E-MEETING: Reanimating the Silent Era

For the past 25 years, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF) has pursued its mission of bringing silent-era cinema to life for contemporary audiences. Featuring films sourced from archives around the world and accompanied live by award-winning musicians, the festival is internationally recognized as a “must-see” on every film-lover’s calendar. In this presentation, SFSFF president Rob Byrne brings the festival to life, sharing the wonder of silent-era cinema and the organization’s efforts to present and preserve this fragile art form.

Robert "Rob" Byrne is an award-winning film restorer, specializing in early cinema and films of the silent era. Working with film archives and collections worldwide, he has led restorations of more than 20 feature films and numerous short subjects. In 2018, the publication of his restored BEHIND THE DOOR (1919) was recognized as a 2018 Best Single DVD Release at the Il Cinema Ritrovato DVD Awards, and in August 2020, his restoration of FRAGMENT OF AN EMPIRE (1929) received the prestigious Peter von Bagh award in Bologna, Italy.

Rob has lectured at the Library of Congress, University College Cork, Queen’s University Belfast, The Reel Thing Symposium, and numerous AMIA and FIAF technical symposiums, and publishes regularly on the topics of motion picture restoration and preservation. He is published in the volume Films that Sell: Moving Pictures and Advertising, and in November is looking forward to publication of his book, Discovering Lost Films of Georges Méliès in fin-de-siècle Flip Books (1896–1901). 

This is a regular membership meeting of The Rotary Club of San Francisco, open to all Rotarians, visiting Rotarians, prospective members, and guests. The meeting is free, but you must register here to get the link. 

Meeting Schedule:

12:00 Noon: Log in or dial in

12:15 PM: Meeting begins

1:30 PM: Meeting adjourns