2008 Mirthquake a great success!

Many thanks to all who attended or helped out at events of the 2008 Mirthquake, which took place from Thursday, April 17 to Sunday, April 20, 2008. With something for everyone, our marathon of screenings in more than a half-dozen venues across southern New Hampshire attracted a good mix of film buffs and vintage cinema newcomers alike.
A highlight of this year's schedule was a standing-room-only screening of 'Speedy,' Harold Lloyd's classic 1928 feature, which received an ovation from a capacity crowd at the new Red River Theatre complex in downtown Concord, N.H. on Saturday, April 19. Even 80 years after they were first released, Harold's films still pack them in and pack a punch! Many thanks to Connie Rosemont at Red River Theatres for helping bring Mirthquake to the state's Capitol City.
Other highlights included rare short comedies from the collection of Dave Stevenson and other film historians from repositories such as the Danish Film Institute; evening screenings of two other Lloyd features, 'Dr. Jack' (1922) and 'The Kid Brother' (1927) at the Franco-American Centre in Manchester, a program of 'Silent Rarities' from the U.S. Library of Congress selected by film historian Cole Johnson held at the historic Ioka Theatre in Exeter (a movie theatre built by Louis B. Mayer in 1915 that survives virtually intact!), and a screening of 'The Red Mill' (1927) in a razor-sharp digital transfer from a beautiful print, supported by a powerful and evocative score improvised by accompanist Jeff Rapsis on the Korg synthesizer.
Bookmark this space for information about the next Mirthquake and other upcoming film screenings in and around southern New Hampshire. And if you'd like to help out, please send us a note and we'll be in touch with you. There's nothing like silent film shown on the big screen with live music and an audience!
We'd like to thank all our sponsors for this year's event: HippoPress and the Manchester Express, Looser Than Loose Vintage Entertainment, the Manchester Public Library, Back Lot Films, Lunch Box Films, the Franco-American Center of Manchester, A Taste of Europe, Red River Theatres of Concord, The Ioka Theatre of Exeter, the Wilton Town Hall Theatre, the Palace Theatre of Manchester, Easter Seals of New Hampshire, and Cats in the Cradle Soap of Alton, N.H.

See you at the next screenings!