With just days to go for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) to be celebrating its Golden Jubilee Edition in 2019 in the sea side state of Goa, the Festival will witness a specially curated section which pays tribute to the lost form of silent film viewing where three classics by three master filmmakers will be showcased.
The films are, Battleship Potemkin by Russian master filmmaker and pioneer of montage editing Sergei M. Eisenstein, Pandora’s Box by German Expressionist Master G.W. Pabst and master of suspense and British filmmaker, Alfred Hitchcock’s Blackmail. The films will be accompanied by master pianist Jonathan Lindsay Best from the United Kingdom who will be performing live during the screenings of these movies at IFFI.
Film as a form originally started as a vaudeville form of entertainment in its nascent stage, and
at that point sound was not part of it. It was primarily a visual medium which was often an extension of painting or drawing and with the advent of camera it became something different. In earlier times, films would be conceptualised as a visual spectacle without any sound.
The only sound would be the live music which would accompany a particular film’s screening at a particular place by an esteemed music composer. With the advent of sound films this feature of the film viewing experience soon faded out. This year’s IFFI will witness the very significance that silent film plays.
It is noteworthy to mention that 2019 marks the 50th year of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which is often counted amongst one of the earliest film festivals of the Asian continent. The 50th International Film Festival of India, 2019 will witness around 200 best films from 76 countries, 26 feature films and 15 non feature films in Indian panorama section and more than 10,000 people and film lovers are expected to participate in the golden jubilee edition.
