Häxan
Benjamin Christensen, 1922, 87 min

This screening of Häxan will have the sonic adventures of a “Häxan mixtape” as audio accompaniment. Created by artist, filmmaker, mixtape maker, Oliver Bancroft: “When watching silent films, without live music accompaniment, it is best to watch them with your favourite tunes and let them guide you along the films narrative, or second best, watch with my favourite selection!” A riot of sound that matches the film’s kaleidoscopic play through genre and narrative. 

“Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen’s legendary silent film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages and early modern era suffered from the same ills as psychiatric patients diagnosed with hysteria in the film's own time. Far from a dry dissertation on the topic, the film itself is a witches’ brew of the scary, the gross, and the darkly humorous. Christensen’s mix-and-match approach to genre anticipates gothic horror, documentary re-creation, and the essay film, making for an experience unlike anything else in the history of cinema.” – Janus Films