Silent Summer Nights

The 3rd annual Silent Summer Nights featured three fantastic evenings of the best in silent (and not so silent) film. Park your blanket under the stars and enjoy cinema’s “Great Adventures,” with original live musical accompaniment by Stefan Smulovitz’s brilliant Eye of Newt ensemble, The Ron Samworth Quartet and the SSN Monster Orchestra.

THE RAILRODDER (1965) & ASHIK KERIB (THE LOVELORN MINSTREL, 1988)

Screening: Friday, August 29

Buster Keaton does Canada in a one-man train car. The Railrodder is an endless series of inspired sight gags showing that the aging master could still cut it. Then travel east for Ashik Kerib – the suitor of a merchant’s daughter is spurned by her father and forced to roam the world for a thousand and one nights. Mesmerizing cinematic poetry. Featuring The Ron Samworth Quartet.

THE BLUE PLANET – THE DEEP (2001) & LE PEUPLE DE L’HERBE (MICROCOSMOS, 1996)

Screening: Saturday, August 30

Come on in, the water’s fine. The Blue Planet – The Deep will take you a thousand metres down to a marine twilight zone that covers over half the Earth’s surface. Emerge to dry land for Le peuple de l’herbe. Close-ups, slow motion and time-lapse photography capture the trials and tribulations of the insect world in all its glory. Suitable for entomologists of all ages. Featuring Eye of Newt.

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963)

Screening: Sunday, August 31

A weekend of Great Adventures wouldn’t be complete without something Greek. The legendary hero leads a team of intrepid adventurers on a perilous quest for the treasured Golden Fleece. With guest conductor Coat Cooke and SSN Monster Orchestra.