Unique screening to combine 1920s German cinema and Radiohead

Photo: Nosferatu trailer/IMDB

A century-old classic film set to a soundtrack made up completely of Radiohead songs will be screening this weekend as part of the Kamloops Film Festival, and an expert on the film says it might just be a perfect fit.

The 1922 German silent film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror will be “lightly-edited,” according to festival organizers, to fit the modern soundtrack. The showing is being presented in partnership with Kamloops podcast Drunk In a Graveyard.

Podcast creator Robin Goodfellow said the Radiohead version of the film was picked as part of the festival’s two-day Darkfest event for its uniqueness and weird factor.

“People love the weird,” she said. “Just the concept of taking this 1922 silent film, a vampire film, and then sticking Radiohead to it — it was really cool and really interesting.”

She said the film festival was a “perfect place” for some audiences to check out films they may not see otherwise, and Nosferatu may be especially relevant in the wake of the 2024 Robert Eggers remake.

“It'll be interesting now that the remake has come out, people can actually come out and check out the original,” Goodfellow said.

“There are definitely your filmgoers that are going to be curious, you're going to have your Vampire OG’s, or creepy goth girls with their big boots, people who just like Radiohead, and people who just want to come and see a fun show, I think.”

'Artistically elevated'

Associate professor of German studies at UBC, Dr. Ervin Malakaj, who teaches the film and co-hosted an international symposium on its centennial, said Nosferatu has historically been accompanied by an orchestra.

He hasn’t yet seen the Radiohead edit.

“In the last 10 to 20 years, there has been a little bit more of an experimental approach to it, where people are bringing in different types of sounds to the composition in order to make it sound maybe a little bit more artistically elevated,” he said.

Malakaj said Nosferatu has endured over a century thanks to its cult status, leading fans to get creative through various forms of fan culture.

“One way that sometimes takes places is through developing compositions that could accompany it, reshuffling, re-editing things,” he said. “In order to kind of leave their mark on the film by way of showing their enthusiasm for the material.”

He said it can also be a way to make the film approachable for modern audiences.

Malakaj said he thought Radiohead’s often “somber quality” would complement the film’s expressionistic visuals that draw on a post-World War One sentiment of dread and uncertainty.

“If people have the opportunity to go see it, if they have the time and resources to go, this is definitely not to be missed,” he said.

The film will be screened at the Paramount Theatre at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 15 — 103 years to the day after the film’s original release.

Saturday’s screening of the film will include a pre-show reception with a cash bar and complimentary snacks.