This year, the Hippodrome Cinema in Bo’ness again plays host to Scotland’s silent film festival, HippFest, as it celebrates its 15th anniversary. The 2025 programme will celebrate over 100 years of filmmaking from cinematographers from across the globe, along with the customary programme from the Golden Age of Hollywood. All films are accompanied by a variety of live music.
Hippfest 25 opens with two Scandinavian features that explore different sides of the region with Before the Face of the Sea (Meren kasvojen edessä) (1926) and Reindeer and Sled in Inka Länta’s Winterland (Med ackja och ren i Inka Läntas vinterland) (1926), which has its UK premiere, is the earliest feature-length documentation of the Sámi.
Closer to home, work from director John Ford tells a tale about Irish immigrants to America in The Shamrock Handicap (1926) and a series of shorts from Scottish and Irish filmmakers in a programme called The Near Shore (1899 – 1958) is a unique collaboration between the Irish Film Institute and National Library Scotland Moving Image Archive.
Continuing its partnership with the Confucius Institute at the University of Edinburgh we have The Cave of the Spider Woman (Pan Si Dong) (1927), while from the Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum comes The Chase After Millions (Die Jagd nach der Million) (1930). This year’s Platform Reels event comes to HippFest from the Uzbek SSR, I Want to be a Train Driver (Qlic/Klych) (1935) and Northern France is represented in The Swallow and the Titmouse (L’hirondelle et la mésange) (1920) that was shot on the canals and waterways of Flanders.
Cork-born filmmaker Flora Kerrigan earned her national recognition in Ireland and international accolades with a remarkable collection of silent animation and live-action shorts.
Films from English screenwriter Alma Reville, editor and wife of Alfred Hitchcock, continue to celebrate women’s work in cinema with screenings of The Constant Nymph (1928) and The Pleasure Garden (1926).
What the Water Remembers – The Dark Mirror (2025) is a brand-new moving image and live music commission inspired by the Union Canal and Falkirk Tunnel and created in partnership with Flatpack Festival, Birmingham that will premiere at HippFest 2025.
HippFest’s Friday Night Gala will present its feature film, starring Mary Pickford in Maurice Tourneur’s The Pride of the Clan (1917), with optional Audio Description available to visually impaired audiences via headphones, alongside a suite of pre-screening aids such as braille compatible script and film primer.
Silent comedy features with the return of a Jeely-Jar screening on Saturday morning when 2-for-1 tickets can be got with a clean jam jar to Our Hospitality (1923) starring Buster Keaton. A Laurel and Hardy double-bill We Faw Down (1928) and Big Business (1929) followed by Skinner’s Dress Suit (1926) are part of the comedy strand.
HippFest 2025 closes with Smouldering Fires (1925) and Forgotten Faces (1928).
Dates: Wednesday 19th – Sunday 23rd March 2025
Venue: Hippodrome in Bo’ness and online
HippFest’s pre-Festival presentations are broadcast on the Falkirk Leisure & Culture YouTube channel.
Tickets are on sale now for the full programme that includes a variety of non-cinematic events as well as the HippFest Festival and Weekend Pass.
For full programme information and to book tickets visit www.hippfest.co.uk.
HippFest is a project of Falkirk Council, supported by Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, and funded by Screen Scotland and National Lottery funding from the BFI.
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 