HippCast

We mark our 30th episode by inviting independent researcher Laraine Porter onto the podcast to chat with Digital Content Manager Christina about what was going on in the film world on either side of, you guessed it, 1930.

The cusp of the 'thirties was a pivotal moment for cinema, with synchronised sound radically changing operations across production and exhibition. Previously loud and boisterous sets had to adapt to operating in silence, and picture houses across the world had to make way for a whole new technology. The discussion ranges from the 'talkies' to the 'singies' and the goat gland films, and considers why some stars ended up as casualties of this seismic revolution.

Additional links:

• ⁠A selection of Laraine's Porter's writing on this subject⁠
• ⁠Listen to Episode 23 to learn more about Hitchcock's (silent) heroines⁠
• ⁠Watch 'Alma Reville: in the shadow of Hitchcock?'⁠
• Read the full English transcript of this episode

About the speaker:

Laraine Porter is an independent researcher and Associate Fellow at DeMontfort University, University of Exeter and Bristol University. She was the co-founder and co-director of the British Silent FIlm Festival which ran between 1998 and 2019 and now runs as annual events at the Cinema Museum and Kings College in London. Between 2014 and 2019, Porter ran a major research project on British Silent Cinema and the Transition to Sound, and has written several journal articles on this subject. 

Hello listeners and welcome to Episode 29!

In today's release we hear from Michael Coull, Cinema Programmer at Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA), who chats to us all about one of our upcoming screenings: The Phantom of the Opera (1925).  To celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the release of this iconic film, Dundead - DCA's annual horror and cult Film Festival and programming strand - has commissioned a new score by Scottish musicians Andrew Wasylyk and Tommy Perman to be performed live at five venues across Scotland, including the Hippodrome, where we are showing the film on Thursday the 30th of October.

The Phantom of the Opera tour is a Dundee Contemporary Arts and Dundead project supported by Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI's Film Audience Network, awarding funding on behalf of Screen Scotland and the BFI National Lottery.

HippFest Digital Content Manager Christina Webber chats to DCA Cinema Programmer Michael Coull about the story, and asks why Rupert Julian's 1925 version of The Phantom of the Opera ranks among the greatest horror films of the silent era.About the speaker:

Michael Coull is Cinema Programmer at Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) where he also programmes Dundead, DCA’s annual film festival and programme strand celebrating horror, cult and weird cinema. Dundead has been running since 2011, screening the best in new and vintage horror, and Michael took over programming in 2021. Over the years Dundead has grown to be a key part of DCA’s programme and the Dundead audience is one DCA’s most engaged and loyal audiences.Additional reading/ relevant links:

• Access a full English transcript of this episode here.
• Book tickets to The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

• Check out our 2025 Taste of Silents season
• More info on Dundead Halloween (running Sat 11 - Fri 31 October 2025)
• Check out Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA)
• Listen to HippCast Episode 22 ft. Andrew Wasylyk and Tommy Perman

In this month's episode we hear from three of our 2025 Young Programmers, who have been busy behind-the-scenes preparing our Autumn mini-season of silent film with live music. Alanna Steel, Helen Jockel and Eve Jeffreys share what it was like working together to choose the titles and their musical accompaniments, as well as explaining a little bit about each film and the variety of extra activities surrounding the screenings.

In case you needed a reminder, the upcoming season of in-person screenings features:

• Clarence Brown's Flesh and the Devil (1925) on Saturday 20 September, with live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne
• Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin (1925) on Saturday 4 October, with live musical accompaniment by S!nk
• Buster Keaton's Go West (1926) on Saturday 18 October, with live musical accompaniment by Mike Nolan

Plus a reprisal of online show HippFest at Home (again!) - Neil Brand: Key Notes for our international audiences who missed out in March. Digital Content Manager Christina dives a little deeper into how each guest first discovered silent cinema, and what being a Young Programmer with HippFest is like...

All the relevant information on multi-ticket deals, booking, shuttle bus times, etc can be found on the Hippodrome website. Happy listening!

Additional links from the episode

• Full English episode transcript
• The Edinburgh Silent Film Club (on Instagram)
• The Edinburgh Silent Film Club (on Facebook)

In Episode 27 of our monthly film-focused audio show, Digital Content Manager Christina spoke to Jennifer Bulcock, the inspirational powerhouse behind the brand new (and upcoming) Penistone Film Festival! This new event is a two-day celebration of silent cinema, coming very soon to a beautiful cinema in South Yorkshire: the Penistone Paramount.

Built as the assembly hall for Penistone in 1914 and screening films ever since, this beautiful multipurpose picture palace has been a home for entertainment for over a century, much like our own Hippodrome in Bo'ness. The town of Penistone, like Bo'ness, is blessed with a picturesque train station and shares a proud industrial heritage too, being renowned for its steelworks.

Jennifer and her team are hard at work, designing a fun and friendly festival to introduce new audiences to the magic of silent cinema with live music. The inaugural event will run over one weekend on the 18th and 19th of October, celebrating the cinema's heritage and encouraging local audiences to try something new. And it's not just about watching films! There are local art stalls, a photo booth, stunt performers, roaming characters and period re-enactments, plus an invitation to create and submit your own silent film to an esteemed panel of judges.

Christina and Jennifer speak all about the program, the festival's beginnings and purpose, as well as exploring various tangents, including TikTok and contemporary short form video viewing, working class alienation in the creative industries, and the need to invest in local community spaces.

We hope you enjoy, and follow PFF your favourite social media platforms to stay up to date with goings-on.

Additional reading/ relevant links:

• All about Penistone Film Festival
• Full English transcript of this episode
• Enter your own silent film into the competition!

• Learn more about HippFest's trip to Tromso Silent Film Days

For June's release we caught up with two of our favourite film archivists Kathy Rose O’Regan and Robert Byrne, during a brief pit stop between screenings at Il Cinema Ritrovato⁠, Bologna. Fresh off the back of presenting the new restoration of THE GARDEN OF EDEN (1928), accompanied by HippFest favourites Stephen Horne and Frank Bockius in Il Cinema Ritrovato‘s gorgeous Cinema Modernissmo, Kathy and Robert share some of their early festival favourites, explain the process of film restoration, and introduce the San Francisco Film Preserve.

Formerly organised as part of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, SFFP commenced operation as an independent non-profit on October 1 2024. Their mission is to restore, preserve, and provide access to the world’s cinematic heritage, ensuring that works of cinema remain accessible for future generations. Through education, advocacy, and collaboration, SFFP aim to inspire a deeper appreciation for the art of film while safeguarding its cultural significance for years to come.

SFFP also produce a monthly online presentation on early film restoration and discovery – on Friday 18 July Dr. Veronica Johnson will be presenting on her deep and compelling research on the first indigenous Irish film company – named, unsurprisingly, the Film Company of Ireland. Don’t miss this – though if you do we’ve been told it will be on YouTube after the event! More info here.

• As always, there is a full English transcript of this conversation here.
• All about the San Francisco Film Preserve.
• ⁠Catch up on previous online presentations from San Francisco Film Preserve via the SFFP YouTube.
• ⁠All about Il Cinema Ritrovato.
• More info on ⁠THE GARDEN OF EDEN (1928)
• Current projects and other restorations at SFFP.

A month on from our fifteenth edition, we speak to some of our youngest attendees and recent silent film converts on their highlights from HippFest 2025!

This episode contains two interviews: one with our 2025 Young Scot reward winner Rhiannon Byles, and one with three of our 2025 Young Programmers: Eve Jeffreys, Alanna Steel, and Helen Jockel recorded by Dave Barras (Strange Boat Films). In a neat link, Alanna was our 2024 Young Scot reward winner, bringing Eve along for the ride, and if interested to hear their reflections on their first visit to HippFest you can catch up on episode 14 here.

Rhiannon also mentions her first experience of silent film with live music - a screening of Nosferatu at the Prince Charles Cinema in London, accompanied by Hugo Max - and you can catch up on our interview with Hugo last year in episode 19 here. So many lovely overlaps!!

We hope this episode prompts some of your own fond reflections on your visit to HippFest this year. Remember to save the dates for the next edition: 18-22 March 2026!

Relevant links:

• Read a full English episode transcript here
• Eve and Alanna's Edinburgh Silent Film Club
• Neil Brand presents: Silent Comedy Triple Bill at DCA
• More info on where to next find Hugo Max
• Reflect on a festival even further back in time by listening to 'Young voices on old cinema' numero uno (from 2023 - episode THREE)!

It's the annual 'programme picks' episode - a listener favourite! - and with less than one week to go, what better time to have another look over the line-up?

Featuring plenty of additional film titbits, predictions, promises, admiration for musicians, and general chatter from the team working away behind-the-scenes to present HippFest's glittering fifteenth edition. Featuring the follow staff members and titles:

HANNAH BRADLEY CROALL: Before the Face of the Sea (1926); With Reindeer and Sled in Inka Länta's Winterland (1926); Our Hospitality (1923); The Cave of the Spider Woman (1927).

ABBIE DOBSON: The Swallow and the Titmouse (1920); The Pleasure Garden (1925).

NATALIE ALLISON: Friday Night Gala - The Pride of the Clan (1917); Neil Brand: Key Notes.

NELL CARDOZO: The Shamrock Handicap (1926); What the Water Remembers - The Dark Mirror (2025) and Exhibition at Bo'ness Library; New Found Sound.

ALISON STRAUSS: Flora Kerrigan - Rediscover a Film Pioneer; The Near Shore: A Scottish and Irish Cine-Concert; Forgotten Faces (1928).Additional reading/ relevant links:

• Read a full English transcript of this episode.
• Learn more about the HippFest team
• Book tickets to everything upcoming at HippFest 2025
• An illustrated overview of the HippFest 2025 programme
• As mentioned: Alma Reville: in the shadow of Hitchcock?
• As mentioned: In the Frame of the Father: Films made by Irish Priests

In today's conversation, we hear from Caroline Young, a freelance writer and author from Edinburgh, specializing in fashion, pop culture, and classic cinema. She is the author of various titles, including Hitchcock's Heroines and Single and Psycho, How Pop Culture Created the Unstable Single Woman. Alfred Hitchcock, and especially his wife and trusted collaborator Alma Reville, provide the link between this podcast episode and our 2025 programme...

100 years after its release, we will be screening The Pleasure Garden (1925), directed by Hitchcock, and edited and assisted by Reville, on Friday 21 March at 3PM. In addition we will be hosting an extremely rare screening of a key example of Reville's work without Hitch, The Constant Nymph (1928), at the Barony Theatre in Bo'ness on Saturday the 15th of March at 7:30PM. This special screening will be introduced by BFI Curator Dr. Josephine Botting, so do catch it if you can.

Alma Reville meant everything to Hitchcock, personally and professionally. It is no exaggeration to say that she was his heroine. In this conversation, we learn about some of Hitchcock's on-screen heroines, his alleged fascination with blondes, and what he was like to work with.

There is particular focus on the silent stars whose careers began with the venerated auteur, and the discussion considers Hitchcock's reputation for contentious working methods. Was he as formidable as is believed, or was his reputation part of a contrived press persona?

Please note that this conversation contains slight spoilers for The Pleasure Garden. CONTENT ADVISORY: Murder, sexual misconduct.Additional reading/ relevant links:

• More info about Caroline Young
• Buy the book: Hitchcock's Heroines
• Book tickets to The Pleasure Garden (1925)
• Book tickets to The Constant Nymph (1928)
• Alma Reville: in the shadow of Hitchcock?Presented by Dr Jo Botting
• A full English transcript of this episode can be found here.

Introducing our exciting new co-commission: WHAT THE WATER REMEMBERS, including the first film to be announced for our fifteenth edition, THE DARK MIRROR (2025)!

Hear all about a brand new venture for HippFest, an exciting new joint commission with Flatpack Festival in Birmingham called What the Water Remembers. This project features a new film titled The Dark Mirror, made by artist Moira Salt, with a new score created by Tommy Perman and Andrew Wasylyk, which will premiere at HippFest 2025 on Saturday 22 March, 2025, before reprising at Flatpack Festival in May.

Based on research into the Falkirk archives and using footage from the BFI National Archive, Media Archive Central England, Collection Eye Film Museum Netherlands, and the National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive, this creative non-fiction film brings some of the many stories of these waterways to life. It was brilliant to be able to chat to the team in the midst of this work, whilst they continue to develop the film and soundscape you will hear in March.

The film and music are currently in production and promise to weave an engrossing, mythological tale fashioned from the rich history and cultural significance of canals... Tune in to hear all about it!

Relevant links:

As you may be aware, HippFest 2025 (running 19-23 March) will be the Festival's fifteenth edition. This episode brings together some of the wonderful individuals that have helped shape HippFest, to reflect on the fourteen years thus far.

When Digital Content Manager Christina set up these interviews, it quickly became apparent that many people close to the festival have a lot to share, and they love to talk about HippFest. Christina has cut these wide-ranging conversations into a perfectly podcast sized morsel, with some aspects getting a repeat mention (New Found Sound, Bo'ness, the Hippodrome, the musicians, Ali's programming).

A huge thanks to and Emma Mortimore, Neil Brand, Nicola Kettlewood and Mel Selfe for sharing their fond memories of the Festival. We are so grateful for their input and for taking the time to share reflections with us.

Useful links: