NEVADA CITY FILM FESTIVAL AND ONYX DOWNTOWN PRESENT SILENT MOVIE DAY

September 29th at 2:00 pm

Nevada City Film Fest and The Onyx Downtown are celebrating Silent Movie Day with a free double feature: Sherlock Jr. and The Great Buster: A Celebration

Celebrating its 100th anniversary, Sherlock Jr. (1924, 45min, G) showcases Buster Keaton’s brilliance.

Anticipating Jean-Luc Godard and postmodernism by decades, the detective fantasy Sherlock Jr. largely takes place inside the head of a hapless and wronged cinema projectionist (Keaton). Using his amateur detective skills, the projectionist follows the thief to the train station — only to find himself locked in a train car. Disheartened, he returns to his movie theater, where he falls asleep and dreams that he is the great Sherlock Holmes.

Keaton’s third feature is a breathtakingly virtuosic display of every silent comedy technique imaginable, from his own formidable physical skills to some then-groundbreaking camera trickery. While there is endless debate as to which is the funniest of Buster Keaton’s 1920s features, there’s little doubt as to which is the cleverest.

For fans of Buster Keaton or those who are just discovering the comedian, The Great Buster: A Celebration (2018, 1h 42m, NR, Documentary/Comedy) is an essential film in understanding one of America’s most influential filmmakers and his legacy as a truce cinematic visionary. The film features interviews with many industry figures such as Dick Van Dyke, Richard Lewis, Bill Hader, Cybill Shephard, Werner Herzog, Nick Kroll, Quentin Tarantino, among many others, and is packed with incredible archival footage that delves deep into Keaton’s genius.