Louise Brooks related film to watch online

This year, the world famous Pordenone Silent Film Festival | Le Giornate del Cinema Muto is going online. 

In the wake of the worldwide coronovirus pandemic, the eight days of screenings originally set to take place in October 2020 have been rescheduled for 2021. And in its place, the world famous festival will instead screen a number of rarely seen films and recent restorations, each paired with musical  accompaniment. The daily schedule of films can be found HERE.

Of special interest to silent film buffs and fans of Louise Brooks will be a online screening of Abwege (The Devious Path), by director G. W. Pabst. Made just prior to Pabst's Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl, this 1928 drama stars Brigitte Helm (the beautiful android in Metropolis) and Gustav Diesel (creepy Jack the Ripper in Pandora's Box) and tells a story of a marriage gone wrong. It is rich in Weimar Berlin detail.

Compared to the version screened in Pordenone in 1997, Abwege is said to have gone through a kind of rebirth after restoration by the Münchner Filmmuseum in Munich, which has produced this new copy --  beautifully tinted, from the original negative. The original inter-titles have also been reinstated, significantly enhancing an understating of the plot.

There are other films of interest as well. The George Eastman Museum has restored Cecil B. DeMille’s 1917 western, A Romance of the Redwoods, starring Mary Pickford, which is described as a beautiful example of the director’s work from the 1910s, one of the busiest periods of his long career. There is also Where Lights are Low (1921) featuring Sessue Hayakawa, a series of shorts with Laurel and Hardy, and more. Also included in the online event will be streamed discussions with archivists, musicians and film scholars, as well as the 35th year of the Jean Mitry Award presentations. (A bilingual catalogue will be downloadable on the website and later available in printed form.) 

I have always wanted to attend the Pordenone festival, but have never done so. I am excited, as this online event is a chance to experience the festival in a small way. I am registering for the event, and am looking forward to seeing Pabst's Abwege. How about you? This online festival requires registration, with a basic pass to the entire festival costing only € 9,90. That's a lot less than flying to Italy! More information about registration for the 39th annual Pordenone Silent Film Festival can be found HERE.