Even the most beautiful tram ride eventually comes to a halt. Even the transcontinental railroad has a beginning and an end. It is also true that after eight days of divas, detours, detectives and decadence, the Giornate del Cinema Muto closes its doors for another year. I had a wonderful festival with great films and better friends. I am overwhelmed by the strength and creativity of this silent film community. As Catherine Cormon said when she accepted her Jean Mitry award, the goal is for this festival to keep going and going, so we continue to deepen our relationship with our silent film heritage. Film won’t save itself.
Continue reading Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2026: Pordenone Post No 8Tag Archives: GCM45
Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2026: Pordenone Post No 7
Let’s begin in the logical place, at the very end of the day. Tonight was a gala night in Pordenone, a celebration of some of my favourite women. For sure we had Pola Negri and Gloria Swanson on the big screen, but if you want a really iconic duo, check out our Jean Mitry prize-winners, Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi and Catherine Cormon from Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. I don’t pretend to know everyone in the film archiving world but I know enough to know that these two were very worthy winners. And Elif’s speech in which she talked about expanding the canon, refusing to accept that films were lost, and “acts of resistance against the establishment” made my heart sing.
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Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2026: Pordenone Post No 6
I have spent a lot of words on Le Giornate del Cinema Muto so maybe I need some new ones. Conveniently enough, day six of the festival proved a fruitful day for neologisms – right from the start.
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Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2026: Pordenone Post No 5
Even here at Pordenone, not every film you watch can be a masterpiece. So rest assured that tonight’s gala screening of A Page of Madness (Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1926), with live benshi narration from Kataoka Ichirō, more than fulfilled the festival’s chef d’oeuvre quotient for the day. It screened in the evening, with more shorts, all accompanied by benshi narrators and live music from Matsumura Makia, Katada Kisayo and Kiyomoto Nobuakira. Five stars all round. And there is another benshi programme tomorrow morning, featuring another canonical Japanese silent, one I may perhaps even prefer, so we are truly blessed.
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Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2026: Pordenone Post No 4
“There is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” So the Bible says, but there was much rejoicing in heaven, or rather the second balcony of the Teatro Verdi, today over Seven Sinners (Lewis Milestone, 1925). And we don’t repent a second of it.
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Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2026: Pordenone Post No 3
Pordenone is basically a very long tram ride, and although the views at every stop are very diverting, I have no intention of disembarking any time soon.
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Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2026: Pordenone Post No 2
If you are anything like me, then you may well consider the two-hour flight to Italy for the Pordenone Silent Film Festival at least partially justified by the chance to see four minutes of a lost FW Murnau film. Right or wrong, it’s how we’re made. And yes today I did get to see two separate fragments of Murnau’s Satanas (1920). Well, they say the devil has all the best films.
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Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2026: Pordenone Post No 1
The long hot summer of 2026 continues here at Pordenone. The first day of festivities for the 45th Pordenone Silent Film Festival dawned with a blaze of sunshine, a bustling market and an abundance of good vibes in northern Italy. And we closed with the glow of the Spanish sun. Now, to my mind, it is never truly autumn until Le Giornate del Cinema Muto has shut up shop for the year, but bonfire night edged a little closer with the new fizzing and sparkling festival logo that greeted us at the gala tonight.
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