“Cinema’s First Nasty Women” marked the finale in Northrop’s silent film and live music series on April 4, with composer duo Dreamland Faces scoring the collection.
“Cinemas First Nasty Women” is a DVD Blu-Ray set that focuses on the “nastiest” woman found in the archives of cinema.
Maggie Hennefeld, an associate professor of cultural studies and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota, helped curate the program of films.
Hennefeld introduced the 10 highlighted silent films that all had a theme of “contagious revenge.”
“In these films, you’ll see nasty women defying gender stereotypes, asserting their sexual desires, while leaving total chaos and apocalyptic mayhem in their wake,” Hennefeld said.
With some of the films being made more than 100 years ago, the event aims to show how irreverent female comedy is not something new. It’s a celebration of an era where women had more power in the process of filmmaking and a reminder to audiences of that reality.
“Women held more positions of power in the silent film era than in any other time in motion picture history,” Hennefeld said. “Their contribution was subsequently written out of the history of film and deprioritized by archives for decades. This has created an acute problem that feminist film historians diagnosed as archival amnesia.”
Andy McCormick and Karen Majewicz, the two multi-instrumentalists who make up Dreamland Faces, score films together with their smooth sound.
Throughout the night, the live score aspect to the program worked in complete cohesion with the overall artistic vision. Highlighting women’s resilience and bravery, the triumphant notes of Dreamland Faces exuded a similar energy. Whenever the film got more ludicrous, so did the music, injecting the films with a new life.
Joseph Kratzin, a third year University student in cinema and media culture, appreciated the combination of old cinema and new music.
“It was interesting to see the music in front of you interact with films that are a century old. It felt like two eras of creative movement meeting,” Kratzin said.
During a Q&A held after the screening, McCormick talked about the process for scoring films.
“We definitely spend a lot of time trying things that don’t work with the films,” McCormick said. “We try to repeat ourselves when something does work. We’re not afraid to repeat. We try to score as much as we can to the action of the movies.”
Hennefeld will continue curating short film programs through a mini festival at the Film Society in May. Dreamland will continue their work toward bringing silent mediums to life through the Twin Cities Silent Film Project.
