Man with a Movie Camera

Friday, September 29

“The combustion engine gave humanity the new experience of speed; now the movie camera gave us a dizzying new speed of perception and creation." —Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“Vertov’s experimental essay proclaims its ‘complete separation from the language of theatre and literature’ in the opening titles. What follows is cinema in its purest form: movement, sensation, action and visual trickery.” —Tom Huddleston, TimeOut

One of the most innovative and influential films of the silent era, Dziga Vertov’s Man With A Movie Camera uses rapid editing and innumerable other cinematic effects to create a work of amazing modernity and power. This dawn-to-dusk view of urban Soviet life shows people at work, at play, and at the machines that endlessly whirl to keep the metropolis alive. It was Vertov’s first full-length film, and it employs all the cinematic techniques at the director’s disposal—dissolves, split-screens, slow-motion, and freeze-frames—to produce a work that is as exhilarating as it is intellectually brilliant. Restored by the British Film Institute, this edition features an orchestral score composed and conducted by Michael Nyman (The Piano), first performed on May 17, 2002 at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

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Silent Movie Day is an annual celebration of silent movies, a vastly misunderstood and neglected cinematic art form. We believe that silent motion pictures are a vital, beautiful, and often powerful part of film history, and we are united with others in the goal to advocate for their presentation and preservation. Extend the silence to the weekend with our full program, from September 29 to October 1!

Check out the rest of our Silent Movie Weekend program!

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