Two silent films were discovered in the Lithuanian museum – the only known copies in the world Culture

The screening of the films will be accompanied by art critic, cinema researcher dr. Presentations by Juozaps Blažiūnas, archive film specialist, Aleksas Gilaitis, organizer of the “Pirmoji Banga” festival, and Vilijas Ulinskytė-Balzienė, head of the Museum of Photography, regarding discovered tapes and early cinematography in Lithuania and Šiauliai.

Lithuanian subtitles have been specially prepared for this screening, and the silent film will be voiced by a tapper – live pianist Viktoras Orestas Vagusevičius.

Šiauliai “Aušras” museum photo/Shot from Yevgenijs Bauer’s film “Human Abyss”

A few years ago, during the preparation of the exposition in Ch. Frenkel’s villa, attention was drawn to the extremely old 35 mm film tapes stored in the museum’s collections, reminiscent of the times of early silent cinema.

After examining them in more detail, it was found out that the tapes – in the second 20th century. In the 1990s, valuable works of world cinema history were filmed – the film “The Abyss of Man” (Человеческие бездны) by the famous film director of that time Yevgeny Bauer and “Daniel Rock” (Дэниель Pок) created by the director Michail Bonč-Tomaševsky.

According to film history researcher Peter Bogrov (The George Eastman museum, USA), the discovery of these films is a very significant event in the history of world cinema. The feature film “Man of the Abyss”, the work of a talented and globally recognized Russian director, was previously considered lost. And in the film “Daniel Rok” the most famous actors of the 20th century were filmed for the only time. early Russian and international circus stars. Although the film itself is not a masterpiece of cinematic art, it is especially relevant for researchers of circus art.

Šiauliai “Aušras” museum photo/Shot from Michails Bonč-Tomaševski’s film “Daniel Rock”

The discovered films and their history are also interesting for the history of early cinematography and cinema culture in Lithuania, they reflect the specifics of cinemas and their repertoires in the early period of cinema history.

in 2022 Šiauliai’s “Aušros” museum, in collaboration with archival film enthusiast A.Gilaičius, implemented an international project during which tapes were restored and digitized at the “L’Immagine Ritrovata” film restoration and conservation laboratory in Bologna (Italy).

The process required exceptional knowledge and diligence, as the films were shot on nitrite film. This type of tape degrades rapidly over time and is extremely flammable. In Lithuania, it was not possible to find specialists capable of performing such work. Later, a digital restoration of these valuable films was carried out at The George Eastman museum in Rochester (USA).

Discoveries of world film heritage in Šiauliai’s “Aušros” museum have aroused great interest in the archival film connoisseur’s community. Early film festival “First Wave” plans to screen films in Vilnius in autumn. Il Cinema Ritrovato, Bologna’s archival film festival, is also interested in including screenings in its programs.

April 27 In Šiauliai, the audience will be the first to see these newly reborn archival films.

The event is organized by Šiauliai Film Art Club, Šiauliai “Aušros” museum branch – Museum of Photography. The event is partially supported by Šiauliai City Municipality.