The Organ Symphony of Cinema / "The Witches" / The Eye of the Camera, the Eye of the Devil and the Unfortunate Women…

The Organ Symphony of Cinema unites the haunting legacy of Benjamin Christensen’s 1922 masterpiece "The Witches" with the immersive power of live concert film. Renowned Danish auteur Benjamin Christensen—who bridged medicine, opera, and a flourishing film career across Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and Hollywood—spun a monumental seven‑part treatise that reads as a lecture on the history of culture in tableau vivants. Commissioned by Sweden’s Svensk Filmindustri, the film’s three‑year production harnessed the era’s most advanced filmmaking techniques and a massive budget, producing evocative visuals that echo Hieronymus Bosch’s paintings and delve deep into the mysteries of medieval black magic, Satanism, and contemporary psycho‑history. Despite its groundbreaking ambition, the film was suppressed by church censorship and failed to win audiences in its day. Today, it stands as a visionary exploration of cultural oppression of women, with Christensen himself appearing on screen as the devil. Join us for a richly theatrical experience that celebrates this forgotten cinematic gem and its daring artistic heritage.