Bristol Silents was established by Chris Daniels and Norman Taylor in 2000 to promote and celebrate silent cinema in the Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 area and in the United Kingdom. The first ever event the organisation put on was a selection of Louise Brooks

Louise Brooks

Mary Louise Brooks , generally known by her stage name Louise Brooks, was an American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress, noted for popularizing the bobbed haircut. Brooks is best known for her three feature roles including two G. W...

 films in October 2000 at the Arnolfini

Arnolfini

The Arnolfini is an arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, live art, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a specialist art bookshop and a café bar. Educational activities are undertaken...

, Bristol.

The group aimed to raise awareness and knowledge of silent films amongst the film going public. It also wanted to support and present a range of Silent Films along with educational programmes designed to increase understanding and appreciation of the Silent era.

January, 2005 saw Bristol Silents establish the Slapstick Silent Comedy Festival in the city of Bristol. Since then, the festival has returned to the city every January and has included guests such as Eric Sykes

Eric Sykes

Eric Sykes, CBE is an English radio, television and film writer, actor and director whose performing career has spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and/or performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter...

, Christopher Chaplin

Christopher Chaplin

Christopher James Chaplin is a composer and actor who appeared in the film Total Eclipse as the character Charles Cros, as well as in other roles. However, he is best known for being the youngest son of Charlie Chaplin and Oona O'Neill...

, Jean Darling

Jean Darling

Jean Darling is a former American child actress who was a regular in the Our Gang short subjects series from 1927 to 1929. She remains the last surviving cast member from the silent era.-Career:...

 (of Our Gang fame) and Diana Serra Cary

Diana Serra Cary

Diana Serra Cary , best known as Baby Peggy, was one of the three major American child stars of the Hollywood silent movie era along with Jackie Coogan and Baby Marie....

 (aka Baby Peggy).

Tenth Anniversary

2010 saw the tenth anniversary of Bristol Silents. To celebrate this, the organisation screened a number of silent films throughout the year including a special screening of Sunrise (1927), Clarence Brown

Clarence Brown

Clarence Brown was an American film director.-Early life:Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, to a cotton manufacturer, Brown moved to the South when he was 11. He attended Knoxville High School and the University of Tennessee, both in Knoxville, Tennessee, graduating from the university at the age of...

's The Eagle (1925), and an event celebrating Louise Brooks

Louise Brooks

Mary Louise Brooks , generally known by her stage name Louise Brooks, was an American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress, noted for popularizing the bobbed haircut. Brooks is best known for her three feature roles including two G. W...

 (to celebrate the fact of Bristol Silent's first ever event back in October 2000) with a screening of Diary of a Lost Girl

Diary of a Lost Girl

Diary of a Lost Girl is a 1929 silent film directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst and starring the American silent star Louise Brooks. It is shot in black and white, and various versions of the film range from 79 minutes to 116 minutes in length. This was Brooks' second and last film with Pabst, and...

(1929).

Bristol Silents has also re-established its Bristol Silents Club Screenings which gives followers a chance to see more of the unique films of the silent era.

Supporters

Regular supporters of Bristol Silents have included: Kevin Brownlow

Kevin Brownlow

Kevin Brownlow is a filmmaker, film historian, television documentary-maker, author, and Academy Award recipient. Brownlow is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era. Brownlow became interested in silent film at the age of eleven. This interest grew into a career spent...

 (Film Historian and Author), Paul McGann

Paul McGann

Paul McGann is an English actor who made his name on the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role...

 (Actor), David Robinson

David Robinson (film critic and author)

David Robinson is a British film critic and author. He started writing for Sight and Sound and the Monthly Film Bulletin in the 1950s, becoming Assistant Editor of Sight and Sound and Editor of the Monthly Film Bulletin in 1957-1958...

 (Film Historian and Author), Peter Lord

Peter Lord

Peter Lord CBE is a British film producer, director and co-founder of the Academy award-winning Aardman Animations studio, an animation firm best known for its clay animated films and shorts, particularly those featuring plasticine duo Wallace & Gromit.-Biography:In cooperation with David...

 (Aardman Animations), Chris Serle

Chris Serle

Christopher "Chris" Richard Serle is a former BBC TV presenter, reporter and actor. Serle was educated at Clifton College and Trinity College, Dublin, where he studied modern languages...

 (Broadcaster), David Sproxton

David Sproxton

David Sproxton CBE is one of the co-founders of the Aardman Animations studio.David graduated from Collingwood College, University of Durham before starting as an animator, producing segments for the Vision On TV program, Sproxton and Lord created the character of Morph for Take Hart .He is...

 (Aardman Animations) and Richard Williams (Animator).

External links

• Bristol Silents
• Slapstick Festival