artists who persevered in the realm of silent cinema, like Charlie Chaplin, who famously maintained a preference for the aesthetic of silent films even as the talkies began to gain prominence.
The event runs until October 22.
(rt/gs)
Source: dzieje.pl
Click on the audio player above for an interview with the National Film Archive and Audiovisual Institute's Michał Pieńkowski, who is the art director of the Warsaw silent film festival.
