Silent Saturday Films Continue Through Mar. 23

Cinema 80 at the Franklin Historical museum invites residents to come along on A Trip to the Moon and other short films by Georges Méliès. A Trip to the Moon was an internationally popular success on its release in 1902 and  extensively  pirated by other studios, especially in the United States. Its unusual length, lavish production values, innovative special effects, and emphasis on storytelling were markedly influential on other filmmakers and ultimately on the development of narrative film as a whole. It was ranked 84th of the 100 greatest films of the 20th century by The Village Voice. Some have even seen a critique of colonialism within the film!

Filmmaker Georges Méliès. was a pioneer of special effects, using elaborately painted sets and "trick" photographic techniques to entertain some of the first movie audiences and modern day audiences in Franklin, as well.

Silent Saturdays start at 6 pm on each Saturday of the month (except the last): Chris. Leverone, a videographer and graphics artist from Franklin, who has directed promotional and fundraising videos, and is currently a producer at Franklin TV, developed this program of films in cooperation with the Franklin Senior Center.

Also, mark these upcoming Silent Saturday Events on your calendar!

• March 9 The Kid

The Kid is Charlie Chaplin's crowning achievement, using pantomime humor to tell a memorable and heartfelt story.

• March 16 The Lodger

In one of his first thrillers, Alfred Hitchcock paints a picture of paranoia and suspicion with clever camerawork and editing, as a killer stalks the streets of London.

• March 23 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Caligari is the first great film in the horror canon, and an excellent specimen of German Expressionism, with warped images and warped characters that hypnotized Weimar Germany.

• March 30 No program.