Postponed – Sunday 29th November Chaplin’s City Lights

 

THIS SCREENING HAS BEEN POSTPONED.

 

Suffolk Silents Society is delighted to announce we will be screening Charlie Chaplin’s wonderful City Lights (1931) at 2pm on Sunday 29th November 2015 in Ipswich Film Theatre Cinema 1.

This legendary film was written and directed by Chaplin and features the iconic little tramp falling in love with a blind flower seller, who mistakes him for a kind millionaire.

The sound era was well under way when production of City Lights started but Chaplin decided to use the soundtrack to his own purposes while still leaving the dialogue on intertitles, thereby utilising the best of the modern technology while still retaining the silent film sensibilities of his character and his physical comedy.

This rare opportunity to see on the big screen one of the Greatest Films Ever made (according to Sight & Sound) is available to all. Entry will be a £5 membership fee for Suffolk Silents Society payable on the day.

Hypocrites (1915) screening 25th October at Ipswich Film Theatre

I am delighted to say that after some fantastic coverage in the local news Ipswich Borough Council Licensing Committee decided to approve our application and gave Hypocrites a local rating of 12A.

This means that the screening on Sunday 25th October at 3:30pm in Screen 2 of Ipswich Film Theatre is going ahead as planned.

A £2 membership fee will be payable on the door.

October Screening

September had the Directed by Women Worldwide Viewing Party, this month has The Time Is Now a season of Women’s Rights & Fights in Film being coordinated to support the release of Suffragette.

Suffolk Silents Society will be supporting this season in its own inimitable way by a planned screening of Hypocrites (1915) the celebrated, controversial, and shocking feature by Lois Weber.

This screening is planned for Sunday 25th October 2015 3.30pm at Ipswich Film Theatre but, despite what Wikipedia might say, this film was rejected for rating by the British Board of Film Censors in 1917 and has never been approved for nationwide public screenings. We are therefore having to get a special permission from the Council and while its anticipated the screening will go ahead on Sunday 25th this is subject to approval by the Licensing Committee of Ipswich Borough Council.

The reason for this films controversial status is that it features full frontal female nudity throughout, which was more than shocking for a serious film from a major director at the time.

Hopefully the Council won’t be too outraged and will let this serious morality tale be screened – most likely for the first time in Suffolk.

The screening will end with a comedy short about a futuristic, nightmarish world where women have taken on the jobs of men!

Directed by Women: Selected Shorts

Suffolk Silents Society presents

Directed by Women: Selected Shorts

3.30pm Sunday 6^th September 2015

Ipswich Film Theatre Screen 2 – £2 cash on door,

In association with the Directed by Women Worldwide Viewing Party and Scalarama 2015, Suffolk Silents Society will be showing a selection of short silent films. This will showcase the work of early female film pioneers such as Lotte Reiginer, Alice Guy, and Lois Weber.

When we think of the silent era key figures such as Charlie Chaplin, DW Griffiths, Fritz Lang tend to come to mind. There is however a hidden history of silent film.

Alice Guy attended the first public demonstration of their new invention by the Lumiere Brothers and saw the workers leaving the factory. She however also saw the power of the new Cinematograph to tell stories and went on to develop the first narratives on film.

Lotte Reiginer is commonly credited with the first feature length animation. Her wonderful The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) is almost certainly the earliest surviving feature length animation and pre-dates Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by over a decade.

Lois Weber is famous as America’s first female film director but more importantly as a key innovator in the field and one of the era’s “three great minds” along with DW Griffith and Cecil B DeMille. The still shown is from her short Suspense where she uses split screen to show simultaneous action in three different locations.

These are just three of the women who took the reins and drove the early history of film in new and exciting directions. Suffolk Silents Society is delighted to be able to showcase a selection of work by them and others and invites you to join in the celebration.

The First Film Screens in Ipswich

A new documentary about the history of early cinema has been released in the UK and is coming to Ipswich Film Theatre Tuesday 11th, Wednesday 12th, and Thursday 13th August.

The First Film tells the story of Louis Le Prince a Frenchman living and working in Leeds who “probably” invented moving pictures.

For a detailed synopsis and article from the director about researching the film visit the Guerilla Films website.

The documentary has garnered excellent reviews in the UK press including The Telegraph, The Observer, The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Independent, and Empire. The wonderful Silent London has also reviewed the film on their blog.

David Wilkinson with a replica of Louis Le Prince’s camera

If you would like to meet the director, David Wilkinson, pictured above, he will be introducing the film on Tuesday 11th August at 7.30pm at Ipswich Film Theatre.

You can book tickets online via the Ipswich Film Theatre website.

Next Screening Sunday 6th September

Suffolk Silents Society is back for the Autumn with a selection of short films directed by women. This will take place at Ipswich Film Theatre on Sunday 6th September 2015 at 3.30pm.

Entry is £2 pay on the door. You’ll find us in the Screen 2 corridor.

We’ll be showcasing the talents of early film pioneers such as Lotte Reiginer most famous for the earliest surviving feature length animation The Adventures of Prince Achmed and Alice Guy-Blache, probably the first female film director.

This screening is part of Scalarama and the Directed by Women Worldwide Viewing Party.

First Screening December 14th

We are delighted to finally announce our first film screening on Sunday 14th December starting 4pm at Ipswich Film Theatre.

Everyone knows that December is a time for light and love, for magic, mystery, and mayhem so Suffolk Silents Society is marking the season with a tale from the Arabian Nights.

The Thief of Bagdad stars cinemas greatest ever adventurer, Douglas Fairbanks, as the Thief who falls for the Princess in this timeless fantasy telling of forbidden love and flying carpets.

With epic sets, cutting edge special effects, and one of the biggest budgets of the age this 1924 production still astonishes and enchants audiences of today.

This is a new 2k restoration featuring a magnificent score by Carl Davis performed by the Philarmonia Orchestra.

Its £5 for a trial membership to Suffok Silents Society, which is available in advance on the IFT Box Office here or on the door on the day.

Members will receive free entry to the film, a souvenir programme, a regular newsletter on silent cinema, and be able to bring under-16s to this screening for free.

We are also planning further screenings that will be announced in due course.

 

Even if you won’t be attending you can help make this event a success by supporting our Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.

 

Silents at the Cinema

Movies are about the big screen and I think this applies double to silent film. Now I have evidence to support this (or anecdotes if you’re being picky).

Today was browsing the internet and noticed that BFI had uploaded a video of some suffragettes getting arrested – cool.

Very cool even – except watched A Night at the Cinema 1914 at Ipswich Film Theatre tonight and the same footage was included. Wow! A completely different viewing experience. Wonderful.

Pretty much my favourite segment of the programme tonight however was Pimple. I was crying with laughter. A perfect mix of slapstick and post-modern metaness. If you haven’t seen it you need to watch it cos it is so clever, cheap and clever. Fortunately you can watch it at BFI Player  but its just not the same.

Getting access to the full range of cinema is vital – on whatever format – but nothing compares to seeing cinema as cinema ie at a cinema

What, Where, When, How Much?

Don’t know is that answer to most of that. It depends on the level of interest.

Initial idea is:-

One show a month over 10 months.

Annual membership with a discount for under-18s.

It would be amazing to be able to offer free entry to under-12s with an adult.

Films would be a variety of comedy, drama, documentary, and adventure, features and shorts.

The majority of films would be big names but with some lesser known work mixed in.

Ipswich Film Theatre would be a great location if possible.

Sunday afternoon/evening would be my favourite time.

Does £30 a year sound reasonable?

Everything is up for negotiation at the moment – It all depends on how much interest there is in the community!