Cartoon | Koko the Clown in Fishing (8’)
Actuality | Scenes from the Gold Rush Seattle (4’)
Western | Bad Buck of Santa Ynez (29’)
Cartoon | The Frogs Who Wanted A King (9’)
Comedy | The Nursemaids' Strike (12')
Comedy | BigBusiness (19')
Running time is 81 minutes
The Bellingham Symphony Orchestra and Pickford Film Center are teaming up again to activate downtown’s Bay Street in a one-of-a-kind outdoor cinema event with live music. Sunset Flicks with the BSO takes place Friday, August 28, 2026. Festivities start at 7PM. and films begin at sunset.
The free, family-friendly event will include a raffle and prizes, as well as food and drink options for purchase.
This event will combine enchanting classical music and unforgettable silent films, creating a rare experience in a fun and accessible setting. Bring your folding chair and join us for a beautiful sunset followed by fun films accompanied by live music.
Silent film music traditionally involves organ, piano, or orchestra playing sheet music or improvising. Composer Shostakovich played piano for silent films to help earn money for his family.
As a team, Laurel and Hardy appeared in 107 films (thirty-two silent shorts, forty sound shorts, twenty-three feature films, and twelve cameo appearances). Most were made at the Hal Roach studios, where the pair worked until 1940.
In Big Business (1929), Laurel and Hardy are locked in tit-for-tat combat with regular supporting player James Finlayson over his refusal to buy a Christmas tree, until, as Glenn Mitchell describes in his Encyclopedia of Laurel and Hardy, the “tension escalates from indignity into uninhibited warfare.”
The first actuality films date to the inception of projected cinema. The Lumière Brothers, in France, were the principal advocates for this genre and also coined the term—"Actualités"—and used it as a descriptor in the printed catalogs of their films.
Actuality film is a non-fiction film genre that uses footage of real events, places, and things (essentially B-roll), a predecessor to documentary film. Unlike documentaries, actuality films are not structured into a larger narrative or coherent whole.
The films to be shown are a selection of shorts made between 1897 and 1928. Curated by Spencer Sundell of The Sprocket Society, the program provides a sampler of the entertaining variety to be found in silent movies: hilarious comedy, thrilling action, amazing pre-CGI special effects, and even cartoons.
PREVIEW Koko the Clown in Fishing (1921)
PREVIEW The Frogs Who Wanted A King (1922)
Experience Music LIVE - there's nothing like it!
About the Bellingham Symphony Orchestra
The Bellingham Symphony Orchestra is the resident orchestra of the historic Mount Baker Theatre. It performs seven concerts per season in addition to a variety of community and youth engagement programs across the calendar year. Details about the BSO and ticketing information for the current season are available at bellinghamsymphony.org.
About Pickford Film Center
Pickford Film Center, a nonprofit organization, provides a forum and resource for independent cinema, strengthening community through education, dialogue and the celebration of film. Since its founding in 1998, it has been the only independent cinema, operating 365 days a year, between Seattle and Vancouver B.C. For more information and what’s playing, go to pickfordfilmcenter.org.
About Downtown Activation with the City of Bellingham
Sunset Flicks is made possible by a grant from the City of Bellingham to activate downtown spaces. Learn more here about this program and how the City of Bellingham is working to keep downtown Bellingham beautiful and vibrant and bring joy to our community.
*All programs subject to change
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