A free outdoor screening of rare Edwardian films on the site of the original Gaumont film studios in Camberwell on 30th August 2014.
The Gaumont film company set up their studio near Dog Kennel Hill, SE5 from 1904 to 1912 where they produced over five hundred short films that went on to be shown around the world. Despite the significance of this early studio only thirty of these films survive and until now have been hidden away in the BFI archive. For the first time a selection of them have been digitised and will be shown at a free public screening in Dog Kennel Hill Open Space.
Gaumont studios were pioneers of British cinema before Hollywood even existed. They were the most successful studio to experiment with sound and colour movies in these early years. Gaumont are best known as the originators of the chase scene, many of which were filmed in and around the streets of Camberwell in locations that are still recognisable today. By the 1930s Gaumont were the largest British studio and continued to dominate the UK film industry for the next two decades.
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI National Archive says “I love the early Gaumont comedies. They are joyful, unrestrained and irreverent but made with wit and the level of quality for which Gaumont was famous. It’s thrilling to see them back in front of a British audience and in their original location!”
Tony Fletcher, film historian at the Cinema Museum says “Considering this is very early film history and few titles survive from this period, these are incredibly important films. The director, Alf Collins, was an auteur before his time inventing the chase film which was later adopted by Hollywood. Collins is our equivalent of D. W. Griffith.”
The evening will take place in the verdant surroundings of Dog Kennel Hill Open Space and each film will be introduced with a guide to location-spotting – essential for eagle-eyed local residents. The programme includes titles such as “The Adventures of a Roll of Lino” and “Tommy the Tin Pot Hero”. The films will be accompanied live by the doyen of silent film pianists, Neil Brand, known for his work with the BBC, the NFT and the Barbican.
When: 8.30pm Saturday 30th August 2014
Where: Dog Kennel Hill Open Space, next to Sainsburys on Dog Kennel Hill, Camberwell, (nearest postcode SE5 8AY). Bring something to sit on and a picnic.
Cost: Free
Organised by: The Friends of Dog Kennel Hill Wood
www.friendsofdkhwood.org/filmnight
