Man with a Movie Camera

The renowned musical ensemble that Roger Ebert called “the best in the world at accompanying silent film” makes its second Columbus appearance in conjunction with a restoration of Dziga Vertov’s landmark documentary Man with a Movie Camera. Named the best documentary and the eighth greatest film in cinema history in recent polls by Sight & Sound, the film captures everyday urban life in the Soviet Union through a dizzying array of then-groundbreaking (and still invigorating) cinematic techniques—double exposures, fast and slow motion sequences, split-screen shots, Dutch angles, breakneck jump cuts, and more. Based in Cambridge, MA, the Alloy Orchestra (percussionist Terry Donahue, director Ken Winokur, and keyboardist Roger C. Miller) has accompanied a wide range of silent-era films in every corner of the US, as well as in dozens of countries abroad, including Spain, France, Russia, Italy, Portugal, and New Zealand. Their accompaniment to Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman’s The General was a highlight of our 25th Anniversary Season. (68 mins., DCP)