Tag: soundsofsilents

21st Silent Film Festival. Sounds of Silents

21st Święto Niemego Kina. Sounds of Silents im. Anny Sienkiewicz-Rogowskiej
Focus on: Cult of the Body / Kult Ciała

5–8 November 2026
Iluzjon Cinema, Warsaw

The 21st edition of Poland’s leading silent film festival is dedicated to the cult of the body. The programme combines restored and rediscovered silent films with modern live musical accompaniment, exploring the history of cinema through the materiality of the body, movement, technology and spectacle.

Alongside feature films, this year’s programme includes some of the earliest recordings of sporting events, circus performances, dance and spectacular action scenes, as well as animation and experimental forms. The festival will also feature lectures, presentations devoted to the history of film technology and cinema archaeology and an exhibition at Iluzjon exploring the representation and recording of movement.

Organisers: National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute (FINA), Iluzjon Cinema, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Siostry Archeo
Honorary Patronage: Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium
Programme Partners: Cinémathèque royale de Belgique, Filmmuseum Düsseldorf, MoMA, Cinémathèque française, Filmmuseum München, Det Danske Filminstitut, Georgian Film Institute, FPA CLASSICS, EYE Filmmuseum, University of South Carolina, Národní filmový archiv

20th Silent Film Festival. Sounds of Silents

17–21 September 2025
Iluzjon Cinema, Warsaw

The National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute (FINA) invites you to the 20th edition of the Silent Film Festival, celebrating not only two decades of live-scored silent cinema but also FINA’s 70th anniversary.

This year’s theme, “We’ve Got Eye on You”, explores society’s complex relationship with technology—then and now. From surveillance, techno-anxiety to utopian dreams, the selected films reflect fears and fascinations that resonate just as strongly today.

Over 20 titles—featuring classics, lesser-known gems, and recent restorations—will be accompanied by original live music, visual performances with use of historic objects and optical installations, and world premieres of specially commissioned scores.

The program also celebrates Polish cinema pioneer Kazimierz Prószyński (1875–1945), whose groundbreaking inventions inspired this year’s focus on film as both a technical and artistic experiment. The festival opens with Algol: Tragedy of Power (1920), Fritz Lang’s Dr. Mabuse (1922), scored by four avant-garde acts, and the Danish sci-fi milestone A Trip to Mars (1918). Designed for all ages, the festival features family screenings such as the surreal comedies of Charles Bowers—an early innovator of stop-motion and visual effects.

This year, the Silent Film Festival joins forces with the Archeo Sisters. The collective is organizing the event for the fifth time, supported by many people previously connected with FINA. The event is dedicated to Anna Sienkiewicz-Rogowska, the organizer of this festival and mentor to many individuals with whom she worked in cultural institutions.

More information: soundsofsilents.pl / swietoniemegokina.pl
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Join the discussion: #swietoniemegokina / #EyeOnYou / #soundsofsilents

SOUNDS OF SILENTS 2: Warsaw Silent Film Days

From September 13th to 15th, at the Muranów Cinema, SOUNDS OF SILENTS the Warsaw Silent Film Days – dedicated to the memory of Anna Sienkiewicz-Rogowska – will take place. Screenings of silent film classics, along with restored full-length and short films, will be accompanied by live musical performances from contemporary musicians, as well as a program for family audiences.

Additional events will include masterclasses on the role of women in the early years of the film industry, a masterclass on the theory and practice of composing for silent films, and a panel discussion on Stewardship Models and the Evolving Role of Cultural Managers (from September 7th to October 20th at the Andrzej Wajda Center for Film Culture and The Chopin University of Music).


See the full programme here.

All films will be screened with Polish and English subtitles.

Follow the action on social media:

facebook.com/soundsofsilentswarsaw
instagram.com/sounds_of_silents