Three new French-language publications hit book stores soon!
French edition of A Comedian Sees the World (Mon tour du monde) by Charlie Chaplin, published by Les Editions du Sonneur. Hits book stores on September 25, 2014. Pre-order it now on Amazon!
Chaplin’s travel memoir A Comedian Sees the World was also recently published by the University of Missouri Press in English in the U.S. with an introduction and notes by Lisa Stein Haven, available on Amazon.
French edition of Footlights by Charles Chaplin with The World of Limelight (L’univers des Feux de la rampe) by David Robinson, published by Seuil. Hits book stores on October 3, 2014. Pre-order it now on Amazon!
The English edition, published by the Cineteca di Bologna, is still available on Amazon.
French edition of Charlie Chaplin, The Keystone Album (L’Album Keystone) by Glenn Mitchell, Carole Sandrin and Sam Stourdzé, published by Xavier Barral. Hits book stores on October 16, 2014. Pre-order it now on Amazon!
English version coming soon!
Exhibition: “Chaplin, Between Wars and Peace (1914-1940)”
17th September 2014 - 4th January 2015
Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne
Should Charlie Chaplin continue making films or enter the trenches? The controversy over the fact that the British actor was not fighting alongside his own people erupted in 1915. At the beginning of his fame, Chaplin already faced criticism. Twenty-five years later, it was his turn to question moral and political convictions at the dawn of the Second World War.
In 1914, Americans discovered this young music-hall comedian in Keystone’s burlesque films. Within a few months, Chaplin became one of their stars. His character was a hit with audiences, who loved his costume, movements and funny faces. Because of the First World War, distribution of his first short films to Europe was delayed until 1915, but the Tramp became just as popular there with both civilians and soldiers. Chaplin remained in America, but bolstered the troops’ morale with his comedies. Later he joined the war effort in 1918 by producing a short propaganda film in favor of the Third Liberty Loan. That same year, he filmed Shoulder Arms, in which a heroic Tramp succeeds in capturing the Kaiser. The film combines comic situations with the realism of the trenches. Released a few weeks before Armistice, the film was a huge success.
Chaplin’s political consciousness evolved during the interwar period, as did his concerns about the economy. A staunch pacifist, the rise of fascism in the early 1930s worried him. The Great Dictator (1940) was a politically engaged film mixing irony and tragedy in which he painted a caricature of Hitler. Chaplin also plays the role of a Jewish barber oppressed by society. For his first full-fledged “talkie”, the filmmaker dared to say out loud what many would have preferred to keep silent.
The exhibition presented by the Musée de l’Elysée assembles original prints and vintage documents from the Chaplin Archives. The Archive’s photographs were deposited at the museum in 2011. Film clips (from Lobster, MK2, Gaumont Pathé Archives, Transit Film/Berlin Filmothek Bundesarchiv), photographs of the two world wars from the museum’s collection and posters from the Cinemathèque suisse and private collections enhance our understanding of Chaplin’s stance towards History.
The exhibition, designed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Chaplin’s first films and the First and Second World Wars, is made possible thanks to the Association Chaplin, Roy Export SAS and Roy Export Company Establishment.
Silent Film Days in Tromsø, Norway kicks off with a grand night of Chaplin films, accompanied by The Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra on Thursday, September 4th.
2014 marks the 100th anniversary of Chaplin’s iconic character «The Tramp», an event celebrated all over the world all year long. Silent Film Days in Tromsø will take part in the celebration with an evening dedicated to Charlie Chaplin.
The Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra will perform Chaplin’s own music to the film A DOG’S LIFE (1918). The show also features the Chaplin shorts BEHIND THE SCREEN and ONE A.M., with music performed by silent film pianist Ben Model (MoMA, New York) and the band Cleaning Women (Finland). Prepare for a great night of film and music! The event will take place in KulturHuset’s main hall.
Silent Film Days 2014 takes place from September 3-6, and features a broad variety of classic silent films paired with brand new music, performed live. View the program in full at verdensteatret.no/stumfilmdager.
On Saturday, 30 August 2014, The NFSA’s current Arc cinema program pays a special tribute to the greatest of all movie stars, Charles Chaplin.
2014 marks the 100th anniversary of Charles Chaplin’s first appearance as his iconic Tramp character, in February 1914. To celebrate, Arc will round up some old friends, from amongst the many musicians who’ve accompanied their silent film screenings over the years – and will also introduce some new talent.
Together they’ll perform to a selection of early Chaplin classics and rarities – all recently restored as part of a collaborative project amongst film international archives that included The British Film Institute, Italy’s Cineteca di Bologna and Lobster Films in Paris.
A Dog’s Life will also be screened with Chaplin’s own symphonic score.
To set the mood for their Chaplinitis event, an international panel will celebrate Chaplin’s legacy.
Via Skype from London, David Robinson – celebrated silent film historian and programmer, Chaplin scholar and author of the definitive Chaplin biography, Chaplin, His Life and Art – will talk about The Tramp, 100 years on.
Via Skype from Italy, Cecilia Cenciarelli of the Cineteca di Bologna will talk about what’s been involved in the international Chaplin project that’s restored many of the films screening on the special Chaplinitis day.
Plus filmmaker and Professor of Film and Creative Arts at Macquarie University, Kathryn Millard, will celebrate the tradition of Chaplin impersonators – a cult from almost the first months of his success and one that continues around the world to this day.
The Brasília International Film Festival begins today, August 28th!
This year’s Guest of Honor is Geraldine Chaplin! A number of her films will be screened.
The festival also plans to pay homage to Charles Chaplin with screenings of Limelight, The Floorwalker, The Fireman, The Vagabond & The Count. Richard Attenborough’s “Chaplin” will also be screened.
This year, the 27th Tokyo International Film Festival will hold a special screening on October 27 for the first time in cooperation with Kabukiza, a hub that conveys Japanese traditional culture to the world.
Charles Chaplin,“ the king of comedy,” still attracts people 100 years after his screen debut. Kabukiza opened to the public for the first time in 1889, the year of his birth. Chaplin responded with enthusiasm and excitement to every aspect of Japanese culture, in particular kabuki.
Records state he actually visited Kabukiza when he came to Japan. It is also reported that a Sewamono (a genre of contemporary setting plays in kabuki) titled “Koumori no yasu san” (“Yasu the Bat”) was presented at Kabukiza after kabuki related people returned from the United States, where they were impressed by City Lights, one of Chaplin’s masterpieces.
Considering this relation between Kabukiza and Chaplin, the festival selected City Lights for the special screening at Kabukiza. In this event, many guests invited from Japan and overseas will enjoy a kabuki performance by a Kabuki actor before the special screening of City Lights.
