Screening times:
Friday, October 28, 7:30 PM
Friday, October 28, 9:30 PM
F.W. Murnau | Germany | 1922 | 70m
with Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder
Please join us for a special Hallowe'en event: F.W. Murnau's 1922 silent horror film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror with live accompaniment by Halifax's ambient improvisational ensemble, New Hermitage!
A classic of German Expressionism, Nosferatu is the tale of the unfortunate real estate agent, Thomas Hutter, who is sent to Transylvania to close a deal with and subsequently be terrorized by Count Orlok, who is soon to be Hutter's neighbour back in Wisborg. Perhaps Hutter's wife can help? An unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula with names and details changed, Nosferatu was ordered destroyed but fortunately prints survived. We are excited to present this silent masterpiece with an improvised soundtrack supplied by New Hermitage!
New Hermitage (Andrew MacKelvie, woodwinds; India Gailey, cello; Ross Burns, guitar; and Ellen Gibling, harp) is an ambient improvised music ensemble from Halifax, Nova Scotia. All highly accomplished musicians in their own right, the quartet was formed in 2017 out of their shared connection to Jerry Granelli and the Creative Music Workshop. Since then, New Hermitage has shared bills with artists such as revelatory composer/improviser Angel Bat Dawid, jaw harp innovator chik white, pi'pa virtuoso Liu Fang, and prolific noise explorer i d m theft able. Among their six live recordings are two performances with renowned bass clarinettist Jeff Reilly, one of which won Music Nova Scotia’s "Classical Recording of the Year" award. New Hermitage’s first studio album, Unearth, was released in 2020 to much critical acclaim.
"So this is it: ground zero, the birth of horror cinema." -Tom Huddleston, Time Out
"There is pure expressionist inspiration in Murnau's juxtaposition of the malign wolves and the terrified old women: a poetry of fear." -Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
"New Hermitage throws down a set of songs that need to be experienced, rather than listened to: it’s a soundtrack for fumbling through the dark; a soundtrack for finding slivers of light." -Sam Gillett, The Coast
Tickets $16.50 ($15 at the door if available).
