From 1 to 17 September, the inner courtyard at 11 Foksal Street will become the venue for the second edition of the “Silent Fever” festival — a series of silent film screenings accompanied by live music.
The project is organised in cooperation with the Free Belarus Museum, the John Paul II Thought Centre and the Belarusian Independent Film Academy.
Over four evenings, held under the open sky in the courtyard of the Free Belarus Museum and the John Paul II Thought Centre, audiences will have the opportunity to watch films from the United States, France, Germany and Belarus.
The programme includes Buster Keaton’s comedy “The Cameraman”, one of the greatest achievements in the history of silent cinema, “The Passion of Joan of Arc” by Carl Theodor Dreyer, the cult classic of German Expressionism “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”, and the Belarusian film “The Trial Must Go On” from 1930, dedicated to the theme of women’s emancipation.
Original music for the films has been composed by Belarusian composers Olga Podgaiskaya and Konstantin Yaskov, as well as Polish composer Aleksandra Chmielewska. The opening film will be accompanied in the traditional manner by live piano, performed by Kanstantsin Harachy, a Belarusian virtuoso pianist and co-founder of the jazz band Apple Tea.
A film by the legendary comedian Buster Keaton, one of the most important figures in the history of film comedy, and his first comedy made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Although this collaboration marked the beginning of a period in which Keaton’s creative freedom became increasingly restricted, The Cameraman is considered by many to be his finest comedy.
A film about filmmaking, it tells the story of a young man who tries to get a job as a cameraman at MGM in order to be closer to the woman he loves.
Directors: Buster Keaton, Edward Sedgwick
Live piano accompaniment: Kanstantsin Harachy
Running time: 70 minutes
One of the greatest films in the history of silent cinema and world cinematography. Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer portrays the final days of Joan of Arc, the French national heroine.
The film was long considered lost until a copy was discovered in 1981 in a storage room at a psychiatric hospital in Oslo. The festival will present the director’s version of the film.
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Composer: Konstantin Yaskov
Performers: Konstantin Yaskov — piano, Palina Horbach — cello
Running time: 80 minutes
A cult classic of German Expressionism and one of the most influential films in the history of world cinema. A mysterious hypnotist arrives in a small town and seeks permission to present an unusual figure — a sleepwalker — at the local fair. Soon, one death becomes the beginning of a series of mysterious murders.
Director: Robert Wiene
Composer: Olga Podgaiskaya
Performers: Olga Podgaiskaya — organ, Kuzma Papakul — first violin, Anastasia Petrova — second violin, Vital Appov — soprano saxophone (Five-Storey Ensemble)
Running time: 75 minutes
One of a series of Belarusian films from the 1920s and 1930s dedicated to the issue of women’s emancipation. Within the context of Silent Fever, the screening forms a thematic continuation of last year’s presentation of “The Prostitute.”
The film tells the story of the trial of five men accused of raping Alena, a laboratory technician at an electrical factory, and her return to professional life.
Directors: Yefim Dzigan, Boris Shreiber
Composer: Aleksandra Chmielewska
Performers: Aleksandra Chmielewska — piano / electronics, Filip Sporniak — cello
Running time: 63 minutes
“Silent films were never truly silent — they spoke through music. Today, the era of silent cinema has almost entirely disappeared from the public eye, which is why it is especially valuable for us to rediscover these films and give them a new reading and a new life through our festival,” says Irena Kociełowicz, the festival’s organiser and film critic.
Admission to all screenings is free.
All films will be presented with Belarusian and Polish subtitles.
📍 Free Belarus Museum
11 Foksal Street, Warsaw
The festival is supported financially by the Trzy Trąby Foundation, the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), the Juliusz Mieroszewski Dialogue Centre and the Old Town Community Centre, with the participation of the Free Belarus Museum, the John Paul II Thought Centre, a cultural institution of the City of Warsaw, and the Belarusian Independent Film Academy.
