A silicon-age revival of the silent-film era

From March 22-25, the National Film Archives and the Iluzjon cinema in Warsaw are bringing the silent film era back to the screen, accompanied by original scores performed by live orchestras. The festival gives film buffs the chance to dip into forgotten collections of international masterworks from the 1920s to the sound of contemporary interpretations of classical, folk and jazz music.

The festival opens with Saul Goskind's compilation of 10-minute shorts. Five Cities is an eerie glimpse at everyday Jewish life in the streets of five Polish cities just before the Nazi invasion. Other works include the opus of Louis Feuillade - considered the inventor of "fantastic realism" - and the gypsies of Mario Almirante. Attendees can also take in Harry Hoyt's lost world of dinosaurs or Abram Room's poignant anti-globalist thrillers. Asta Nielsen gives a poignant performance in Bruno Rahn's scandalous tale of an aging prositute. Ewald André Dupont's Piccadilly is a black comedy about a dancer who steals hearts (among other things) in a twisted Cinderella story. The festival ends on a laugh with comedies from Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.

Many of these films broach political and social themes of the urban jungle still strikingly relevant to the world today. Others bring back worlds of the past where the line between dreams and wakefulness is blurred beyond recognition, full of burlesque debauchery and mischief.

The music from the accompanying orchestras includes dub, ethno, jazz, soul, electro and classical from famed local and international artists such as the Contemporary Noise Quintet, Simple Acoustic Trio and France's Scratch Massive (also playing at the Francophonic Festival).

For more information, log on to www.snk.org.pl