17th Annual Ozark Foothills FilmFest Opening Night Event at the Melba – The Restored 1925 Film THE LOST WORLD April 19th!
17th Annual Ozark Foothills FilmFest Opening Night Event
The Restored 1925 Film THE LOST WORLD
With Music Accompaniment by the Lyon College Jazz Band
The 17th Annual Ozark Foothills FilmFest is planning a truly unique Opening Night event, a screening of the 1925 silent film THE LOST WORLD accompanied by the Lyon College Jazz Band performing an original score composed for the screening. The screening/performance will take place on Thursday, April 19 at 7:00 PM at the Melba Theater, 115 West Main Street in Batesville.
Before the advent of sound films in 1927, commercial films were accompanied by live music. From the neighborhood nickelodeons where player pianos churned out popular favorites to the glittering movie palaces where large orchestras accompanied the images, audiences were treated to a live music soundtrack when they went “to the movies.” This year’s Ozark Foothills FilmFest will revisit that historical period with a screening of a restored version of the first dinosaur-oriented film sensation, THE LOST WORLD, based on a novella by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The film follows Professor Challenger who believes that prehistoric creatures are alive and flourishing in the Amazon jungle. He mounts an expedition to prove his point, enlisting the aid of journalist Edward Malone who convinces his newspaper to fund the journey. Paula White hopes to find her father, a missing explorer. They and others undertake the voyage and witness dinosaurs and humanoids doing battle in a magnificent landscape.
A worldwide sensation when it opened in 1925, the original version of the film was eventually lost when the arrival of sound films made silent movies obsolete. With the cooperation of the Czech Republic and private collectors in Europe and America, eight original source prints were located and digitally remastered to clean the images and minimize scratches and other abrasions. The painstakingly restored version of the movie will open the 17th Annual Ozark Foothills FilmFest, with live music accompaniment by members of the Lyon College Jazz Band from an original score composed for the screening. Jazz Band members Taylor Hartwig, Raygan Adamson and Charlie Fancyboy and band director Montgomery Hill will perform the score.
Tickets for the event are $7; $6 for adults age 55+ and students. They may be purchased in advance at the Melba Theater box office or by calling 870-251-1189. The complete schedule for the 2018 FilmFest is available at www.ozarkfoothillsfilmfest.org.
Opening Night sponsors are First Community Bank, Lyon College, and the Melba Theater. The National Endowment for the Arts and numerous local businesses support the five day festival; a complete listing is available at www.ozarkfoothillsfilmfest.org/sponsors.
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The attached film still is in the public domain because it was published in the U.S. between 1923 and 1963 and was either never copyrighted or the copyright was not renewed.
