Before noir found its shadows, before the gangster movie defined its codes and detectives and criminals became familiar figures in the cinematic imagination, silent cinema had already begun to explore mystery, crime, investigation and the darkest areas of the psyche.
These are the origins of the tenth edition of "Stories of Faces and Silences. The Magic of Silent Cinema," a festival organized by the cultural association La macchina cinema with the support of the Region and the artistic direction of Patrizia Masala.
From September 22nd to November 24th , this year's program, titled "At the Origins of Mystery: Detective, Crime, and the Psyche," will explore over a decade of European and American cinema, bringing works from the 1910s to the 1920s to the screen. The heart of the event will be the Hermaea Cultural Center, on Via Santa Maria Chiara in Pirri , where screenings will be accompanied by seminars led by scholars and experts. Three special events will be added to the main program in Cagliari and Siliqua.
The exhibition will open on Tuesday 22 September at 8 pm at the Hermaea Cultural Centre with “Der Gang in die Nacht – The Journey of the Night” by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, from 1921, introduced by a seminar by Alessandro Faccioli.
September 29th and October 6th will feature "I topi grigi" by Emilio Ghione , a 1918 serial that brings the festival to the Italian film feuilleton and the world of Za La Mort, a character poised between banditry and anti-heroism. The eight episodes will be split across two evenings: on September 29th, "La busta nera," "La tortura," "Il covo," and "La rete di corda," with a seminar by Denis Lotti; on October 6th, "La corsa al milione," "Aristocrazia canaglia," "6000 volts," and "A mezza lent."
On Tuesday, October 13th, the focus will broaden to include American urban crime and the origins of European crime drama. The program features "Underworld: The Punishment" by Josef von Sternberg (1927) and "Zigomar vs. Nick Carter" by Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset, with a seminar by Denis Brotto.
