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New Restoration!

The annual conference for the Association of Moving Image Archivists is being held right here in Pittsburgh this year, and we are thrilled to partner on this event. Come see this spectacular restoration of one of the most important American films ever made, and rub shoulders with leading film archivists and restoration experts from around the country! 

F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) is often, and deservedly, recognized as the supreme achievement of the silent era cinema—and of all the eras that followed. For nearly one hundred years, critics, historians, scholars, and film lovers have recognized its artistry, emotion, and technical brilliance. The film’s excellence was recognized for Unique and Artistic Production at the first Academy Award ceremony, and the latest BFI Sight and Sound poll ranks Sunrise as #11 on its list of Greatest Films of All Time. 

F. W. Murnau’s first American film was made under conditions few directors have enjoyed: William Fox gave him a blank check and left him alone. The result is a fable stripped to archetypes (the credits list no character names, only The Man, The Wife, The Woman from the City) and staged with a stylistic assurance that still takes the breath away. A farmer, seduced by a vacationing city woman into plotting his wife’s murder, cannot go through with it; husband and wife flee to the city, reconcile, and return home through a storm that nearly finishes what the husband could not. Murnau and cinematographers Charles Rosher and Karl Struss built elaborate sets incorporating forced perspective and miniatures, then moved the camera through them with a fluidity that had no real precedent in American production. Murnau’s revolutionary technique had a profound effect on two of his directorial colleagues at Fox, John Ford and Frank Borzage. 

The San Francisco Film Preserve initiated this 4K digital restoration that allows audiences to view ”Sunrise” in a way that very closely resembles its original appearance, nearly a century after the movie became a multiple winner at the first-ever Academy Awards. 

Directed by F.W. Murnau  

Concessions

Concessions are available for all screenings and the Harris Theater is a BYOB venue. Guests who bring alcoholic beverages must be 21 years or older and provide a valid photo ID upon request. A $5 charge will be issued per guest.