Great news from the north, as Hippfest today launches the lineup for its 16th festival, taking place next month: five days of silent film, live music, workshops, talks and a chance to do the Charleston. All in the vintage splendour of the beautiful Bo’ness Hippodrome.
You can read and explore the full lineup here, but here are a few of my highlights. Hope to see you there!
The Friday night gala is always a great time, and this year Colleen Moore will light up the Hippodrome once again in flapper comedy Why Be Good?, accompanied by Meg Morley and Frank Bockius. Plus there will be a drinks reception, after part and even a short intro from moi. Dress code: Charleston champion or HippFest glamour.
Charleston you say? There is a dance workshop on Sunday led by professional dancer Rowan Mitchell where you can jazz up your moves. And you could learn a thing or two from Anny Ondra in Saxophone Susy (1928), a gleeful comedy of errors about two girlfriends chasing very different dreams. Jane Gardner, Hazel Morrison and John Burgess perform live on piano, percussion and saxophone. I am also introing this one.
Feed your eyes and your brain with Dr Lawrence’s Napper’s presentation A Phantom Tram Ride Around the UK (1898 – 1924), which will be accompanied by Mike Nolan. Learn more about Art Deco at the HippFest Exhibition, Art Deco Scotland: Design and Architecture in the Jazz Age (Sat 21 Feb – Sat 25 Apr) curated by Professor Bruce Peter who will also lead the Walking Tour – Art Deco Bo’ness including a visit to the iconic Gresley Buffet Car at the heritage railway.
Exciting new restorations: Silent Sherlock: Three Classic Cases (1921-1923), with Günter Buchwald on piano and violin, and Maurice Tourneur’s The White Heather (1919), Jean Epstein’s Finis Terrae (1929), with the world premiere of a newly composed folk-infused score by multi-instrumentalist Dan Abrahams and French drummer Philippe Boudot.
One of my favourites: Victor Sjöström’s The Outlaw and His Wife (1918). New to me: Mikio Naruse’s Apart From You (1933). Less well known than his contemporaries Ozu and Kurosawa, Naruse’s quietly devastating film follows the story of two geishas selflessly devoting themselves to family, no matter the cost.
Sunday night will close in style with a silent masterpiece: King Vidor’s heartbreaking dissection of the American Dream, The Crowd (1928), live accompaniment from John Sweeney.
All this and Anna May Wong, Laurel and Hardy, Baby Peggy, Buster Keaton, horror-comedy thrills in The Bat (1926), a vision of the future in Maurice Elvey’s High Treason (1929) and much more…
- The 16th edition of HippFest will take place in and around the Hippodrome Cinema in Bo’ness, Wednesday 18 – Sunday 22 March 2026. Tickets are on sale from 12noon, Wednesday 4 February, with the HippFest Festival Passes beginning at £66 and available now. A Digital Festival Pass is also available for the online Festival, HippFest at Home, with an extended 7-day viewing window Monday 30 March – Monday 6 April 2026. To book your place at HippFest and to sign up for updates from the Festival, visit hippodromecinema.co.uk/hippfest
- Slapstick Festival starts today in Bristol. I will be there talking about flappers, comedy duos and Yasujiro Ozu…
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