BIRTH OF THE MODERN INDUSTRIAL CITY accompanied by The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

Special Offsite Event!

The Cinematheque at the Cleveland Museum of Art

2023 Cleveland Silent Film Festival

USA/USSR, 1924/29, unknown/Dziga Vertov

The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra (see 9/7) accompanies two very different silent films about the birth of the modern industrial city. First up is The Heart of Cleveland, a 1924 short film produced for the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company. The movie follows two farm children, living without modern conveniences outside of Cleveland, who fly to the big city to witness the wonders of electricity. Recently discovered at Cinecraft Productions in Ohio City, and digitized and archived by the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, DE, and restored with a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation, The Heart of Cleveland features glorious aerial shots of Cleveland during its industrial heyday. Kevin Martin of the Hagley preservation team will appear in person to give background on the film. Next up is Dziga Vertov’s Soviet feature Man with a Movie Camera, a dizzying city symphony that breathlessly employs every camera and editing trick known at the time to capture the rhythm, movement, and vitality of “modern” life (while also demonstrating the possibilities of pure cinema). The movie was voted the ninth greatest film ever made in the 2022 Sight and Sound magazine poll. Digital. Total approx. 2 hrs. This program will play in Gartner Auditorium of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 11150 East Blvd. Tickets ($18; Cinematheque & CMA members $15) can be purchased only at the museum box office and website. (Cinematheque members should use the discount code SILENTS.) Thanks to Gabe Pollack, CMA. https://www.clevelandart.org/events/music-and-performances/cleveland-silent-film-festival-birth-modern-industrial-city