Sublime moments of silent film
The silent cinema revels in music this year, with film-concerts at the Auditorium of Lyon, including a Chaplin-Keaton double feature: The Gold Rush, featuring the National Orchestra of Lyon, and Go West, accompanied on the organ. Also on the program, a tribute to Catherine Hessling, Jean Renoir’s muse and Part 3 of the Buster Keaton series with the Cineteca di Bologna and Cohen Films. Finally, a rediscovery of René Clair's early works.
Catherine Hessling in Jean Renoir films
With the support of Chopard
Whirlpool of Fate by Jean Renoir (La Fille de l’eau, 1925, 1h12)
An orphan, martyred by villagers and her uncle, finds refuge with a young bourgeois who falls in love with her... Jean Renoir creates a real ode to the beauty of his wife, Catherine Hessling, the last model of his father, painter Auguste Renoir.
Pathé Bellecour Fri.19 2:30pm
Nana by Jean Renoir (1926, 2h48)
Paris, Second Empire. Nana, a little-known actress without much success, abandons the stage to become a courtesan who unleashes all passions... The art of Catherine Hessling on display, meticulously directed, in Renoir’s most ambitious silent film.
Institut Lumière Tue.16 10am
Charleston Parade by Jean Renoir (Sur un air de charleston, 1927, 24min)
The year 2028. In a deserted Paris, an explorer meets a "wild" girl and becomes enamored with the Charleston...
Followed by
The Little Match Girl by Jean Renoir (La Petite Marchande d’allumettes, 1928, 39min)
One winter's night, a young girl selling matches burns her livelihood in an attempt to keep warm. She begins to dream ... A free adaptation of Andersen's tale, with magical and ingenious decor.
Institut Lumière Thu.18 9am
Grand film-concerts of Lumière
> Halle Tony Garnier
The Kid by Charlie Chaplin (1921, 1h)
A tramp takes in an abandoned baby. Five years later, the baby’s mother, now famous, wants to reclaim her child... With his first feature film, Charlie Chaplin creates a tragi-comedy jewel, still terribly current.
Halle Tony Garnier Sun.14 3pm
> Auditorium of Lyon
With the support of 
The Gold Rush by Charlie Chaplin (1925, 1h28)
Alaska, 1898. A gold digger (Charlie Chaplin) joins an adventurer and an outlaw. In town, he falls in love with Georgia... Chaplin’s flick is a funny and scathing satire, served by superb photography.
Auditorium of Lyon Wed.17 8pm
Go West by Buster Keaton (1925, 1h22)
A young tramp employed on a ranch befriends a cow, solitary like himself, but the cow is destined for the slaughterhouse... Keaton satirizes the mythology of the American West in this sweet and funny film.
Auditorium of Lyon Sun.21 11am
Buster Keaton, Part 3
Go West by Buster Keaton (1925, 1h22)
A young tramp employed on a ranch befriends a cow, solitary like himself, but the cow is destined for the slaughterhouse... Keaton satirizes the mythology of the American West in this sweet and funny film.
Auditorium of Lyon Sun.21 11am
The General by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman (1926, 1h19)
Johnnie Gray has two loves, Annabelle and her locomotive. When the Civil War breaks out, Johnnie wants to fight, but hears that he is more useful as a mechanic... Keaton’s favorite work, a monolith of burlesque.
UGC Astoria Sun.14 3pm | Pathé Bellecour Sat.20 11:15am
College by James W. Horne and Buster Keaton (1927, 1h06)
Ronald (Buster Keaton), a strong, intellectual student, decides to get into sports to impress Mary... A satire of American campuses where sport is king, and where Buster Keaton shows off all his athletic talent.
Saint-Genis-Laval Tue.16 8pm | Pathé Bellecour Fri.19 7:15pm
Steamboat Bill, Jr. by Buster Keaton and Charles Reisner (1928, 1h11)
Willy, whose father owns an old boat, is in love with the daughter of his father's competitor, owner the gleaming boat, King... Keaton, in Olympic form, illustrates to what extent he has his gags down to a science.
Comœdia Thu.18 2:15pm | Pathé Bellecour Sun.21 2:30pm
Program of short films: Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline (1920-1922)
Three shorts, the first films co-directed by Buster Keaton, where his comic genius is already on display.
The Scarecrow (20min)
Two farm workers amuse themselves with the farmer's daughter, but the farmer keeps the young woman under a watchful eye...
Followed by
The Boat (23min)
A father builds a boat to take his family on a cruise. But disasters soon ensue…
Followed by
My Wife’s Relations (24min)
A man is mistakenly married to a nuisance of a woman with an invasive family ...
Institut Lumière Fri.19 2pm | Pathé Bellecour Sat.20 5:15pm | Écully Sun.21 3pm
Documentary
The Great Buster: A Celebration by Peter Bogdanovich (2018, 1h40)
Who was Buster Keaton, one of the most prolific American filmmakers? Peter Bogdanovich takes a very personal dive into the work of this visionary artist who revolutionized burlesque cinema.
Institut Lumière Wed.17 2:30pm | Villa Lumière Sun.21 11:15am
Celebrating Max Linder
"The Return of Max Linder", program of shorts
This year, the Institut Lumière creates the Max Linder Institute with the vocation of preserving, promoting and ensuring the influence of the work of Max Linder. An exceptional evening in homage to the immense artist, featuring the screening of an original program.
Institut Lumière Mon.15 4:30pm
René Clair, the early years
Entr’acte by René Clair (1924, 23min)
A bearded dancer, a game of chess between Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp, a hearse dragged by a camel, an illusionist... A Dadaist fantasy without head or tail, a visual poem.
Followed by
Paris Asleep by René Clair (Paris qui dort, 1923, 35min)
Waking up one morning, the night guard of the Eiffel Tower discovers that a mad scientist has put to sleep all the inhabitants of the capital... René Clair’s ode to Paris, allowing us to discover a deserted city, without special effects.
Institut Lumière Mon.15 12pm
Other silent films
O Taxi n°9297 by Reinaldo Ferreira (1927, 2h02)
See Treasure & Curiosities p.45
Institut Lumière Thu.18 10:45am
Kinemacolor 2 (1902-1914, 1h13)
A new dive into the magic of the first color films through a selection of short films, curated by Gian Luca Farinelli, director of the Cineteca di Bologna.
Institut Lumière Fri.19 9:30am
