MEIFF’s Silent Films Promise To Make You ’Laugh Till It Hurts

Restored silent comedies with live keyboard accompaniment bring hilarity for the whole family

The 2009 Middle East International Film Festival in Abu Dhabi today announced it will present “LAUGH TILL IT HURTS” a special program of silent film comedies to be shown in pristine archival prints and accompanied by live musical accompaniment Friday, October 16 at 4pm at the Cinestar Cinemas in the Marina Mall.

The films to be presented include early 2-reelers by two of the titans of silent film comedy, Charlie Chaplin (The Immigrant, 1916) and Buster Keaton (One Week, 1920), along with a pair of equally hilarious shorts by lesser known but equally brilliant film clowns, Charley Chase, master of comic embarrassment, (Mighty Like a Moose, 1926) and Charley Bowers, who utilized extraordinary stop-motion animation work in his unforgettable Egged On, 1927. The internationally renowned pianist and composer Neil Brand will provide live keyboard accompaniment for the program. His work has been described by the UK’s Guardian Newspaper ‘as elevating silent movies from slapstick to subtle ballet’. This MEIFF program is presented in association with the Silent Film Festival, which has been held in the northern Italian town of Pordenone for the past 28 years

Peter Scarlet, MEIFF’s Executive Director, explained that this is a program he is especially proud of since it may mark a first. “I’m going out on a limb here, since I’ve only lived here for a few months,” he commented, “but I haven’t been able to find any references to public screenings of silent films ever having taken place here. And if they did, they almost certainly were not with the sorts of magnificent prints as those we’ll be showing, nor is it likely they were presented with an accompaniment as brilliantly professional as the one Neil Brand will be providing.”

“It will be a wonderful introduction to how amazingly effective silent movies were and still are. And it’s a not-to-be-missed experience, whether you’re just coming with the family for an afternoon’s entertainment, or you’re a dyed-in-the-wool film buff starved for an authentic glimpse of some of the key works that helped establish the language of the movies as we know them today,” he continued.

Neil Brand will also be offering an illustrated lecture “The Silent Pianist Speaks” as one of the MEIFF Master Classes on Thursday, October 15 at 11am. Full details of the Master Classes program can be found on the MEIFF website.

Other MEIFF screenings will be presented at the Emirates Palace Hotel (Auditorium), Cinestar Cinemas at the Marina Mall and Grand Cinemas at the Abu Dhabi Mall. Additional festival events, such as the Master Classes, will take place at the MEIFF Festival Tent on the main terrace, behind Emirates Palace Hotel. The Festival Tent will be open to the public throughout the festival from noon to 2am.

Tickets go on sale September 28, and can be purchased online at www.meiff.com or in person every day from noon to 10 pm at any of the four festival box offices. Box offices are located at Emirates Palace Hotel at the main entrance lobby and on the auditorium level, Cinestar Cinemas in the Marina Mall and Grand Cinemas in Abu Dhabi Mall.
 

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