Hippodrome Festival of Silent Cinema in Scotland
When: 18th – 22nd March 2015
Where: Bo’ness, Falkirk, Scotland
£: Ticket prices vary depending on the event
What is it?
The 5th annual Hippodrome Festival of Silent Cinema will be taking place in Bo’ness from Wednesday 18th March to Sunday 22nd March 2015. The event is Scotland’s only festival dedicated to silent cinema.
This year’s festival programme will include rare and classic films from the world’s archives, at the Hippodrome and new venues across the town, with a brilliant line-up of silent film accompanists from right across the musical spectrum. There will also be a glamorous photographic portrait exhibition, showing silent stars visiting Scotland.
Below are a few of the festival highlights:
Wednesday 18th March
You Ain’t Heard Nothin’ Yet at 2pm
Using rare film clips, this presentation by John Ritchie (University of Stirling), will tell the story of the transition between silent and sound cinema in Scotland. Tickets cost £3.20/£6.30 (includes tea/coffee and cake).
Chaplin’s Goliath at 7.30pm
A rare showing of this documentary by acclaimed Scottish-born director, Kevin Macdonald (Touching the Void, Last King of Scotland), which shines the spotlight on Charlie Chaplin’s famous side-kick; the mountainous, moustachioed Eric Campbell, silent comedy’s ultimate villain. Tickets cost £6.30 and £4.80 for concessions.
Friday 20th March
The Imperial War Museum presents… WW1 on Film at 2pm
During WW1 the British government made over 1,000 films to record fighting, train troops and for propaganda. After 1918 the authorities had the foresight to deposit these films at the Imperial War Museum (IWM). This programme of highlights from the IWM’s collection, specially curated for HippFest by Senior Curator Dr Toby Haggith, presents rarely screened clips. Tickets cost £6.30 and £4.80 for concessions.
Saturday 21st March
Special Effects Make-up Workshop at Bo’ness Library at 11am and 1pm
Across the road from the Hippodrome, Bo’ness Library is based in a 17th century building that was once a tavern, bakery and warehouse. The library will be presenting Special Effects Make-up Workshops for everyone aged 8 and over. Free.
Children of No Importance at 1.30pm
The influential but somewhat neglected German filmmaker Gerhard Lamprecht made over 60 films from 1920 to the late 1950s, often motivated by “curiosity and human interest” and a desire to contribute to social justice. Here he turns his camera on the growing numbers of unwanted children in Berlin. German pianist Richard Siedhoff will make his British debut at the Hippodrome, and provide live accompaniment. Tickets cost £9 and £7 for concessions.
Sunday 22nd March
New Found Sound at 11am
New Found Sound is a unique schools project. Falkirk’s talented secondary school music students will be conducting, improvising and performing their own scores to a special selection of shorts from the Scottish Screen Archive. Tickets cost £6 and £5 for concessions.
Public Workshop – A Taste of the Silver Screen at 2pm
Eat and drink like the stars of yesteryear with a fun food session led by the founder and proprietor of Silver Screen Suppers, latter-day flapper Jenny Hammerton. Tickets cost £8 and £6 for concessions.
The Film Explainer presents… Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde at 4.30pm
Performer and storyteller extraordinaire, Andy Cannon and his two regular musical collaborators, return to the Hippodrome to present a new ‘Film Explainer’. With their unique brand of theatrical storytelling and music, the ‘Explainers’ will breathe new life into Robert Louis Stevenson’s rich tale of the dual nature of good and evil. Tickets cost £9 and £7 for concessions.
More info: www.hippfest.co.uk and www.facebook.com/silentcinemafestival