Film+MusicFest: Cinema for Shorts

Experience the magic of early cinema at Film + MusicFest: Cinema for Shorts, a dazzling concert film presenting a hand‑picked selection of iconic classics that will transport you back to the golden age of silent film. Journey with a Scotland Yard detective and his animated beetle‑in‑a‑matchbox teammate as they are sent to New York, where they uncover the mysterious “fluffy phantom” and its baffling transformations in Charles R. Bowers’s 1928 showcase. Then hop across the country to sunny California with the legendary duo of Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy in their 1929 romp “Big Business,” directed by James W. Horne and Leo McCarey, as they go door‑to‑door selling Christmas trees and unleash a veritable orgy of destruction recorded by a stoically watching police officer. Next, dive into Buster Keaton’s 1920 hilarity in “Neighbors (Neighborhood in Conflict),” directed by Edward F. Cline, where the doomed love story of Pyramus and Thisbe is staged amid feuding neighbors, awe‑inspiring stunts, and a cameo appearance by Keaton’s own father. Conclude the festival with Charles Chaplin’s experimental 1917 short “Easy Street,” where the Tramp abandons his iconic persona to become an unlikely guardian of order in a world where chaos is inevitable. Don’t miss this unforgettable showcase—details & tickets available.