Summer Silent Film Festival - Sustainable means more than Kilowatts

Community that plays together, stays together: sustainability through culture

Outdoor film screenings are the stuff of summer love, all over the world.
For Summer Cinema in Bonn, Germany, it’s a little different. George Clooney won’t play this summer, but rather … Charlie Chaplin.
A Silent Film Festival of this sort exists nowhere else in the world.
For eleven days each August, locals gather beneath the stars  and attend the Bonn Summer Silent Film Festival a “Screen on the green” of sorts. Within the large courtyard at the University of Bonn, community happens. Each night, as the twilight comes, a surprise dawns on the crowd: “I didn’t think silent films were so entertaining!” whispers the murmur through the audience. Once beloved but now forgotten stars of 1920s Hollywood, (and their European, Mexican, Korean or Japanese counterparts) grace the screen once again.
In the early age of film making, lack of sound technology demanded creativity on the part of directors and actors. Subtitles carried the stories.  Expressive faces were a must. Slapstick humor went far.
2010 marks the 26th season of the Bonn Silent Film Festival. For 10 nights in mid August, at 9pm, a crowd of 1500 movie goers sit in open air, regardless of weather, to watch films. Shorts of 10 minutes, as well as features 120 minutes long play. Some are black and white. Others showcase the early days of color. Known and unknown films and actors share the screen. Not a person falls asleep.
Professional silent film musicians (there are such) improvise accompanying music, live.  A piano, violin, and drums provide themes of suspense, victory, and romance. The audience sits in folding chairs before a giant sixteen by twenty-two foot screen.  Experienced film goers know to bring an umbrella or light blanket in case -- the program runs rain or shine.

A single curator selects the films to feature during the program. Archival film libraries offer the films for such festivals. The array of films is characterized by diverse genres, lengths, languages and origin countries.
Despite the cost, there is no entry fee. Bonn Film Culture Organization (Förderverein Filmkultur Bonn) believes that, “Film is relevant for the larger public, regardless of income level,” according to Sigrid Limprecht, of the Förderverein Filmkultur Bonn. The City of Bonn, and the State in which it resides, provide half the funding; the other half comes from donations, concessions and sponsorships. The University of Bonn donates the space.
The popular event inevitably leaves a line of late comers without a seat. Local politicians pick the summer film event as a place to network, greet their constituents, and if appropriate, make a speech! A mixed demographic is also drawn: the elderly sit beside the young. In 2009 more than 22,000 people attended over the 10 day event.
Even if not all fall in love with their neighbor, they surely will fall in love with silent film.
www.film-ist-kultur.de/sommerkino/