With the Mayfair theatre’s Month of Silence Film Festival set to launch next week, local musicians, actors and composers are preparing to recreate an almost forgotten way of showing films, providing live accompaniment and sound effects to nine classic silent films.
Now in its second year, the festival emerged through the success of silent film screenings at the Mayfair, which began after coming under new management in 2009.
But for the theatre’s general manager and music director Mike Dubué, the festival is also his way of giving back.
“I’m hoping to inspire others to get up and be creative and think outside the box. There’s been lots of things in the past in this city that have inspired me and encouraged me to continue,” he said over a pint of beer. “I think the more that we do this the more the city will flourish artistically.”
Dubué said his passion towards scoring films played a crucial role in the festival’s line up. Each of the films on this year’s list, which has grown from four to nine, is done to original music from local composers and bands, including some of Dubué’s own.
Although all four films from last year’s festival are back in the line-up, Dubué decided to profile more than just horror films this time round.
“There are only so many good silent horror films,” Dubué said. “I kind of wanted to touch everything, so there’s a lot of classics and a couple of really rare ones”
One of the already-pegged major highlights of the festival is the Oct. 29 screening of the 1968 zombie classic Night of the Living Dead, featuring live dialogue done by the Mayfair Players and music performed by the Mayfair orchestra. Although the film is not traditionally silent, audiences are intrigued.
“It’s fresh and original and I think people get off on that and it happens to be theatrical public domain,” says Dubué. “Plus it happens to be one of the greatest movies ever made, too.”
While Night of the Living Dead has been slotted as the festival’s main success, Dubué said he is also hoping to introduce some more unknown silent film masterpieces. Dubué has dedicated the night of Oct. 4 to Canadian silent filmmaker, director and actress Nell Shipman. Credited for being on of the first directors to shoot her films almost entirely on location, Shipman is now a relatively obscure piece of Canadian film history.
“I can’t believe that there was a woman in the film industry, who’s Canadian and that dominant on the film scene and I didn’t know about her,” he said in awe “I find it really empowering to know that that existed in our history. You don’t find that today, unfortunately.”
The festival runs Oct. 2–29 at the Mayfair Theatre. Special admission rates apply for these screenings and vary depending on the film, but range from $10–$20 for students.