Bonn | Queen Kelly | Rudolph Valentino | Metropolis | Pordenone | Faust | & more…
It’s a long hot summer of silent cinema, my friends. The temperatures are stuck in the roaring twenties and so are we. Here’s a quick roundup of the silent film news you need to know – and some of it is designed to encourage you into an air-conditioned cinema. All of it will keep you cool…
- StummFilmTage in Bonn and “Bonnline”. Running 13 -25 August with open-air screenings in Bonn, and a parallel online streaming offer, this festival gets more tempting every year. The 2026 edition kicks off with nothing less than Greta Garbo in Gösta Berlings Saga (Mauritz Stiller, 1924) accompanied by Daan van den Hurk and Neil Brand. The streaming platform opens on 15 August, and offers one new film a day, each of which will be available for 48 hours.
- Valentino fashion. What better way to keep cool than to look cool. Designer Angelo Trofa, usually found creating kits for international soccer teams, has channelled his passion for film history into his latest project. With the centenary of Rudolph Valentino’s death imminent, Trofa’s new label Gilded Stars launches a range of four incredibly stylish T-shirts celebrating the Latin lover himself and one of his key collaborators, Alla Nazimova. The T-shirts are very cool, and I should know – I was modelling the “Garden of Alla” print in Bologna this year. Oh yes I did get compliments, thank you for asking. From the same site you can also order a beautifully designed collectible newspaper all about Valentino and Nazimova, with stunning imagery and texts by… moi.
- Mega Metropolis. Centenaries of cinematic masterpieces are going to be everywhere next year. First up, Fritz Lang’s monumental futurist epic Metropolis. No finer way to enjoy this film than on 26 January at London’s Cadogan Hall, where Ben Palmer will conduct the Covent Garden Sinfonia as they play Gottfried Huppertz’s original orchestral score alongside the movie. Tickets are on sale now. South West Silents are also bringing Metropolis to the Bristol Megascreen next year in a dystopic double-bill with Blade Runner. Look out for more details as they are posted.
- Pordenone proximity. Have you booked? Registration emails arecoming through now for this year’s Giornate del Cinema Muto, 3-10 October, and some teaser announcements have been made… The opening night film will be Don Q Son of Zorro (Donald Crisp, 1925), with a new orchestral score composed and directed by Andrej Goricar, perofrmed by the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra. the closing night film will be The Iron Horse (John Ford, 1924) with an orchestral score by John Lanchbery performed by the Orchestra da Camera di Pordenone, conducted by Ben Palmer. PLUS: there will be a major retrospective titled Weimar Uncensored: Taboos and transgression in 1919-20. Tasty, huh?
- The Faust Bible. More to come on this, but in October, Mubi publishes this gorgeous art book, featuring the original designs for F.W. Murnau’s classic Faust (1926), in association with the Cinémathèque Française. Subtitled “The Making of F.W. Murnau’s Masterpiece, the book is a kind of visual diary, comprising set photography, original illustrations, and behind-the-scenes images in a facsimile of a prop Bible that was used in the film. Available to pre-order now.
- Not quite silent, but… On 25 October, also at Cadogan Hall, the 1931 James Whale Frankenstein, a talkie that was released without a musical score, plays with a Michael Shapiro’s acclaimed new music for the film, played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. There are two screenings, and I will be hosting a Q&A before each show with the composer and Sara Karloff, Boris Karloff’s only child.
- French Fantastique. This beautiful Radiance Films box set features the great late French silent Dans la nuit (Charles Vanel, 1930), in a 4K restoration. Extras for the silent include an introduction by Thierry Frémaux and a commentary by yours truly. Out on 19 October, but you can pre-order now.
- Call for papers! This is an exciting one. The 13th International Women and the Silent Screen conference, will be held at the Cineteca Nacional in Mexico City 8-11 June 2027. The theme for the conference is “Transitions” and the call for papers is out now, deadline 21 October.
- The Silent Film Companion. Published in January 2027 but available to pre-order now, this edited collection by Liz Clarke and Martin L. Johnson from Rutgers University Press is subtitled “A Recovered and Expanded History”. It brings together more than 50 essays on silent films, many of them found off the beaten track. The editors write: “A Silent Film Companion seeks to broaden the silent film canon by focusing on compelling non-canonical films from around the globe to provide a fresh perspective and new view of silent cinema… The book encourages discovery, and rediscovery, of the world of silent cinema: one where the movies were still young, full of possibility, eager to entice others to take part in a wonderful adventure. Films covered are from fourteen countries, including Brazil, Mexico, China, Cuba, India, Italy, and Russia, and representing a diversity of subjects.”
