|
German Silent Film Festival Featuring:
Classic Films by Fritz Lang Accompanied by Local Musicians 
Dates: All Thursdays of August 2005 (August 4, 11, 18 and 25)
Time: 8 pm
Venue: SM Megamall Cinema 6
 According to the Goethe-Institut, film and music buffs, especially jazz aficionados, have two weeks left to catch German silent film masterpieces at the Goethe-Institut Manila’s second edition of its unique silent film festival, where silent films are accompanied by a live music score done by some of the country’s best groups. Read what Jazzphil’s Rocelle Aragon said about last year’s event.
This year’s festival, organized by the Goethe-Institut Manila together with The Podium, SM Cinema, the Home of NU Rock NU 107 and Smart Communications, is dubbed “Classic German Silent Movies by Fritz Lang” and celebrates the films of “Metropolis” director Fritz Lang. Lang was born in Vienna, Austria in 1890 and starting working in the German film industry in 1918. A year later, he directed his first film, “The Half-breed”. Lang gained fame in Europe after the release of his film “Destiny” in 1921. While he is known mostly for his silent films, it is also interesting to note that he actually directed the very first German sound film “M”.
The director fled Germany to escape Nazism in 1932. He went to Paris before going to the USA and making more films in Hollywood. One of his later Hollywood films, the 1950 “American Guerrilla in the Philippines/I Shall Return”, was filmed on location in the Philippines. Lang returned to Germany in 1959 to direct the classic “The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse”. He died in Beverly Hills in 1976.
Set aside all your Thursdays to see what happens when great musicians and a great film come together:
 The 1922 film “Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler, Part I: A Portrait of Our Time” is a portrait of German society at the depth of the postwar inflation of the 1920’s. It chronicles the adventures of Dr. Mabuse, a criminal who constantly reinvents his own identity in order to manipulate the destiny of others. The film will be given a jazz score by Tots Tolentino and acclaimed jazz group Buhay on August 18.
Saxophonist Tots Tolentino has worked with practically every major musical talent in the Philippines. He launched his solo career in 1990 and has since released 3 solo albums: “Tots Tolentino”, “Inah” and “Color Real”. Tolentino fronts the jazz group Buhay, which is also made up of Wowee Posadas on keyboards, Mar Dizon on drums, and Meong Pacana on bass. Buhay formed in 2000, and has performed in festivals in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
 On August 25, the silent film festival comes to an end with a screening of “Destiny”, the first of Fritz Lang’s films to gain him recognition across Europe. The film is a fantasy-allegory set in three historical periods--ancient Baghdad, 17th-century Venice, and Imperial China. In it, a girl pleads with Death for the return of her beloved. She strikes a bargain with him: if she can save any one of three lives that are about to flame out, her beloved will be restored. Can she succeed against time and fate? “Destiny” is said to have been inspired by one of Lang’s childhood dreams. The film will be set to the soothing folk music of Cynthia Alexander.
Cynthia Alexander has released three albums to much critical acclaim: “Insomnia and Other Lullabyes”, “Rippingyarns”, and “Comet’s Tale”, which was released this year.
Catch the German Silent Film Festival on all Thursdays of August (the remaining dates are August 18 and 25), 8pm at SM Megamall Cinema 6. Admission is free. For more information, please contact the Goethe-Institut Manila at 722 4671 to 73.
|
