Scotland’s only silent film festival returns to the country’s oldest purpose-built picture palace this month for its second edition.
The festival will run from Marcch 16 to 18 at the restored Hippodrome in Bo'nes, which this year becomes the first cinema in Scotland to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
The festival will open with Show People - starring Marion Davies as Peggy Miller (surely the inspiration for The Artist's Peppy Miller) and inspired by the life of Gloria Swanson. Audiences are encouraged to add sparkle to the ‘champagne’ reception with the evening’s dress code: Hollywood film star.
It will close with Douglas Fairbanks Sr's swashbuckler, The Black Pirate.
Other films include Harold Lloyd's Safety Last!, Anthony Asquith's A Cottage On Dartmooor and the Scottish premiere of the newly restored The First Born. There will also be a number of special events, including The Lost Art Of The Film Explainer, which explores this lost art of silent film narration through a newly commissioned piece.
Festival director Alison Strauss said: “With over 1,500 attendees in three days, the 2011 Hippodrome Festival was a huge success and we got overwhlemingly positive feedback from our audiences.
“In this centenary year, it’s been our ambition to match the great experience people had and to bring the audience event more: more world-class musicians and guests, three Scottish premieres and three new commissions. We’ll be marking the Hippodrome’s centenary with a year long programme of special events so the Festival will be a great start to the celebrations.”
Tickets are on sale now and if you buy six or more tickets you get a 15 per cent discount. For the Jeely Jar Special family screening of Safety Last! audiences are also encouraged to bring along a clean jam jar (and matching lids) for a 2-for-1 ticket deal on the Saturday morning.
For more information or to book tickets visit the official site.
