A VIOLIST and film-maker will be bringing his silent cinema tour to Harwich next month, performing live improvised scores and “dark works” from the era of silent cinema.

Hugo Max is a violist and film-maker who regularly accompanies silent films with live improvised scores on the solo viola at the Prince Charles Cinema in London's West End.

Hugo’s tour is a celebration of the lasting power of five films from the silent era - Nosferatu (1922), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Der Golem (1920), The Lodger (1926) starring Ivor Novello, and Häxan (1922).

Screenings are scheduled in the UK’s oldest cinemas including Oxford’s Ultimate Picture Palace and Harwich’s Electric Palace Theatre, both established in 1911, as well as the Falkirk’s Hippodrome Cinema and Aldeburgh Cinema founded in 1912 and 1919 respectively.

Classic - Nosferatu directed by F.W. MurnauClassic - Nosferatu directed by FW Murnau (Image: Encyclopædia Britannica)

At the Electric Palace, Max will provide the soundtrack to Nosferatu, which is an unauthorised adaptation of Dracula and a German Expressionist film.

Max will also be performing at other modern cinemas with his tour running from October 4 to November 2, with the lead-up to Halloween being chosen as that is when people often return to watching classic horror films from all eras. 

Visit https://hugomax.co.uk/silent-cinema-uk-tour-2024 for the full list of cinema showings with Nosferatu being shown in Harwich on October 10.