New partnership leads to local screenings of silent films
Sara Thompson
Public relations assistant
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
A new partnership between Avondale College of Higher Education and Australia’s Silent Film Festival will see the screening on campus of an iconic war documentary.
Associate Professor Daniel Reynaud, author of Celluloid Anzacs and The Hero of the Dardanelles, will give an address before the screening on campus of the 1916 documentary The Battle of the Somme.
Credit: Sara Thompson.
Having screened to large audiences on its release in August 1916, barely a month after its production, The Battle of the Somme depicts Allied preparations for World War I and the early stages of battle.
Released on the home front while the war continued in France, the documentary graphically depicts the trench warfare the Allied soldiers endured. It resonated with audiences, selling 20 million tickets in its first six weeks of release in Britain before being distributed to 18 other countries, including Australia.
The digitally restored, 74-minute documentary will screen on Avondale’s Lake Macquarie campus on Tuesday, April 16. Associate Professor Daniel Reynaud, author of Celluloid Anzacs: the Great War through Australian cinema and The hero of the Dardanelles and other World War One silent dramas, will give a pre-screening address.
He believes The Battle of the Somme, which historians now feel was produced largely for political purposes, still has relevance as an illustration of the power of documentary film. “It made audiences at the time feel as if they were getting a true view of events as they happened,” says Daniel, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Theology at Avondale. “It was a huge hit.”
Also featured at the screening will be award-winning Newcastle musician Greg Smith, who will accompany the film on piano with his original score. Greg composed the score to be performed live at the screening, giving viewers an authentic feel for the original experience. He will also present a free Masterclass on composition following the screening.
The Battle of the Somme will be the first in a series of screenings of silent films at Avondale this year.
The Battle of the Somme, Ladies Chapel, Tuesday, April 16, 3.00 PM. Tickets: $20 (single); $15 (concession). Gold coin afternoon tea from 2.30 PM.