Bo'ness silent film festival set to get everyone talking about classic cinema in 2023

Yes, it’s the Hippodrome Silent Film Festival – affectionately known as HippFest to those who go for the whole brevity thing – which returns for its 13th year next month with a cracking programme of ancient cinematic excellence.

In this age of Tik Tok and disposable prime ministers, it’s good to dip our toes back in the warm clear water of days gone by and delight in these action-packed accounts of life and love as it was in the early 20th Century.

Tickets are now on sale for this year's festival, which runs at the historic Bo’ness Hippodrome from Wednesday, March 22 to Sunday, March 26.

HippFest director Alison Strauss said: “HippFest has grown to be a world class festival for silent film, cultivating a real community of people who share an adventurous appetite for extraordinary cinema and live music.

"We can’t wait to welcome everyone to explore the programme with us, and to come and be part of the unique atmosphere of the Festival, of Bo’ness and of the Hippodrome itself.

"The team has worked incredibly hard to pull together all the ingredients of HippFest that our audiences love, and this year the mix of great films, great fun and great music will be hard to beat.”

The Blue Bird (1928), Maurice Tourneur’s fantasy fairy-tale of two children’s quest for happiness, opens proceedings on Wednesday, March 22. The film will be accompanied by the world premiere of a new commission by Sonic Bothy, an award-winning Glasgow-based inclusive ensemble that explores, composes and performs experimental and contemporary music.

HippFest might feature silent films, but there are talks aplenty during the festival, including critic and filmmaker David Cairns and Chris Heppell, a campaigner with Changing Faces, the UK’s Visible Difference and Disfigurement charity, a presentation entitled All Faces are Masks: Visible Difference in Silent Cinema.

The talk will examine the ambivalent attitude of Hollywood to themes of disfigurement and difference with images and clips from The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Man who Laughs, explore the early origins of the horror genre, and discuss the I Am Not Your Villain campaign, which calls out those in the film industry using scars, burns or marks as a shorthand for villainy.

The Man who Laughs – thought to be the inspiration for Batman’s nemesis The Joker – will be shown as part of the HippFest Community screening programme at the atmospheric Victorian Barony Theatre on Saturday, March and at the Hippodrome on Saturday, March 25.

Thursday’s programming begins with an extremely rare and precious silent film collection depicting rural life in Ireland in the 1920s. Step back in time with Kathy Rose O’Regan of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival as she presents The Accidental Anthropologist: Benjamin T. Gault, footage captured by American naturalist Benjamin T. Gault from his time in west Kerry and Cork.

In the evening HippFest travels to the Canadian Northwest and an exciting, dramatised reconstruction of the authentic ways of life of the Ojibway indigenous tribe. The Silent Enemy (1930) features an all-Native American cast and follows the tribe as they struggle to survive in the face of hunger. The film will be accompanied by Günter Buchwald on piano and violin, with Frank Bockius on percussion.

Then on Friday – often viewed as the funniest day of the week – it’s a double bill of silent comedies with Master of the House (1925), a gently funny battle of the sexes and the hilarious farce What Happened to Jones (1926) with live musical accompaniment from Neil Brand (piano) and Frank Bockius (percussion).

The weekend starts, as all weekends should, with HippFest’s traditional Jeely Jar screening – a double bill of silent Charlie Chase comedies with Dog Shy (1926) and Mighty Like a Moose (1926) with live musical accompaniment from Neil Brand on piano.

Saturday afternoon is a centenary celebration featuring top movie mutt Rin Tin Tin in Where the North Begins (1923) with live musical accompaniment from John Sweeney (piano).

Later in the afternoon, award-winning American author, historian and filmmaker Mindy Johnson will present The Only Woman Animator: Bessie Mae Kelley and Women at the Dawn of the Animation Industry and reveal the hitherto untold “herstory” of Bessie Mae Kelley.

Saturday evening begins with In Spring (1929), a devastatingly poignant portrait of Kyiv filmed a few years after a brief spell of independence and on the cusp of its subsequent subjugation by the Soviet Union.

HippFest is proud to welcome Ukrainian musicians Roksana Smirnova and Misha Kalinin to the Hippodrome for the UK premiere of their new score for this film.

On Sunday afternoon Laurel and Hardy appear in Angora Love (1929) and Bacon Grabbers (1929) with Meg Morley (piano) and Frank Bockius (percussion) performing live.

Sunday evening features the “hair-larious” Swedish/German romantic comedy His Majesty the Barber (1928) with live musical accompaniment from John Sweeney (piano).

The 2023 festival closes with film business satire Shooting Stars (1928) with Stephen Horne providing live accompaniment on piano, flute, and accordion.

Lesley O’Hare, Falkirk Council cultural services manager, said: “We are proud to present this 13th edition of the Hippodrome Silent Film Festival at the Hippodrome Cinema in Bo’ness and would like to thank the Festival’s core funders, local businesses, artists, and musicians for their continued support in making HippFest one of Scotland’s finest cultural celebrations.

"Showcasing the region and community outreach has always been at the core of the festival and we are proud to deliver the Hippodrome’s Pay-It-Forward scheme at HippFest, which subsidises tickets and travel for someone in the community to experience the joy of silent film with live music who otherwise would not be able to attend.”

Visit the website for tickets and more information about HippFest 2023.