Event

Sunrise

Live Piano Score Composed and Performed by Ben Model

Made in 1928, just as silent movies were being replaced by talking pictures, Sunrise is considered by many to be one of the supreme achievements of silent cinema. German director F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu, The Last Laugh) was given a completely free hand to create his first Hollywood film and the result is a work that is visually dazzling and emotionally moving in equal measure. Winner of the 1929 Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Cinematography, Sunrise tells the powerful story of a simple farmer (George OBrien) who is seduced by a woman from the city and talked into a plan to murder his wife. Although he cannot bring himself to kill her, she understands what he intended to do. Now, the man must try to recapture his wifes love and trust. With a stunning blend of heartfelt emotion and expressionistic imagery, Murnau crafted an unforgettable vision of desire, passion, and redemption. Dylan Skolnick

USA, 1928, 95 min., b/w, silent

For over two decades Ben Model has served as resident silent film accompanist for The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Ben composes and improvises all his own scores and performs in a style that both evokes the silent era and reflects a contemporary (and younger) audiences appreciation of music and film scoring www.benmodel.com