VIVA LA DANCE is part of the film retrospective UNSEEN CINEMA that explores long-forgotten American experimental cinema.. Dance and film have shared the aspiration to creatively sculpt motion and time. Some of the first films ever made featured Annabelle’s skirt dance, hand-painted in glowing colors. Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis’ innovations found their way into Diana the Huntress (1916) and Soul of the Cypress (1920). Highly cinematic renditions...

Early cinematic pioneers directed these seven charming, emotional silent films based on the plays of William Shakespeare. Considered a "lowbrow" medium at the time, the movie industry sought to elevate its status by immortalizing the Bard's classics and casting the greatest actors of the day. As most of these early photoplays were only one or two reels long, adapting the Bill's work proved both challenging and inspiring. Whatever these films gave...

GEORGES MeLIeS built the world's first movie studio in 1896 near Paris; from it cascaded fantastic magic films, dream films, historical reconstructions, imaginary journeys, melodramas, slapstick comedies -- even erotic films. A genuine virtuoso, Melies produced and directed his films while also devising the narratives; designing the sets, costumes and props; and frequently performing the leading parts. Arranged in chronological order, this comprehensive...

Typical of Gaumont’s output at the time and an example of cinema’s early presentational style, this humorous “demonstration” film showcases a vaudeville act featuring a Miss Dundee and her trained dogs. While the dogs perform tricks like jumping over platforms and sticks, a male aide briefly assists Miss Dundee, who herself is part of the attraction. Music by Frederick Hodges.

THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND is part of the film retrospective UNSEEN CINEMA that explores long-forgotten American experimental cinema.. Edwin S. Porter and other early filmmakers used bizarre sets, fantastic costumes, and magic lantern tricks to illuminate their fantasy films. American parody supplied Douglas Fairbanks with enough unusual material to produce the truly surreal When the Clouds Roll By (1919). An expressionistic The Cabinet of Dr. Calagari...

This historical drama, which depicts a young boy caught by accident in revolutionary conflict, is notable for its unceremonious depiction of a firing squad in action. Remarkable for its confident use of the full frame, it anticipates Guy’s later films made in the United States. Music by Frederick Hodges.

INVERTED NARRATIVES is part of the retrospective UNSEEN CINEMA that explores long-forgotten American experimental cinema.. In this collection, early directors D.W. Griffith and Lois Weber develop the radical language of cinema narrative through audience-friendly melodramas made for nickelodeon theaters. Experimental fantasies are depicted in such independent productions as MOONLAND (c.1926), LULLABY (1929), and THE BRIDGE (1929-30). Depression era...

This straightforward family melodrama was filmed while Solax was still located in Flushing, New York. FALLING LEAVES echoes aspects of O’Henry’s 1907 short story “The Last Leaf” and depicts the clever attempts of a concerned young girl trying to save her older sister who is dying of consumption. Music by Tamar Muskal.

In this drama about a man’s gambling addiction and the woman who loves him, Guy Blaché is a master of cinematic space and skillfully stages the action in the foreground and background of the frame. This film is also notable for the nightmare sequence, which, via superimposition, depicts playing cards circling the man and pulls us into his dizzying burden. Music by Frederick Hodges.

While this film is, according to film historian Alison McMahan, “‘against’ the oppression of women,” it “tells us more about the social and economic pressures to ‘Americanize’” and assimilate foreigners like Guy Blaché. The film follows an Eastern European couple that comes to the United States, where the husband learns four lessons in “Americanism.” Music by Frederick Hodges.