NSFF2024

To express interest in presenting an event at NSFF, please email Northern Silents. If you already know which film(s) you want to do, that’s great. If you’re not sure, the following programming themes and ideas might help. You could choose one of the films listed here, or perhaps a theme or genre might be of interest, and Northern Silents can help you select a specific film or films. If you want to do something completely different to these suggestions, that’s no problem - we’re open to all kinds of ideas.

Non-fiction

There is a whole world of silent film documentary to choose from. In particular, two beautiful BFI restorations are celebrating their centenary. The Epic of Everest is the official record of Mallory and Irvine’s 1924 expedition, and The Great White Silence is the record of Captain Scott’s expedition to the South Pole. Both films are visually stunning and deeply moving, and offer wonderful opportunities for live scoring.

Drama

There is a whole lifetime of films to explore. British cinema is often overlooked - the BFI has a varied collection and we can guide you through the options. European drama can make a strong impact on audiences. Weimar Germany is a phenomenally rich area of programming, especially suitable for a cine-literate audience which might not have had much (or any) silent film experience. GW Pabst’s Pandora’s Box and Murnau’s The Last Laugh are two well-known examples. Scandinavian cinema offers huge opportunities, and its archives are accessible and helpful. And there’s Hollywood of course - to pick one example, Douglas Fairbanks’ Arabian Nights adventure The Thief of Baghdad is celebrating its centenary this year (and we have never screened it). If you’ve a particular genre in mind, or a star or subject matter, we can help you sift through the options.

Events for children

Northern Silents has developed several live-scored silent film events for children, mixing performance, play, and musical participation with film, including animation. We continue to develop our children’s programme and welcome enquiries from venues who would like to programme this work.

Hallowe’en

Hallowe’en always coincides with NSFF and we’d love to hear your ideas for spooky films. We hope to see The Hands of Orlac and The Golem in this year’s festival - and both are celebrating centenaries in 2024. (We won’t be accepting proposals to screen Nosferatu or The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari - we’re giving these two stalwarts a rest for a year or two).

How Northern Silents can help

Northern Silents is a freelance organisation without permanent staff or core funding. We are happy to help and advise unfunded, volunteer-led community groups without any charge. For funded organisations with paid staff, we’re happy to have an initial free consultation via Zoom. If you'd like more support from us - whether that’s programming, marketing, or music - let us know your needs and we will quote a modest fee.

A few things to bear in mind…

To keep the festival fresh and avoid repetition of the same films, there are a few limitations on programming choices. If a film was in last year’s festival, or we know it will be in next year’s, we won’t include it this year. Likewise, we’ll make sure films aren’t duplicated in the same local area.

Sourcing and licensing silent film can be complicated and the costs vary hugely. We can guide you through it and help you find films to suit your budget and your audiences. Where we work frequently with a particular archive, we can sometimes facilitate cost savings by licensing multiple screenings. For others, we’ll direct you to the archive or distributor concerned so you can make your own arrangements. All NSFF screenings must be licensed before they can be included in the programme.