A Silent Film Classic Turns 100: Ménilmontant with Live Music
Concert, Film
Ménilmontant directed by Dimitri Kirsanov, 1926
Northern Illinois University and Notre École de Musique
Dekalb & Chicago,
Oct 1 - 3, 2026
Celebrate the 100th anniversary of Dimitri Kirsanoff’s silent-film masterpiece Ménilmontant, accompanied by a live original score by French composer and violinist Blaise Magniere performed by the Avalon String Quartet.
Directed in 1926 by Russian-born French filmmaker Dimitri Kirsanoff, Ménilmontant is set in a working-class neighborhood of Paris. Drawing on several cinematic styles, the film shares many of the qualities of French Impressionist cinema, while its poetic atmosphere remains strikingly timeless.
For this centenary presentation, French composer and violinist Blaise Magniere, Professor of Violin and Chamber Music and Richard O. Ryan Endowed Chair in Violin at Northern Illinois University in Chicago, has created a new score for the film. His music highlights the sensitivity and poetry of Ménilmontant while reinforcing its larger structural arc. Combining musical material from the 1920s with more contemporary styles, the score creates a dialogue between the film’s original era and the present day.
Oct 1 – 7:00 pm – Northern Illinois University – Recital Hall- Dekalb (IL)
More info here
Oct 3 – 7:30 pm – Notre Ecole de Musique – Chicago (IL)
More info here