Writeup of Arisia

[nohwhere-man.livejournal.com]

There's a very nice writeup of the con by the silent film organist (but not a fan), Jeff Rapsis, on his blog:

It was perhaps the most improbable silent film screening I've done yet: Buster Keaton's Civil War epic 'The General' (1927) as part of a massive annual science fiction and fantasy convention at Boston's Westin Hotel.
[...]
I said sure, not quite understanding what an unusual event this is. What was Buster's Civil War epic doing at a sci-fi/fantasy convention? It was primarily a matter of print availability, it seems, but the more I think about it afterwards, the more it makes sense. All silent film is a fantasy of sorts, and early railroad locomotives were the high tech monsters of their time, an original expression of the "Steampunk" mindset.
[...]

Comments

[ron_newman]

cool writeup. But is this actually true?

turns out the Arisia gathering is the only science fiction/fantasy festival in the United States that still runs actual film as part of its programming

[selkiechick]

I am pretty certain the Sci-Fi Marathon runs film, does that not count because it's a film festival, not a convention?

[ron_newman]

I'd call that "not a convention".

Boskone has an accompanied silent film scheduled, Faust, but i don't know if it will actually be on real film.

[madfilkentist]

It will be from the Kino DVD, projected onto a screen.

[nohwhere-man.livejournal.com]

Sci-Fi Marathon is in a commercial theater, not a hotel or convention center, and I wouldn't count it as a convention. Heck, most of the recent Worldcons don't run real film anymore (Renovation-no, Aussiecon-?, Denvention-no, Nippon-??, LAcon-maybe, Interaction-??, N4-YES, Torcon-??, ConJose-no, MilPhil-YES).

I suspect that the writer wouldn't know that 'con' is a term of art for most of us, so substituted 'festival'.

[buddykat.livejournal.com]

But is this actually true?

No, it is not. Lunacon has an evening program of 16mm film. Others may do it also, but I only know of Lunacon for sure.

[noeltheone.livejournal.com]

I believe the accurate statement is "Arisia is the only SF convention in the United States that still runs _35mm_ film as part of its programming." There are still a few running 16mm, and a lot that have given up running celluloid altogether.