A Level Film Studies at the BFI: Silent Cinema Comes Alive

On Monday, fourteen Year 12 A Level Film Studies students, accompanied by teachers, spent the day at BFI Southbank for a richly rewarding study day exploring the aesthetics of silent cinema. The day offered students a rare opportunity to deepen their understanding of early film movements in the very heart of British film culture.

The morning session, led by Matthew Daintrey-Hall, introduced students to the key aesthetic principles of silent film, with a particular focus on German Expressionism, Soviet montage, Constructivism and Surrealism. Using examples from The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920), Nosferatu (1922), Man With a Movie Camera (1929) and Buster Keaton’s The General (1926), students explored how filmmakers used mise-en-scène, editing, performance and cinematography to generate meaning long before synchronised sound. The interactive format encouraged thoughtful discussion and confident participation, helping students make clear links to their A Level Film Studies course.

A highlight of the day was the afternoon screening of F. W. Murnau’s Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), accompanied live on piano by world-renowned silent film composer and accompanist Neil Brand. Experiencing Sunrise in this way gave students a vivid sense of how silent films were originally exhibited, and how live music shapes emotional response and spectatorship. The screening was followed by a Q&A with Neil Brand, whose insights into silent film accompaniment and film history were both accessible and inspiring.

The day was not all academic: students also enjoyed lunch together on the Southbank, soaking up the atmosphere. Overall, the trip was a resounding success. Students came away enthusiastic, inspired, and with a deeper, more confident understanding of silent film aesthetics that will directly support their studies.