Kansas Silent Film Festival will highlight early favorites from National Film Registry
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This year's Kansas Silent Film Festival will highlight silent films and features from the National Film Registry.
"There are a few films on here that are not on the registry, and we wish they were, but it's one of those things where they don't get enough votes for that kind of thing. So sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't," said Bill Shaffer, director of Kansas Silent Film Festival.
Shaffer said the film staff is cautious about the films picked to showcase every year. The festival will begin at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 23 and run through 10 p.m. Feb. 25 at White Concert Hall, 1700 S.W. Jewell, on Washburn University's campus.
This year's festival will be the 27th celebration that is free of charge and open to the public.
Guest speaker Katherine Pratt, film restorationist, will begin the festival by providing a brief talk about the history of the National Film Registry at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 23.
Kansas City film historian Denise Morrison will introduce the movies.
What films will be shown Feb. 23 and 24?
All films will be shown on 16mm film, except for the newly restored films, which will be on Blu-Ray or DVD, Shaffer said.
Early films from the registry will be featured in the Friday program. Such films include "Blacksmithing Scene" (1893-Edison), "Something Good — Negro Kiss" (1896-Selig), "The Flying Ace" (1926), "Little Nemo" (1911) and more.
Silent film pianist Ben Model will play for all of the shorts on Friday, and pianists Donald Sosin and Jeff Rapsis will play for features. Bill Beningfield and Marvin Faulwell will play the organ, while Erin Wood will play the harp. Bob Keckeisen will play percussion.
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The festival will show films on the big screen as they were originally meant to be seen.
Comedy silent films to conclude Friday night include a new restoration of a D.W. Griffith biograph short film from 1909 titled "Lady Helen’s Escapade," "Duck Soup" (1927), "The Navigator" (1924) and "Paths to Paradise" (1925).
Saturday's short films include "Mabel’s Blunder" (1914), "Captain January" (1924), "The Bargain" (1914), "Nanook of the North" (1922), "Jewish Prudence" (1927) and more.
Will the cinema dinner take place?
The film festival's cinema dinner event will be from 5:15 to 7:15 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Bradbury Thompson Alumni Center, 1701 S.W. Jewell Ave. Pratt will be a keynote speaker and explain how nearly lost films are being saved through technology.
The dinner will cost $40 and is reservation only. To make reservation, requests can be sent to KSFF Cinema-Dinner P.O. Box 2032 Topeka, Kansas 66604-2032. The nonrefundable tickets should be made payable to Kansas Silent Film Festival.
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Shaffer said he thinks what keeps silent film lovers returning year after year is the ability for attendees to form friendships and bonds.
"I love the fact that we have our folks who have been coming since the very beginning almost, and I usually have them, there's a point during the event where I just say: 'Hey, who's here? Who's never been here before?' And they raised their hands: 'OK, everybody, this is your job. Go meet this person and go talk to 'em and go see what they like and everything and just enjoy yourselves and watch the movies,'" Shaffer said.
"It's always a joy to see all the different people that come back for it. And lots of folks support it in town."
Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Here's the lineup for this year's Kansas Silent Film Festival
