Author: Ben Model

  • Oct 7 & 8: trick films @ MoMA

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    Ben Model

    George Melies and his RivalsLe Voyage dans la lune (A Voyage to the Moon) 1902. France. Directed by Georges Méliès. 13 min.Barbe-Bleue 1901. France. Directed by Georges Méliès. 10 min.Les Sept Chateaux du diable (Seven Castles of the Devil) 1902. France. Directed by Ferdinand Zecca. 12 min.Le Voyage à travers l’impossible (Impossible Voyage) 1904. France.…

  • Oct 4 – Dough & Dynamite for American Girl

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    Ben Model
    in

    Oct 4 at 9:30 am (!) found me at MoMA bright and early for a private screening for a handful of young girls, their American Girl dolls, and the girls’ moms, a Grandma and a Dad. This was another one of the promotional events linked to American Girl’s new Rebecca Rubin doll, whose historical year…

  • Oct 3 – shorts & Zorro in Sag Harbor

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    Ben Model

    My third time performing at the Bay Street Theater found me with the Miditzer in tow. This was a request from Bay Street, and they covered a rental car for me to bring the instrument out (I don’t own a car, and the Hampton Jitney wouldn’t exactly work). The other thing new was that in…

  • Oct 1 “Lesser-Known Pioneers of Cinema” (MoMA)

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    Ben Model

    La Vie et la passion de Jésus Christ. 1902. France. Directed by Ferdinand Zecca, Lucien Nonguet. 30 min. La Vie du Christ. 1906. France. Directed by Alice Guy Blaché. 28 min.The Automobile Thieves (incomplete). 1906. USA. Directed by J. Stuart Blackton. 10 min. Francesca di Rimini. 1908. USA. Directed by J. Stuart Blackton. 10 min.At…

  • October begins: 22 performances in and around NY

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    Ben Model

    October finds me working full-time as a silent film accompanist. 22 performances in and around NY, plus a DVD box set release. When not performing, the rest of my working hours involve preparing for shows, agent work for shows coming up and for shows percolating for 2010, being my own press agent and doing press…

  • article on Zorro, shorts, at Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor

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    Ben Model

    Elise D’Haene did a real nice write-up in this week’s East Hampton Star on the shows I have coming up this Saturday, at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor. Click here to read the article.

  • Carmagnole in “Orphans of the Storm”

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    Ben Model

    Am playing for Orphans of the Storm in Huntington tonight. Reviewing my story sheet reminded me that toward the end the townspeople dance the Carmagnole. My notes — cribbed from some other website years ago — on the dance read: “The Carmagnole, an anonymous song and street dance popular during the Reign of Terror of…

  • Back to Film School: Actualities and Glimmerings of More

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    Ben Model

    Back to “film school” today! Accompanied the “Actualities and Glimmerings of More” program at MoMA. Had a pretty big crowd, maybe 80-100 people. I didn’t keep count while I was playing, but am guessing it was at least 40 films. Since they were early actualities with little or no plot, and since even the story…

  • “An Auterist History of Film” at MoMA begins

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    Ben Model

    For those of you with weekday daytime availability, be sure to bookmarkthis page on MoMA Film’s website for An Auteurist History of Film: http://moma.org/visit/calendar/films/989 The first 6 or 7 months of this two-year film cycle at MoMA, curated by Charles Silver, is all silent film. A different program is shown each week on Weds, Thurs…

  • “Headless Horseman” at Hudson River Museum – Sun 9/13

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    Ben Model

    The newly revamped Hudson room at the Hudson River Museum does not have its grand piano available just yet, so I brought up my Kurweil PC2, OnStage keyboard stand and a few audio cable and adapters for this show. Being able to bring a keyboard is occasionally a factor in some shows, and being audio-tech-savvy…