Top musical acts Caliph8, Corporate Lo-fi, Kalayo, Nyko Maca and jazz artist Johnny Alegre Affinity provide live accompaniment to this year’s roster of films for 3rd International Silent Film Festival which opens on July 30 at the Shangri-la Cineplex in Mandaluyong City.

Hosted by the Goethe-Institut Manila, Instituto Cervantes, Japan Foundation and the Embassies of France and Italy, this year’s line-up is a nice mix of genres in film and music making each screening a unique experience. According to Paula Guevara of Goethe-Institut’s Program Department, “Each year, we look forward to the public “discovering” silent films through the bands that provide the live scores.”

This year’s festival includes films from Japan, Italy, Germany, Spain and France and each festival co-organizer had a hand in selecting the films.  Germany, who has a strong tradition in silent movies lends numerous choices and good directors to choose from:  among them include Fritz Lang, FW Murnau and Ernst Lubitsch.  This year’s choice from Germany is a “lesser known” film, shares Guevarra.  “It’s practically a documentary since the ‘actors’ played themselves and aren’t really actors.”  As pointed out by critics, she continues, the film is a snapshot of Germany a few years before the rise of Hitler.

Silent films viewed with live music started in 2004 in Manila, with the response being overwhelmingly positive, and future editions of the German Silent Film Festival were held.  And while we now have the technology to record sound on film, silent film festivals are still held in places like San Francisco and Pordenone, Italy.