Every year, the Toronto Silent Film Festival (TSFF) screens some of the world’s finest silent films. And every year these films are paired with music, improvised and played live by accomplished artists. This is my favourite way of seeing and experiencing this type of films… Not only am I transported back in time but in darkness, I’m also immersed in live music. This is the way I’ve discovered some classic silent films, which I now call favourites.

This year’s TSFF line up definitely includes some classics, for me, and is definitely diverse:

Thursday April 4th, 8pm
Passion of Joan of Arc, 1928 (France)
Director: Carl T. Dreyer
Cast: Renée Falconetti, Eugene Silvain, André Berley
Co-produced with Scaramella
Keynote Speaker: Alicia Fletcher

In 1928, Carl Theodor Dreyer turned the story of Joan of Arc’s final hours into one of cinema’s most profound works. And his star—stage actress Renée Falconetti—delivered what critic Pauline Kael later called the finest performance ever recorded on film.

This screening of The Passion of Joan of Arc will feature the world premiere of Tom Peter’s newly composed score, to be performed live by Tom Peters and Joelle Morton, Artistic Director of Scaramella.

Friday April 5th, 7:30pm
Tokyo Chorus, 1931 (Japan)
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Cast: Tokihiko Okada, Emiko Yagumo, Hideo Sugawara, Hideko Takamine
Musical Interpretation: Laura Silberberg
Introduced by Chris MaGee, Shinsedai Film Festival

A man with a young family loses his job… Tokyo Chorus, the finest of Ozu’s surviving silents, blends delicacy, sensitivity, and farce, creating a film experience you will never forget.

Saturday April 6th, 4pm
The Crowd, 1928 USA)
Director: King Vidor
Cast: Eleanor Broadman, James Murray
Musical Interpretation: Laura Silberberg

John Sims, born on the 4th of July, seems destined for a future as promising as America’s own. But director King Vidor has other plans.

PLUS… The Best Films of TUFF 2012 (Toronto Urban Film Festival)

Sunday April 7th, 4pm
1000 Laffs: Slapstick Smorgasbord
Including: Laurel & Hardy, Charley Chase, Max Davidson, Roscoe Arbuckle, Harold Lloyd
Musical Interpretation: Fern Lindzon

This year’s Slapstick Smorgasbord celebrates the illogical logic that forms the unspoken rule of silent comedy, as enacted by the era’s greatest practitioners, including TSFF favourite Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle, highly-embarrassed man-about-town Charley Chase, perpetually heroic & in-a-hurry Harold Lloyd, poor forgotten Max Davidson, and Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy.

Monday April 8th, 8pm
Toronto Theatre Organ Society presents a Mary Pickford Birthday Celebration
My Best Girl, 1927 (USA)
Director: Sam Taylor
Cast: Mary Pickford, Charles “Buddy” Rogers, Lucien Littlefield, Sunshine Hart
Musical Interpretation: Clark Wilson on the Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ

My Best Girl was Pickford’s final silent film, and one of her greatest. The star’s talents, still at their peak, are further enriched by the cinematography of Charles Rosher, who was fresh from photographing Sunrise. This simple tale of love and laughs is one of the highlights of the late-silent period.

Tuesday April 9th, 7pm
The Railrodder, 1965 (Canada)
Director: Gerald Potterton
Cast: Buster Keaton

The General, 1926 (USA)
Directors: Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton
Cast: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack

This screening will be accompanied by Australia’s Viola Dana Quartet

Considered by most critics and fans to be Buster Keaton’s greatest achievement, The General’s array of sight gags, twists and turns have been blowing audiences away for nearly a century. A comedy that’s always on-track, The General is a must-see for anyone.

The films will be screened at different venues throughout Toronto. They include the Carlton Cinema, Innis Town Hall, the Fox Theatre, the Revue Cinema, and the historical Casa Loma. They are easily accessible and definitely provide a unique setting for each of these films. For ticketing and theatre information visit torontosilentfilmfestival.com.