Sound of Silents returns to the Irish Film Institute on Saturday, April 8th with a programme of colourful, rarely screened silent films from the IFI Irish Film Archive dating from 1914 to 1955. The films will be accompanied by live improvised scores from Bottlenote Music.
Presented in association with MusicTown 2017, this year’s programme has a distinct German flavour and includes a German newsreel purportedly filmed during the Irish Rising of 1914; the first transatlantic flight by Irish and German pilots (1928); portraits of German-born artists Irina Brady (1943) and Imogen Stuart (1955); and scenes from the Aran Islands in the 1940s by ethnographer Heinrich Becker.
The music, curated by Shane Latimer of Bottlenote, will feature performances by Seán MacErlaine and Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh, who will be joined by musicians from the Ruhr area of Germany, saxophonists Julius Gabriel and Florian Walter, and electronic artist Achim Zepezauer.
This year’s collaboration with Bottlenote and their German counterparts has created an exciting new framework for exploring the collections. We have found unusual echoes of German presence in Ireland woven throughout the amateur and professional collections. We look forward to hearing what musical response the films might trigger from our international band.
Sunniva O’Flynn, Head of Irish Film Programming
Now in its third year, MusicTown will run from 7 – 17 April, celebrating the rich musical heritage and contemporary artistic lifeblood of Dublin City. For full programme details, please visit www.musictown.ie.
Tickets for From the Vaults: The Sound of Silents on April 8th at 14.00 and 20.30 are available from the IFI on 01 6793477 or at www.ifi.ie.
This programme is supported by MusicTown 2017, Goethe Institut Irland, and Jazz Offensive Essen.