HOLLYWOOD (May 23, 2011) — Los Angeles based film historian Sparrow Morgan is proud to announce The Laugh and Live Festival, the first and only event showcasing contemporary silent films. Scheduled for May 2012, time, date, and details on specific events will be forthcoming.
Founded in honor of Douglas Fairbanks Sr, for whose charming book of advice the festival is named, The Laugh and Live Festival aims to increase the participants’ and audience’s understanding and appreciation of silent film not only as an historical art form, but challenges them to consider silent film as a viable modern format.
“Interest in silent film has been increasing in recent years, but most of the viewing public still consider it an acquired taste, something one needs a film degree to understand, which couldn’t be further from the truth,” says Morgan. “Silent films, especially the early one-reel nickelodeon serials, were made with the express purpose of entertaining a wide audience. It was all about the action, the drama, and the excitement, not unlike modern day soap operas. The art came later.”
It is in this spirit that The Laugh and Live Festival will be offering a lecture track devoted to the entertainment and enrichment of the general public, as well as workshops and lectures for aspiring filmmakers hosted by historians and filmmakers alike.
The crown jewel of The Laugh and Live Festival will be its screenings of contemporary short-format silent films by student and non-professional filmmakers.
“Doug had a great passion for film as entertainment as well as art, and he loved to share that passion, eventually becoming one of the founding members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,” says Morgan. “I believe a festival aimed at reviving the medium is a fitting tribute to his legacy, but more than that, I want to show that silent film can be just as fun and exciting today as it was in 1920!”
As Fairbanks himself might say, “That’s just fine, real fine.”