photo by Pamela Gentile
We miss you! We had to cancel our live-cinema events in 2020, but we’re busy with our restoration projects and commissioning musical scores. Which reminded us how integral music is to our presentation and how lucky we are to work with some of the most talented musicians in the world! Every festival, an incredible group of musicians convene in San Francisco from around the globe to accompany SFSFF’s selection of silent cinema. They breathe new life into these silent treasures and fulfill our motto: True art transcends time.

Wonder what goes into creating a score for a silent film? Can you imagine playing non-stop for the length of a feature film—all in service of the image on screen? We’re planning a series of online events with our musicians and the first will be a masterclass with Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra’s Rodney Sauer. Sauer directs the chamber ensemble, culling historic libraries of music to create indelible compiled scores for Mont Alto’s accompaniments. He is a foremost expert on Photoplay music. Don’t know what that is? Well, you’ll have to tune in! Join us on FRIDAY, AUGUST 14 at 5:00 pm. Register HERE.

The event is organized as a webinar but we’re making eight onscreen spots available for SFSFF members who want to be able to interact directly with Rodney Sauer. Please contact info@silentfilm.org for the chance to be one of the select few. Put “masterclass” in the subject line.
IT'S ELEMENTARY...
In celebration of the August 7 birthday of John H. Watson, MD, we’re making SFSFF’s beautiful restoration of SHERLOCK HOLMES available to members and donors for free for two weeks starting today. In collaboration with the Cinémathèque Française, SFSFF completed the restoration in 2015 saving the legendary William Gillette’s only film performance for posterity. Gillette portrayed Holmes on stage more than a thousand times—sanctioned by author Conan Doyle—and was considered the quintessential Sherlock. See for yourself in a high-res digital copy from Flicker Alley, with music by Neil Brand, Guenter Buchwald, and Franck Bockius! Members and donors will receive access info in a separate email.

If you're not a member but would like to become one, you can join here. You can make a fully tax-deductible donation here.
We had to cancel SFSFF 2020 but plans are afoot for 2021. Our friends at Where the Buffalo Roam made this wonderful trailer for the event. We love it! We think you will too.