French director Abel Gance is best known for three major silent epics: La Roue (1923), Napoleon (1927) and one of his earliest great works, J’Accuse. From the opening scenes of soldiers forming the film's title, Gance's famous use of sophisticated imagery and fast editing technique propels the story to a dramatic climax. Gance pioneered various innovative techniques with mobile cameras, rapid editing, extreme close-ups and experiments with Polyvision; an early panoramic, wide-screen used in Napoleon.

Authentic images from WWI were used in J'Accuse, but actual battle scenes are short and not the main focus of this film. The majority of the scenes depict the lives of the main characters and their feelings, making this film a very emotionally-charged experience, as well as a milestone in early silent film development.

Gance's message about accusing those who caused, supported and profited from the war, rather than being a war movie per se, is in fact a very human story about lives in turmoil and the unnecessary suffering the first world war brought about. . There are only a few main players in this film, all connected and touching each other's lives dramatically as the `Great War' shatters the innocent peace of an idyllic village in Provence.

Besides its historic significance and `social commentary' which was common in silent films in the early decades of the century, J'Accuse is a highly artistic and very impressive work of cinematography which is rarely seen in our day.

Two of the silent era’s most talented and prominent directors, Maurice Tourneur and Clarence Brown, joined forces to create an unforgettable and visually delightful rendition of this classic 1826 American novel of frontier life by James Fenimore Cooper. This excellent film adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans still outshines the two later cinematic outings from 1936 and 1992.

Set in 1757, amidst the turmoil of a war-torn nation struggling for its identity, the British fight French forces which have rallied together with native Indian tribes. Basing his novel on real people who played a significant part in the French and Indian War, history is realistically re-enacted while also telling a deeply moving personal story of individuals.Frenchman Maurice Tourneur’s smooth and sophisticated style adds elegance and grace to this powerful, action-packed drama, while also capturing beautiful scenery. The Last of the Mohicans shows sensitive attention to detail, beautiful photography, sets and costumes, and above all, a story superbly told in the poignant medium of silent film.

Two Australians also contributed to the success of The Last of the Mohicans, namely first-class cricket legend Sydney Deane, playing the part of General Webb, and Joseph Singleton. Deane appeared in dozens of roles, large and small, during the silent era, first working for Jesse Lasky in various Cecil B. DeMille productions, and then for Universal Pictures. Joseph Singleton also made his mark on Hollywood, working in films as early as 1913, and appearing with Sydney Deane in Brewster’s Millions in 1914, as well as another early DeMille production, The Squaw Man. He enjoyed various roles in three popular early action-comedies starring silent film legend, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr, and played Tom Jordan in the William S. Hart Western saga, The Toll Gate (1925).

Altogether, these aspects make The Last of the Mohicans a film ahead of its time in 1920, and it is still an outstanding and highly praised work of early cinema.

Long believed to be lost, a near-complete print of Bardelys The Magnificent was found in France in 2006. Such a discovery is always exciting, but when it encompasses one of the silent era's most innovative and respected directors in King Vidor, and a silent screen legend like John Gilbert, the find becomes even more welcome, and significant.

A year earlier, King Vidor had worked with John Gilbert on The Big Parade, one of a trilogy of the silent masterpieces which includes The Crowd and Show People. One of only a handful of prominent silent era directors to successfully bridge the gap between mediums when sound came along, Vidor is today remembered by classic film buffs for movies such as Stella Dallas (1937), Duel in the Sun (1946), Ruby Gentry (1952), and War and Peace (1956).

In the King Vidor production of Bardelys the Magnificent, Gilbert’s panache rivals another silent screen legend, namely Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. who starred in famous and immensely popular swashbuckling action-adventures such as The Three Musketeers, The Mark of Zorro and The Iron Mask.

Bardelys the Magnificent strongly resembles Fairbanks’s The Three Musketeers especially, with a similar setting and many exciting action scenes. It is a good story told beautifully with light humour which blends perfectly with the romance, suspense and adventure of the whole film.

Silent Cinema boasts an impressive array of filmmakers from all over the world, and where the Art Film is concerned, Soviet Avant Garde is miles ahead of the rest. Names like Sergei Eisenstein and Vsevolod Pudovkin immediately come to mind; legendary directors of such classics as Battleship Potemkin and The End of St Petersburg, respectively. But before Eisenstein developed his rapid editing technique he was a student of Lev Kuleshov.

Kuleshov is considered to be the first film theorist who helped establish the world’s first film school, namely the Moscow Film School, creating what has become known as the Kuleshov Experiment. He was a leader in Soviet montage theory, and contemporaries like Eisenstein and Pudovkin soon excelled in this editing technique that conveys ideas through many, often poignant images. Close-ups and camera angles are also used to express as much as possible through the visual medium.

These techniques were used to varying degrees by Soviet directors, and when Kuleshov directed By the Law, he had decided to focus on realism and nature, using the camera to capture striking images to convey atmosphere and moods of the characters. So effective is his technique in conveying the predicament of a few people isolated in the Yukon wilderness that the lack of colour does not diminish or detract from its impact. In fact, the stark black and white of this stunning silent film even enhances its effect.

By the Law leaves a deep impression on the viewer, and many scenes are unforgettable. The story builds in emotional intensity as the fate of five gold seekers unravels, and two of them are murdered. The remaining two are burdened with the responsibility of how to deal justly with the unrepentant killer amongst them. The final climactic scenes are particularly poignant, and will linger in the viewer’s mind for many days.

Captain Fracasse was filmed in France at the end of the silent era when artistic creativity, cinematography and the language of film reached their combined peak. As if that is not enough, this film also excels in the smooth and sophisticated elegance that we have come to know and expect of all things French.

Some of the finest and most outstanding films of the silent era are French, and although Captain Fracasse’s director, Alberto Cavalcanti, was born in Brazil and only entered the French filmmaking industry in 1920, his talent and skills match those of the most famous silent filmmakers of France, such as:

Abel Gance: (Napoleon (1927), J’accuse (1919) La Roue (1923); Jacques Feyder: Faces of Children (1925) Queen of Atlantis (1921); Marcel L’Hervier: L’Argent (1929), Maurice Tourneur: The Last of the Mohicans (1920), Lorna Doone (1922) and Julien Duvivier: Au Bonheur des Dames (1930).

In 1933, Cavalcanti went to England where he worked in various capacities for the GPO Film Unit, and in 1940 he joined the Ealing Studios where he directed and produced some notable propaganda films, namely Yellow Ceasar (1941) and Three Songs of Resistance (1943). After a decade back in Brazil in the 1950s, he returned to Europe and continued working in the film industry in France, East Germany and Israel.

Captain Fracasse marks the earliest period of Cavalcanti’s varied and colourful career. Interestingly, Abel Gance directed and co-wrote the screenplay for the 1943 version of Captain Fracasse, after four earlier films made in the years 1909, 1915, 1919 and the last of the silent era; 1929. It was re-made one more time in 1961, thereby firmly attesting to the popularity and high quality of this character and story.

No Silent Film Festival would be complete without a session dedicated to the Great Clowns of the silent screen, whose skill and talent in creating comedy were so enormous, that their antics continue to entertain generations nearly a century later, serving as a testament to their genius. Innocent and cartoon-like in nature, these short comedies are comical masterpieces, full of unpredictable, ridiculous and outrageous antics and stuntsCharlie Chaplin’s The Adventurer (1917) features a recurring theme in slapstick comedies, namely being chased by bungling policemen, making an enemy of the ever-present big, strong and ugly guy, and trying to impress the girl while hiding embarrassing shortcomings.

One of Chaplin’s contemporaries was Charley Chase, and in Mighty Like a Moose (1926) Chase is fabulously convincing as the ugly Mr. Moose with ‘teeth like a walrus’, married to a woman with a huge, unsightly nose. One day, this “homely couple” decided to have their flaws corrected without telling each other. The result is that their appearances changed so much that they did not recognize each other after their operations, leading to a ridiculous but thoroughly entertaining series of events.Affectionately nicknamed ‘The Great Stone Face’ because of his world-famous trademark deadpan expression, many modern-day scholars of film history believe Keaton was the greatest comedy master of them all. Looking beyond the funny façade, one cannot fail to marvel at the precise choreography of movements, stunts and action which create great moments of thrills and laughs. This painstaking planning is most evident in the chase and action scenes of Cops (1922) in which a ladder is used like a see-saw over a fence as Buster once again tries to elude the police. Cops is a highly regarded classic short comedy for its impressive scenes of crowds and dozens of cops chasing Buster through city streets.

Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars during the 1920s, starring in timeless classics such as The Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood, The Three Musketeers and The Iron Mask. During this decade which marked the height of his fame, he was married to “America’s Sweetheart”, actress Mary Pickford, and they became Hollywood’s first ‘golden couple’, establishing their home called “Pickfair” in Beverley Hills.

Before this golden decade, however, Fairbanks had already enjoyed a successful acting career; first on the Broadway stage and then in many entertaining and action-packed comedies from 1915 onwards. Wild and Woolly is a fine example of these early films in which his dynamic personality leaps out from the screen. His extraordinary athleticism also featured strongly, astounding audiences with his ability to perform physical feats with apparent ease.

Fairbanks enjoyed performing most of his own stunts, and in these earlier action-adventure comedies when stuntmen were not the norm, he performed quite a few daring action sequences to enthral his audience. In Wild and Woolly, he is able to showcase some of these feats and skills, especially horse-riding and using a lasso. Even though he only made a few Westerns, he appears to be a natural in this role of the city boy dreaming of being a cowboy in the old Wild West.

When his father’s business leads him to travel to a former Western town, the locals put on a show to make him believe that the old Wild West is still alive. But the illusion becomes amusing reality, and as in most films of this light comedy entertainment genre, he meets a girl and wins her heart.

Not only is Wild and Woolly a delightful sample of Fairbanks’s early work, but it also represents the kind of charming and innocent entertainment that audiences of the 1910s thronged to cinemas to enjoy.

Melbourne born Joseph Singleton plays the role of the butler here and also appears in the Festival’s Tourneur classic The Last of the Mohicans. He appeared in over 70 films in a Hollywood career from 1913-1925

As the title implies, The Marriage Circle is an extension of the ‘love triangle’, with various couples and their friends becoming confused or disillusioned due to misunderstandings and other quirky events in everyday life. The film is a success due to the director’s insight into human relations and his skill in present them in a humorous light.

Ernst Lubitsch found fame in Hollywood in the mid-1920s and enjoyed a rewarding career directing memorable films like Ninotchka (1939) with Greta Garbo, Trouble in Paradise (1942) and Heaven Can Wait (1943). The Marriage Circle was only his second film made in Hollywood after leaving his native Germany a few years earlier.

German silent cinema is usually associated with the visually artistic Expressionist style and the skilled directors that perpetuated it, most notably Fritz Lang (Metropolis) and Robert Wiene (The Cabinet of Dr Caligari). Among this elite group, Ernst Lubitsch displayed a unique cinematic style which set him apart from his famous contemporaries.

While most German filmmakers were being serious and artistic, Lubitsch was making original and unusual comedies, directing, and often co- writing and acting in many of them. In his films, Lubitsch portrayed human relations, and even life's tragedies as absurd and comical, but in a stylish and sophisticated manner which allowed audiences to laugh at them as well.

The Marriage Circle is a wonderful early example of Lubitsch refining a cinematic style of sophisticated comedy which would come to be known throughout Hollywood as "The Lubitsch Touch."

The Clinging Vine is a charming and delightful escapist fare which transports the viewer to a time of jazz and automobiles, maiden flights over the Atlantic, and women’s' liberation.

This light comedy was produced Cecil B DeMille, who was not only a leading director during the silent era, but under his supervision, his production company churned out many stylish and high quality films in a variety of genres.

More than just a comedy, The Clinging Vine also conveys the lifestyle and mindset of the 1920's generation. A popular actress of the era, Leatrice Joy is totally convincing as the over-efficient career woman who looks, dresses and acts like a man, but is transformed into an elegant and lovely lady with a little bit of coaching in how to be `a clinging vine' - that is, an eyelash-batting female who drapes herself off men as she says "oh, DO go on!" and appears to be completely dependent on male strength and intelligence.

Far from being insulting to the modern woman, however, The Clinging Vine is more sophisticated and clever than it initially appears because the joke really is on the shallow-minded menfolk who fall for the batting eyes rather than a woman's intelligence and competence. In fact, the essence of the story holds as much relevance to modern day audiences as it did during the 1920's, proving that when it comes to the affairs of men and women, some things never change

Also known as The Horse Ate the Hat and in the original French, Un Chapeau de Paille d’Italie, The Italian Straw Hat is a charming and delightful escape to late 19th century France, even though it was made in 1927 and based on a play originally set in 1851.

Renowned French filmmaker and director, René Clair, earned his reputation as one of the greatest directors during the early 1930s, but for many decades since then, his earlier silent films have been overlooked; this farcical comedy being one of them.

However, The Italian Straw Hat is now considered one of Europe’s most elegant and wittiest comedies ever made. It has very few intertitles compared to other films made during 1927, the story being carried along by the action and performers so well as to make title cards unnecessary much of the time, This is one of the hallmarks of the perfectly-executed work of art that is the silent film.

Although critically praised upon its initial release in Paris, the film did not fare well commercially. Modern critics have embraced the film and reaffirmed it as an exquisite piece of filmmaking. In retrospect, it seems that René Clair’s first big artistic (rather than commercial) success, at the age of only thirty, established the themes and style for the remainder of his career.