Today is International Silent Movie Day!

A STILL FROM ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S SILENT CLASSIC THE MANXMAN (1929).

Today, September 29th, has been established by an international group of film archivists as Silent Movie Day. This annual celebration of silent movies, a vastly misunderstood and neglected cinematic art form, is intended to (quoting the Smithsonian) “celebrate silent film history and raise awareness about the race to preserve surviving silent films.”

An estimated 75 percent of all silent films produced in the United States are likely lost. According to research conducted for Anthony Slide’s 2000 book Nitrate Won't Wait: A History of Film Preservation in the United States, the nitrate film stock widely used during the silent era was extremely flammable and susceptible to swift decay; many silent films were also destroyed if they were commercially unsuccessful (despite their immense historic and cultural value). Now, over a century since the zenith of silent film in the United States (and globally), film archival and preservation practices have allowed for the rescue, maintenance, and in many cases, restoration of silent films that managed to survive these threats of extinction.

GME President Jon Gartenberg has, for decades, worked at the forefront of film archiving, preservation, restoration, distribution, and curation across academic, commercial, and nonprofit contexts; GME’s wide breadth of silent features and shorts are a testament to this fact. To celebrate this year’s Silent Movie Day, head to the DVD Distribution section of our website and learn about the myriad International Silent Classics in our catalogue, currently available for institutional rental or acquisition in North America. (Due to the large number of titles, this category is split into two sections alphabetically: A—H and I—Z). Among the many silent era filmmakers represented in our collection are legends like Alfred Hitchcock, Abel Gance, F.W. Murnau, Ernst Lubitsch, Georges Méliès, Josef von Sternberg, Sergei Eisenstein, and King Vidor.

Visit the official website of Silent Movie Day to learn more about this vital yearly celebration!