Nosferatu - Silent Film with Live Score

Graeme Stephen is performing his live score to a screening of Nosferatu at Leith Depot on Friday 30 October, the night before Halloween. The film is the 1922 silent classic directed by F.W. Murnau, often called the mother of all modern vampire films, and Stephen will be playing along to it in real time.

Stephen has built a following around this kind of work, breathing new life into early cinema through his Silent Film Scores. He's an award-winning guitarist and composer, and The Scotsman has noted that he's absorbed influences ranging from Charlie Christian to Bill Frisell while finding his own way, calling him a widely respected guitarist on the Scottish jazz scene. That jazz background sits right at the heart of what he does here: rather than a fixed soundtrack, the music is played live, so the score follows the film as it unfolds on screen.

Nosferatu itself is one of the most famous silent films ever made, a German Expressionist piece that set the template for almost every vampire story that followed. Seeing it with a live score changes the experience from watching an old movie to something more like a concert, with the music filling the gaps where the dialogue would be. It's a good fit for a Halloween eve outing, too, given the subject matter.

The screening starts at 20:00 and runs for two hours, with tickets from £10 to £15 booked through Eventbrite. You'll find Leith Depot at 138-142 Leith Walk, EH6 5DT.