Scotland’s film festival calendar has a new addition in The Hippodrome Festival of Silent Cinema. Intended to become an annual event, the first festival will run from March 18-20 at The Hippodrome cinema in Bo’ness.

The Hippodrome was the first purpose-built cinema in Scotland when it opened its doors in 1912. It re-opened in April 2009 after a £2m restoration funded by the Scottish Historic Building Trust.

The Festival will open with a screening of the Clara Bow feature It (1927) and close with F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922) with a live musical accompaniment by David Allison of The Island Tapes.

Pianist Neil Brand will attend the Festival to provide accompaniment to a number of features include a double-bill of Buster Keaton in Sherlock Jr (1924) and Harold Lloyd in Never Weaken (1921).

The Festival will also include a slapstick workshop, material from the Scottish Screen Archive and a family screening of Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid (1921). The Festival is funded by Falkirk Council and Regional Screen Scotland.

Festival Director Alison Strauss said: “The whole event is designed to celebrate the magic, glamour and pure entertainment of films from the silent era. Our programme and the supporting events include something for all ages and we’ve made sure that the wide appeal will involve a broad range of tastes, from cinephiles to anyone discovering early film for the first time.”