FILM
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HIPPFEST Silent cinema festival returns to Bo’ness
Now in its sixth year, HippFest – the Hippodrome Festival of Silent Cinema – is in its element. Taking place at the beautiful Hippodrome (Scotland’s oldest purpose-built cinema) in Bo’ness, this year’s programme is announced on Tue 9 Feb. But director Alison Strauss has already revealed 2016’s opening event: a screening of Alexander Dovzhenko’s Earth, with a new live accompaniment from musicians Hazel Morrison and Jane Gardner. First released in 1930, Earth is a classic of silent cinema and was commissioned by Stalin as a propaganda i lm for collectivisation. ‘The photography and direction is stunning, even to watch in 2016,’ says Gardner. ‘It’s an epic piece of philosophical and visual art, which happens to have been made in the Soviet era. It can be appreciated on many levels though, and you
don’t need to be a historian or cinephile to enjoy it.’
Along with HippFest fans Mark Kermode and Neil Brand, Gardner and Morrison are festival regulars and 2016 marks their fourth time performing together at the festival. ‘Though the process of putting a long i lm accompaniment together can be quite hard work, Hazel always makes it fun,’ Gardner says. ‘We have kind of a telepathic way of communicating in music, which is special.’
HippFest’s location is particularly special too, as the glitz and glamour of the silent era takes over Bo’ness for a long weekend. ‘The whole town gets involved,’ adds Morrison. ‘This really puts Bo’ness on the map.’ (Yasmin Sulaiman) ■ HippFest, Bo’ness, Wed 16–Sun 20 Mar, hippfest.co.uk
4 Feb–7 Apr 2016 THE LIST 59