March 29, 2005

48th San Francisco International Film Festival to Present Silent Films with Live Music; Alloy Orchestra and American Music Club to Perform

The 48th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21—May 5) is pleased to present three programs of silent film screenings with live, original music performances by San Francisco—based American Music Club and the musical ensemble, Alloy Orchestra. All of these programs will take place at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. STREET ANGEL with American Music Club will screen on Saturday, April 23 at 9:00 pm and BLACKMAIL and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA with Alloy Orchestra will screen on Monday, April 25 at 7:00 pm and 9:15 pm, respectively.

"We are delighted to present for the first time at the Festival one of San Francisco's favorite bands, American Music Club, who will perform a new score for Frank Borzage's silent classic STREET ANGEL," said Linda Blackaby. "This dark and tragic tale is a perfect pairing with American Music Club's penchant for melodrama." Silent film star Janet Gaynor plays hard-luck Angela who finds true love with her artist fiancé Gino (Charles Farrell). Her arrest for prostitution on the eve of her wedding sets things back a bit in this 1928 silent film masterpiece.

Since forming in San Francisco in 1983, American Music Club has become notorious for their adventurousness, naked emotionalism and unpredictable, volcanic performances. They are arguably the most significant cult band since the Velvet Underground. Radiohead, Coldplay and Pearl Jam all cite their influence. After eight albums, the band split up in 1995 and reassembled in 2003 to produce Love Songs for Patriots, a passion play of politics and everyday melodrama, filled with lush and tantalizing soundscapes. The world premiere of American Music Club's score for STREET ANGEL reels from operatic tradition to glam rock, circus music to musique concrete and features the heart-rending voice and lyrics of Mark Eitzel.

"We are so pleased to welcome back Alloy Orchestra who continue to surprise and delight audiences with their unique blend of classical and "found" sounds," said Linda Blackaby, director of programming. "With these screenings the Festival will be offering film enthusiasts the extraordinary opportunity to enjoy cinema legend Alfred Hitchcock's BLACKMAIL (1929) and the rarely seen classic THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925), directed by Rupert Julian."

BLACKMAIL holds the unique distinction of being both Hitchcock's finest silent film and the first British talkie. The sound version has long been a staple of academic cinema classes. Its pioneering use of sound effects, interior monologues and strategically placed silences is studied as a precursor to the potential of cinematic sound. But the hubbub surrounding such early sound use has caused the silent version to fade from popular memory. This presentation of the silent version of BLACKMAIL offers a rare opportunity to discover a Hitchcock film classic. Alloy Orchestra also lends its unique aural vision to another classic, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. The grotesque and the ravishing coexist in this seminal work of gothic horror. Lon Chaney's tormented Phantom plays Svengali to the ambitious, but terribly naive Christine. The original color processes have been painstakingly duplicated, spotlighting the films spectacular sets and photography.

Alloy Orchestra cofounder Ken Winokur supervised the making of a new color print. Following the director's intent, 217 tint changes were replicated. While other two-strip Technicolor scenes no longer exist, the masked ball sequence is beautifully preserved. Finally, the lesser-known Handschiegl painted stencil method is reproduced. Accompanied by Alloy's new score, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA will be a viscerally exciting and visually dazzling experience.

Alloy Orchestra (featuring Roger Miller of the influential punk/art ensemble Mission of Burma), internationally renowned as well as a San Francisco favorite, will perform its original score for the two classic films. The Massachusetts-based musical ensemble's original sound is as brilliantly inventive as the films they accompany. Working with an outrageous assemblage of peculiar objects, Alloy Orchestra thrashes and grinds soulful music from unlikely sources. An unusual combination of found percussion and state-of-the-art electronics gives the band the ability to create any sound imaginable. Utilizing their "rack of junk" and electronic synthesizers, the group generates beautiful music in a spectacular variety of styles. Paste Magazine is the sponsor of the silent film and live music accompanied programs.

The 48th San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 21—May 5, 2005 at the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres, the Home of the Festival, the Castro Theatre, the Palace of Fine Arts, Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center and the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco; the Pacific Film Archive Theater in Berkeley; and Landmark's Aquarius Theatre in Palo Alto. Tickets for San Francisco Film Society members will be available on March 29 and for the general public on April 5. To purchase tickets and for ticket information log on to www.sffs.org, call 925.866.9559 or visit the Main Ticket Outlet, located in the atrium of the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres, 1881 Post Street or the Satellite Ticket Outlet at the Virgin Megastore, 2 Stockton Street. For up-to-date Festival information log on to www.sffs.org or call 415.561.5000.

The 48th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21—May 5, 2005) is presented by the San Francisco Film Society, a nonprofit arts and educational organization dedicated to celebrating international film and the moving image.