Quad Cinema launches Quad Classics with three great silent films: Metropolis, Battleship Potemkin and The General

 

Beginning this Friday, May 25, New York’s renowned art house Quad Cinema launches a new series, the first program of which should be a cinematic treat for silent film lovers.

When Elliott Kanbar, the President of New York City's Quad Cinema, first approached Isil Bagdadi (independent film producer, publicist, distributor, and the co-founder of NY-based CAVU Pictures), about helping him launch a new film series highlighting classic films, she jumped at the opportunity. "As someone involved in so many aspects of independent film, it was a natural progression for me to want to move into programming the kinds of iconic films that I grew up watching and admiring as a kid, and later as a film student," explains Isil.

Based on the success of this year’s Academy Award-winning film The Artist, this team of film mavens felt it was fitting to start off the first series with a theme: The Great Era of Silent Films. So -- beginning this Friday, May 25, and running thru May 31 -- the Quad Cinema will offer three masterpieces of the Silent Era: the 2010 restoration of Fritz Lang’s amazing sci-fi epic METROPOLIS (1927), Sergei Eisenstein’s unforgettable 1905 Russian Revolution drama BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (1925), and Buster Keaton’s Civil War comedy THE GENERAL (1926).

Discussions with New York-based film critics and scholars will follow select screenings on the opening weekend. "Our hope," notes the Quad's Kanbar, "is to re-introduce New Yorkers to these great classic works of art, which have now all been immaculately restored by Kino Lorber. These post-screening conver-sations are meant to create a film class atmosphere where audiences, along with film-makers, film profes-sors, critics, distributors, and other industry professionals can dis-cuss these legendary films and their impact on world cinema today."

In an additional plus for New York-area film buffs, all three movies will be projected in full High Definition Blu Ray using a high-end Eiki LC-X85 projector and OPPO BDP-93 player. Really, folk: You can't get this at home!

For complete information on this new series, its performances, and which critics and scholars will be introducing which films, simply click here and keep scrolling down. For more information on the films themsevles, simply check out the Kino Lorber web site.