Ukrainian musicians to attend premier of new silent film score at Hippodrome fest
Ukrainian musicians will attend the UK premiere of a new silent film score at this year’s Hippodrome Silent Film Festival.
The new score for documentary‘in Spring’(1929) has been composed by Roksana Smirnova and Misha Kalinin.
Known as‘hippfest’the festival will run from Wednesday March 22 to Sunday March 26 at the Bo’ness Hippodrome picture palace which dated back to 1912.
The evening of Saturday March 25 features an avantgarde love letter to Kyiv -‘In Spring’- from filmmaker
Mikhail Kaufman.
Hippfest director Alison Strauss said:“‘in Spring’is a devastatingly poignant portrait of Kyiv filmed a few years after a brief spell of independence and on the cusp of its subsequent subjugation by the Soviet Union.
“Hippfest is proud to welcome Ukrainian musicians Roksana Smirnova and Misha Kalinin to the Hippodrome for the UK premiere of their new score for this film.
“The Hippfest programme continues its celebration of Ukranian culture with a Pysanka workshop on Sunday 26 March; the traditional art of writing Pysanky and decorating Ukrainian Easter eggs.”
The festival is renowned for its varied programme celebrating silent film with live musical accompaniment. The 2023 edition continues that tradition, bringing silver screen gems, world-class musicians and renowned experts on silent film from across the world to Bo’ness.
Announcing this year’s programme Alison Strauss added:“hippfest has grown to be a world class festival for silent film, cultivating a real community of people who share an adventurous appetite for extraordinary cinema and live music.
“We can’t wait to welcome everyone to explore the programme with us, and to come and be part of the unique atmosphere of the Festival, of Bo’ness and of the Hippodrome itself.
“The team has worked incredibly hard to pull together all the ingredients of Hippfest that our audiences love, and this year the mix of great films, great fun and great music will be hard to beat.”
Talks and screenings in the Hippodrome and online will be Bsl-english supported.
The Festival has introduced the brand new Hippfest Festival Pass for this year, which will give access to all Festival events at the Hippodrome and online for its 13th edition. Further information about the Festival Pass, the shuttle bus to and from Linlithgow, programme, and individual tickets can be found at www. hippfest.co.uk.