MoMA’s Silent Movie Week Returns this Summer with Seven Recent Restorations

The Gold Rush. 1925. USA. Directed by Charles Chaplin. Courtesy of Janus Films

Silent Movie Week 2025 Will Open with the World Premiere of MoMA’s Digital Restoration of Walter Ruttman’s Berlin: Symphony of a City (1927) in MoMA’s Sculpture Garden, co-presented with Neue Galerie New York

The Museum of Modern Art announces the third annual presentation of Silent Movie Week, the summer series that brings seven recent silent film restorations to MoMA over the course of seven consecutive evenings, from July 30 through August 5, 2025. This year’s presentation includes two US and three New York restoration premieres, and opens with the world premiere of MoMA’s recent digital restoration of Walter Ruttman’s Berlin: Symphony of a City (1927), presented in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden (weather permitting) and co-organized with Neue Galerie New York. The screening will be preceded by a musical performance by cellist Derek Louie, a graduate of the Perlman Music Program and the Juilliard School. Silent Movie Week 2025 is organized by Dave Kehr, Curator, and Steve Macfarlane, Department Assistant, Department of Film.

As a commercial medium, silent film lasted for only about 30 years, but those 30 years represented a creative explosion with few parallels in the art world. It’s estimated that only 20 percent of the films made between 1895 and 1930 survive, and yet the work of preserving and restoring the remaining films continues. MoMA is one of several archives around the world with significant silent film holdings, and this annual series invites audiences to enjoy some of the recent restoration work done by MoMA and colleagues across the globe.

Opening night features MoMA’s recent restoration of Walter Ruttmann’s 1927 landmark film Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt), which evocatively captures a day in the life of Weimar-era Berlin. Beginning with the arrival of a morning train and concluding in nightfall, the film’s five-act structure follows the metropolis from dawn to dusk, moving fluidly through factories, boulevards, cafés, and nightclubs, and capturing the mechanical rhythms and social strata of a city in transformation.

This year’s lineup also includes Charles Chaplin’s The Gold Rush (1925), restored by Italy’s L’Immagine Ritrovato. New restorations from Germany include Karel Lamač’s Miss Saxophone (Saxophon-Susi) (1928) courtesy of Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Frankfurt, and Karl Grune’s The Street (1923) courtesy of Filmmuseum München. From the US, Herbert Brenon’s Beau Geste (1926) was restored by Robert A. Harris (The Film Preserve, Ltd.) and James T. Mockoski (The Maltese Film Works), under the supervision of the Library of Congress; also featured are the Library of Congress’s restoration of John M. Stahl’s Memory Lane (1926) and MoMA’s restoration of Frank Borzage’s Street Angel (1928).

Most screenings will feature live musical accompaniment by Ben Model, Donald Sosin, or Makia Matsumara.

SCREENING SCHEDULE

All films are presented at 7:00 p.m. in the Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, unless otherwise noted.

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt). 1927. Germany.

Directed by Walter Ruttmann. Screenplay by Karl Freund, Carl Mayer. With documentary footage of Berlin and its citizens. 65 min. Preserved and restored by The Museum of Modern Art. World restoration premiere. Musical accompaniment by Ben Model.

Wednesday, July 30, sunset, Sculpture Garden (weather permitting)

The Gold Rush.1925. USA.

Directed by Charles Chaplin. Screenplay by Chaplin. With Chaplin, Georgia Hale, Mack Swain, Tom Murray. 95 min. Restored by L’immagine Ritrovato, Bologna, and the Association Chaplin. DCP courtesy of Janus Films. US restoration premiere.

Thursday, July 31, 7:00 pm, Theater 1

Beau Geste. 1926. USA.

Directed by Herbert Brenon. Screenplay by John Russell, Paul Schofield, based on the novel by P. C. Wren. With Ronald Colman, Neil Hamilton, Ralph Forbes, Alice Joyce, Noah Beery, Mary Brian, William Powell. 101 min. Restoration by Robert A. Harris (The Film Preserve, Ltd.) and James T. Mockoski (The Maltese Film Works). The restoration was supervised by the Library of Congress in collaboration with Tthe Museum of Modern Art, Paramount Pictures, UCLA Film and Television Archive, George Eastman Museum, and San Francisco Silent Film Festival. New York restoration premiere. Musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin.

Friday, August 1, 7:00 pm, Theater 2

Miss Saxophone (Saxophon-Susi). 1928. Germany.

Directed by Karel Lamač. Screenplay by Lamač, Václav Wasserman. With Anny Ondra, Gaston Jacquet, André Roanne, Olga Limburg. 70 min. Digital restoration courtesy of Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum (DFF). US restoration premiere. Musical accompaniment by Ben Model.

Saturday, August 2, 7:00 pm, Theater 2

Street Angel. 1928. USA.

Directed by Frank Borzage. Screenplay by Philip Klein, Marion Orth, Henry Roberts Symonds, based on the play by Monckton Hoffe. With Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, Alberto Rabagliati, Natalie Kingston. 102 min. Preserved and restored by The Museum of Modern Art. Musical accompaniment by Makia Matsumara.

Sunday, August 3, 4:00 pm, Theater 2

The Street (Die Straße). 1923. Germany.

Directed by Karl Grune. Screenplay by Karl Grune, Julius Urgiss. With Eugen Klöpfer, Lucie Höflich, Max Schreck, Aud Egede-Nissen. 79 min. Restoration courtesy of Filmmuseum München. New York restoration premiereMusical accompaniment by Donald Sosin.

Monday, August 4, 7:00 pm, Theater 2

Memory Lane. 1926. USA.

Directed by John M. Stahl. Screenplay by Benjamin Glazer, based on the story by Eleanor Meherin. With Eleanor Boardman, Conrad Nagel, William Haines, John Steppling. 70 min. Restoration courtesy of the Library of Congress. New York restoration premiere. Musical accompaniment by Makia Matsumara.

Tuesday, August 5, 7:00 pm, Theater 2

Tickets and more details are available at moma.org.

SPONSORSHIP:

Film at MoMA is made possible by CHANEL.

Additional support is provided by the Annual Film Fund. Leadership support for the Annual Film Fund is provided by Debra and Leon D. Black, with major funding from The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art, Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), and The Young Patrons Council of The Museum of Modern Art.