Within the context of a festival, classic cinema transforms, taking on another form, another body, leaving behind the comforting dimension of neutral replicability, a shift into performance art. Cinema comes alive through the film reels—worn or restored to their original splendor—shining in various formats from 16 to 35 to 70mm, emerging from the projectors that bring them to life… A festival is a living celebration of cinema, requiring technical and logistical expertise, harmonious action, and management of the unexpected. And—in all this delicate vitality—let’s not forget a fundamental aspect of The Seventh Art: the music.

At Il Cinema Ritrovato, the Lumières’ invention is transformed into performance art, because all silent films are accompanied live by pianists, small ensembles and large orchestras, at Lumière, Piazzetta Pasolini and Modernissimo.
This year, Piazza Maggiore will host four concerts: My Cousin, the only surviving film starring Enrico Caruso, with a sequence featuring the great tenor’s voice and a new score by Maestro Daniele Furlati, performed by the ensemble of Teatro Comunale of Modena; My Grandmother (Chemi bebia), an underground masterpiece of Georgian cinema by Kote Mikaberidze, accompanied by the Finnish trio Cleaning Women with an explosive soundtrack; the premiere of MoMA’s new restoration of Victor Sjöström’s The Wind to the music of a famous composition by Carl Davis performed by the orchestra of the Conservatorio G.B. Martini of Bologna, conducted by Timothy Brock. Brock will also conduct the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale of Bologna, performing Nino Rota’s iconic music for Federico Fellini’s Amarcord.

Among the many concerts, we have to mention Silent Trilogy (Mykkatrilogia), a trilogy of silent short films by the director of Compartment No. 6 Juho Kuosmanen, accompanied live by Finnish musicians and a Foley artist. This event honours Peter von Bagh, who directed Il Cinema Ritrovato for over a decade, transforming it into what it is today. In Helsinki, Peter was Kuosmanen’s film teacher, and in 2012, Kuosmanen began creating the shorts that make up this unique contemporary silent cinema experience.

Il Cinema Ritrovato has always been a festival for the ears as well as the eyes. This year features audio delights such as 16 short films starring Duke Ellington and 14 musical shorts in the Women in Jazz programme from the Theo Zwicky Collection.

The exciting and extensive “playlist” of Il Cinema Ritrovato 2024 includes highlights such as Marlene Dietrich, Leonard Cohen (McCabe & Mrs. Miller), Bob Dylan (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid), The Velvet Underground (Ich bin ein Elefant, Madame), Michel Legrand (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg), Ry Cooder (Paris, Texas), Ibrahim Ferrer and other Cuban maestros (Buena Vista Social Club) as well as, of course, Mozart with Miloš Forman’s Amadeus.