In 1957, the San Francisco Film Commission, under the direction of Irving "Bud" Levin inaugurated the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) - the first film festival in North America. Since then, festivals in New York and Toronto have eclipsed the SFIFF in terms of star power and prestige, but the festival has managed to stay true to its mission as an important showcase for the finest in international film talent.

Each year, first time and established filmmakers contend for a coveted place in the festival line-up. Veteran directors and writers are honored for their body of work, and new talent use the SFIFF as a springboard for future success and exposure to a broader audience in the US and abroad.

With the passage of time, any institution with a 50-year track record is tempted to look back and take stock in its history, cultural heritage, and social impact. SFIFF is no different in this regard. The festival has always featured a program of silent films - often with live music accompaniment. In past years, noted musicians such as The Alloy Orchestra, American Music Club, and Yo La Tengo have provided original film scores.

2007 Mel Novikoff Award recipient Kevin Brownlow in San Francisco with Novikoff committee members.

As part of the silent film program during the golden anniversary edition of the festival this year, the SFIFF honored Kevin Brownlow with The Mel Novikoff Award for his work in film preservation. Brownlow is regarded as the preeminent film historian and documentarian of the silent era, and is a pioneer in the field of film archiving practices. His collection of interviews with silent film stars and directors, "The Parade's Gone By" (1968) and his 12-part documentary "Hollywood" produced with David Gill for the BBC, are landmark works in the appreciation of American silent film.

During the festival, Brownlow introduced his restored version of "The Iron Mask" (US, 1921). The film was directed by Alan Dwan and features the final silent era appearance by the most famous swashbuckler of all- Douglas Fairbanks. The film is a re-make of Alexandre Dumas' "The Three Musketeers" and features enough ramped up displays of chivalry, sword work, and low-tech special effects to make audiences in any decade stand and cheer. Carl Davis' beautiful symphonic score, recorded by a 42-piece orchestra, accompanied the restored print.

Medieval intrigue in the silent classic "The Iron Mask."

Over the years, Brownlow has been an ambassador and cheerleader of the films made during the 'pre-talkie' era. In association with the SF Silent Film Festival, Brownlow gave a chronological review of rare silent-era films at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, CA. He introduced the lecture with these comments:

"When I first became interested in this period, I was told silent films were jerky, flickery, ludicrously acted curiosities. I was dismayed that even some of the old stars and directors believed the propaganda. That impression was dispelled by showing them the films. They were invariably astonished by the high quality. So I began a campaign to prevent the technicians of the past being regarded as idiots."

De Mille directs his film crew to achieve epic results.

"The entire silent era lasted a little over 30 years, and advances in narrative techniques were extraordinarily fast. These are not necessarily classics, just the top-quality 35mm extracts which have come my way over the years-from the one-minute, one-shot films of the 1900s to the spectaculars of the late '20s which exploited the entire language of cinema. En route we pay tribute to the fantasies of Maurice Tourneur, the genius of Keaton, the pictorialism of Rex Ingram and the stunning brilliance of so many regular but forgotten releases of the '20s. Have we advanced as much since 1972?"

Brownlow's most recent film "Cecil B. De Mille- An American Epic" (US, 2004) was screened at the 50th SFIFF. The film is narrated by Kenneth Branagh and features music from legendary composer Elmer Bernstein. Hollywood directors Martin Scorsesse and Steven Speilberg, join stars Charlton Heston and Angela Lansbury to lend insight into the method and madness that produced some of the most famous Hollywood epics.

De Mille: "I make my pictures for people, not for critics."

Kevin Brownlow spoke with film scholar Russell Merritt about De Mille during this year's festival:

"It was with some reluctance that I took on the De Mille project. My partner Patrick Stanbury had to point out to me that De Mille had made more great films than Eric von Stroheim- and he's right about that. I'll tell you a little poem that was current in England at the time:

"Cecil B. De Mille, much against his will, was persuaded to leave Moses, out of the War of the Roses."

But I did regain much respect for him after I made the documentary. In making the film, I had to watch his second version of "The Ten Commandments" after avoiding it all my life, and I have to say that it's truly amazing as an epic production."

(A complete transcript of that conversation can be found in this isshue of fiba.)in

Death comes calling in "The Phantom Carriage."

Another silent feature screened at this year's festival was "The Phantom Carriage" (Sweden, 1921) by Swedish master Victor Sjöström. Based on Selma Lagerlöf's rendition of a Swedish folktale, this moody, surrealistic chiller takes its title from Death's favorite mode of transportation, which must be driven by the last sinner to die before year's end. The film spins a supernatural morality tale replete with atmospheric lighting and superimposition effects that were ahead of their time and still spook the viewer today. An atmospheric musical score was composed by indie-rocker Jonathan Richman and played live by a six-piece band.

Childhood trauma in "Brand Upon the Brain!"

The most audacious event of the 50th SFIFF was a modern silent film performance by director Guy Maddin and his 13-piece music ensemble. His recent silent feature "Brand Upon the Brain!" (US, 2006) was augmented by the sound effects generated by three onstage foley artists, a 'benshi-like' narrator and a castrato singer. The semi-autobiographical film mines the dark territories of the Maddin's youth in Canada and spins them into a nightmare of familial dysfunction. Elements of gender confusion, Oedipal guilt, and cult/horror special effects collide on location in an abandoned lighthouse that would give Alfred Hitchcock the creeps.

(The author would like to thank the entire staff at the SFIFF for their generous assistence during the 2007 festival.)