Following the success of last year's inaugural festival there will be more screenings this year, but the mixture will be as before: classic dramas, timeless comedies, and something a little unexpected and experimental.

2006 saw the first ever Wiveliscombe Festival of Silent Cinema which presented a varied programme of three classic Buster Keaton comedies, a pioneer horror film (Nosferatu), two enlightening documentaries showing life during the period of the Weimar Republic in the shadow of the Depression and the imminent rise of Hitler, and a controversial drama from the golden age of German cinema, Pabst's Pandora's Box.

Following the success of that inaugural festival, both in terms of attendances and the enthusiastic feedback we received, we are going to show a second season, which will kick-off the 10 Parishes Festival. The Silents Festival opens on the evening of Friday 7th September and will present five shows between then and the evening of Sunday 9th.

The season will feature a mix of films similar to last year’s: dramatic masterpieces, great comedies and documentaries and something experimental. Screenings include Murnau’s brilliant story of love and betrayal, Sunrise, the dazzling Soviet documentary Man with a Movie Camera, the bizarre Expressionist chiller The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Buster Keaton’s celebrated comedy Steamboat Bill Junior, featuring one of the most famous and risky stunts in cinema history, and Piccadilly, set amidst the glamour of London’s jazz-age night-clubs.

Refreshments, including ice-creams and wine, will again be available at all screenings.

Shows will take place at the Wiveliscombe Primary School Hall, North Street, Wiveliscombe, Somerset TA4 2LA. Tickets will be £4 for individual shows or £16 for the season. Watch this space and look out for posters and leaflets in July for final programme details and information. Tickets will be available from the Wiveliscombe Community Office, The Square, Wiveliscombe, TA4 2JT. 01984 624777

Barry Witherden, Eddie Gaines & Pauline Homeshaw

Why Silents?

Why watch silent films in these high-definition, surround-sound, digitally-enhanced times? The answer is simple: the best silent comedies are still hilarious, the best silent dramas and documentaries still tell us something about human emotions, about how people lived, loved and hoped in earlier times and different social conditions. The Wiveliscombe Festival of Silent Cinema gives you a rare opportunity to see some of the classic films from the 1920s.

What you see is what you get!

One of the most exciting things about silent films is that most actions were done for real, usually by the stars, with no harnesses, wires, superimposition, matte-shots or, of course, computer-generated imagery. The directors of several recent action films have gone back to using stunt-men and real-time mechanical effects because audiences are tiring of computer trickery: where anything is possible, nothing is surprising. It’s the immediacy, the feel of authenticity and the experimentation with techniques that were not yet commonplace, that make silent films so alive.

The Sound of Silents

Silent films may have been filmed without sound, but they were never intended to be watched without it. In the biggest cinemas films would be accompanied by orchestras playing specially-composed music and supplying sound effects. Even the smallest provincial cinema would have a pianist who would follow cues in a "crib" book supplied by the producers or improvise the accompaniment. Today’s restored prints have a musical soundtrack added but, as in 2006, we are hoping to have live music at some screenings, budget permitting.