Spring 2022 Newsletter

Written by Chad Hunter, Executive Director, PSFS

Tickets now available for

NANOOK OF THE NORTH 100TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING (to the day!)

Saturday, June 11, 2022 at 8:00pm

Robert Flaherty’s classic film tells the story of Inuit hunter Nanook and his family as they struggle to survive in the harsh conditions of Canada’s Hudson Bay region. Enormously popular when released in 1922, Nanook of the North is a cinematic milestone that continues to enchant audiences.

For this special 100th anniversary screening (to the day!), live accompaniment will be provided by Ben Opie and Josh Wulff.

Ben Opie and Josh Wulff have worked together for nearly fifteen years, playing live music to films, improvising, and even jazz standards. Their groups together include Sound/Unsound, Throckmorton Plot, and the Opie/Wulff duo.

Ben Opie (reeds and electronics) has been a major force in Pittsburgh’s creative music scene for four decades. His work covers a wide range of styles and methods for composition and improvisation. He currently plays with Thoth Trio, Bombici, Jeff Berman & Blink, and OPEK, among others. He teaches music technology courses at Carnegie Mellon University.

Josh Wulff (guitar) in addition to teaching guitar, has released three albums of his original compositions recorded at home. He has played with Smash Your Wagon, BEAM, and his own quintet. Some of his original music, as well as the Opie/Wulff duo album, Monster Face, is available at https://joshwulff.bandcamp.com/. This will be Ben and Josh’s second time performing live to the landmark film Nanook of the North.

Dr. Adam Charles Hart, author of The Living Camera: The History, Style, and Politics of Handheld Cinematography (forthcoming 2023), will provide a short introduction.

100th Anniversary screenings of NOSFERATU with new Tom Roberts score premiered to sold out crowds!

On March 4-5, 2022, the Pittsburgh Silent Film Society, in cooperation with the Harris Theatre and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, screened two sold out 100th anniversary shows of F.W. Murnau’s classic horror film NOSFERATU (1922). Tom Roberts, who arranged and performed music for the soundtrack of Martin Scorsese’s film THE AVIATOR, starring Leonardo di Caprio, and was pianist and musical director for Leon Redbone, composed and performed a brand new score for the occasion. The film was first released in theaters in Europe on March 4, 1922.

The NOSFERATU film program with live accompaniment by Tom Roberts is now available for booking at venues in the U.S. and internationally. To inquire, please contact pittsburghsilentfilmsociety@gmail.com.

Find out more about Tom Roberts at tomrobertspiano.com.

See Buster Keaton in SHERLOCK, JR. with live Wurlitzer theater organ accompaniment on Saturday, August 20 at Keystone Oaks High School!

The Pittsburgh Area Theatre Organ Society (PATOS) returns after nearly 3 years to present Clark Wilson at the Keystone Oaks Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ on Saturday, August 20, 2022 at 7:30PM. Clark will bring our theatre organ back to life with lively concert selections, plus expert accompaniment to Buster Keaton's 1924 featurette "Sherlock, Jr."

Clark is a world-renowned organist and house organist at the Ohio Theatre in Columbus and was recently a featured artist at the ATOS Annual Convention in July 2022.

With thanks to Tom Wilson, we’ve added his Spring 2012 article from The Allegheny City Society’s Reporter Dispatch to the PSFS website. You can read the full article via the button below. More articles by Tom will be posted soon!

LOIS WEBER: DAUGHTER OF ALLEGHENY - Film director, producer and star

by Tom Wilson

Our understanding of history depends on both what is writ- ten down, as well as what that history is written upon. Motion pictures prove this point. Upon screening Cecil B. DeMille’s Birth of a Nation in 1915, Woodrow Wilson supposedly claimed: “This is like history writ with lightning!” But just as lightning is gone in a flash, so too is motion picture film.

From 1896 until 1952, most movies were shot and released on cellulose nitrate film. Nitrate film has a chemical compo- sition similar to gunpowder; and if not stored correctly, can rapidly decay. Most of the films from the silent era are gone. Some say more than 80% are lost forever.

Lois Weber produced, directed, wrote or starred in over 300 films in a career spanning 1908–1934. Of those, only about 20 films survive! At her peak, she was the top-earning director in Hollywood, and a century later, she is practically unknown …

Love or curious about “The Fourth Clown?” Check out the Pittsburgh-based Facebook page HARRY LANGDON FANS, a group is for anyone who knows that there were actually four kings of silent comedy, and wants to show their appreciation of the most underrated one of them all, Harry Langdon. You can join via the link below!

Check out Pittsburgh Cinema Planner - listing cinemagoing opportunities in the greater Pittsburgh area

Pittsburgh Cinema Planner comprehensively track filmgoing opportunities in the greater Pittsburgh area, including silent film screenings. It’s a project of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Pittsburgh Sound+Image, and is edited by Steven Haines and Steve Felix.

Info on how Pittsburgh will celebrate the 2nd National / International Silent Movie Day on September 29, 2022 coming soon!

You can find out more about Silent Movie Day at www.silentmovieday.org.

Have an idea for something to share in the next PSFS Newsletter? News, links, articles you’ve written, photos, etc. are all welcome!

Please drop a note to pittsburghsilentfilmsociety@gmail.com.