The Lone Star Film Society (LSFS), in partnership with the Kimbell Art Museum, is pleased to present Silent Sundays as part of the inaugural spring season of ArthouseFW.
F.W. Murnau’s SUNRISE is the first film in the series and will screen on Sunday, February 16 at 2:00 PM inside the auditorium at the Kimbell Art Museum’s brand new Renzo Piano Pavilion. Local pianist Robert Edwards will provide live musical accompaniment for the screening. Holding a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of North Texas, Edwards has accompanied numerous silent films, including THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI and NOSFERATU. He will perform an original score of his own composition for SUNRISE.
In addition to Edward’s performance during SUNRISE, James Talambas will provide an eclectic soundtrack to STRIKE and Curtis Heath will perform an original score to WINGS. Talambas and Heath are also accomplished local musicians.
“The films selected for the Silent Sundays series mark a critical turning point in the 1920s when filmmakers had the technology and experience necessary to create incredible works of art with a relatively new medium,” said William Grella, LSFS senior programmer. “One of the main objectives of ArthouseFW is not just to screen films, but to create an experience beyond the every day trip to the multiplex, which is why we’re so excited about the live musical performances that will accompany these films.”
The ArthouseFW Silent Sundays series presents an exciting opportunity to showcase the new Renzo Piano Pavilion, combining classic cinema with live performance in a space beautifully equipped for both. The inaugural spring season of ArthouseFW will be the first film series to take advantage of the new space. Conceived as a pilot, organizers are confident the first season will become the foundation for a year-round presence for years to come.
Further information about the Silent Sundays schedule, including film synopses and musician bios, can be found below.
Individual screening tickets will be $7 for the general public and $5 for members of the Lone Star Film Society or the Kimbell Art Museum. Currently enrolled students with a valid I.D. will be admitted free of charge.
Attendees can also purchase an annual pass that will provide admittance to all screenings for the spring season and beyond for $75. The Lone Star Film Society also offers a variety of membership plans that include the ArthouseFW Annual Pass.
Tickets, passes and memberships are now on sale at lonestarfilmsociety.com and will be available at the door beginning one hour before show time.
ABOUT SILENT SUNDAYS
ArthouseFW – Silent Sundays presents the visionaries of early cinema who pioneered film and narrative techniques, shifting movies from a simple means of entertainment to a serious artistic medium. Each film in this series will be presented with unique, live musical accompaniment in the auditorium at the Kimbell Art Museum's Renzo Piano Pavilion. This installment of ArthouseFW is presented by the Lone Star Film Society and the Kimbell Art Museum.
SILENT SUNDAYS SCREENING SCHEDULE:
Feb. 16 SUNRISE
(Marnau, 1927) Silent Sundays
2:00 PM @ Kimbell Art Museum, Piano Auditorium
Presented with live musical accompaniment by Robert Edwards
One of the most essential surviving films from the silent era, SUNRISE (1927) is F.W. Murnau’s cinematic masterpiece. Detailing the moral dilemmas that arise when a lascivious woman from the city dishevels the life of a farmer and his family, SUNRISE is a never-before-seen tale of twisted passion. It received the Academy Award for Unique and Artistic Production in 1929.
Robert Edwards holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from UNT in Classical Piano Performance, and he has always had a soft spot for music from the teens through the twenties. He teaches piano and plays with The Singapore Slingers, an 18-piece orchestra that specializes in 1920s jazz. He began accompanying silent movies about 10 years ago and since then has played for full-length silent features such as THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI and NOSFERATU as well as comedic features and shorts. He's accompanied comedy films of Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, "Our Gang", Charley Chase, "Fatty" Arbuckle and Buster Keaton.
During the week he works with autistic children in Grand Prairie ISD and plays for services at Greenland Hills UMC in Dallas. Robert lives in Oak Cliff, Texas.
March 16 WAY DOWN EAST
(Griffith, 1920) Silent Sundays
Musical accompaniment to be announced
2:00 PM @ Kimbell Art Museum, Piano Auditorium
D.W. Griffith’s pioneering cinematic vision and technique culminated in WAY DOWN EAST (1920), in which country girl Anna (Lillian Gish) struggles to rebuild her life after the rich and dishonorable Lennox (Lowell Sherman) destroys her cherished innocence. Risking actual life and limb for the production, the cast and crew deliver a film created through irrepressible ambition.
April 20 STRIKE
(Eisenstein, 1925) Silent Sundays
2:00 PM @ Kimbell Art Museum, Piano Auditorium
Presented with live musical accompaniment by James Talambas
Chronicling the violent suppression of a mutiny, STRIKE (1925) marks the celebrated Russian director Sergei Eisenstein’s first full-length film. His innovative editing perfected the use of montage as a unique alternative to traditional narrative structures and emphasized a collectivist approach to filmmaking.
James Talambas owns and operates New Media Recordings, a production company and creative venue on the south side of Fort Worth. Talambas does original scores and sound design for a number of films, and has recorded and arranged for a variety of local, national and international artists ranging in genres. Talambas consistently employs technology, improvisation and space into the pieces he composes, creating site specific, and musician specific electro-acoustic works. He currently also plays piano and trumpet in the band, The Theater Fire who are going to be releasing their 4th album in 2014.
May 18 WINGS
(Wellman, 1927) Silent Sundays
2:00 PM @ Kimbell Art Museum, Piano Auditorium
Presented with live musical accompaniment by Curtis Heath
The winner of the first ever Academy Award for Best Picture, WINGS (1927) tells the story of two World War I airmen who seek the love of the same woman. Filmed in Texas, this action- packed film features some of the most daring air battles in filmmaking history and exhibits the absolute talent of the early cinematic master William A. Wellman.
Curtis Heath is a musician and composer that lives in Fort Worth, TX. He plays guitar, sings and writes songs for The Theater Fire, who will release their fourth album in 2014. As a composer for films, he has provided original music for four feature films in the last two years, three of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. These include AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS starring Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara, HELLION starring Aaron Paul and Juliette Lewis, and PIT STOP, which was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in 2014.
