The Cleveland Silent Film Festival & Colloquium (CSFF) will present a unique double bill of silent shorts on Saturday, Aug. 9 at the Cleveland Public Library, as part of the 100^th anniversary celebration of the library’s opening.

The film shorts are “War Story,” a rare 21^st Century silent picture directed by Lorain native John Baumgartner, along with the Charlie Chaplin film short that inspired it, “Sunnyside.”

Mike PetroneBoth shorts will be screened with live accompaniment from award-winning Cleveland pianist Mike Petrone. A reception will follow. The film and reception are free to the public. The Saturday silent film series is part of the 100^th anniversary celebration of CPL’s opening.

Made in 2001 in the style of a Charlie Chaplin comedy, “War Story” is not only a contemporary silent film, but it also updates the medium by including a romance between two men—one man is a soldier who is about to be shipped overseas to serve in the First World War.

The film was directed by John Baumgartner, who grew up in Northeast Ohio and is now based in Los Angeles. He says he fell in love with Chaplin’s work while working at a video store in Santa Monica.

“I had felt I’d found a creative kindred spirit, and what’s more, I felt the LGBT experience would both resonate with and add a modern spin on Chaplin’s pathos and storytelling,” said Baumgartner in a statement.

Baumgartner goes on to express his excitement about showing “War Story,” which is nearing its 25^th Anniversary and hasn’t been shown in a while.

John Baumgartner“I couldn’t be happier that [‘War Story’] will be part of the Cleveland Public Library’s Silent Film Festival series,” he says. “To have it screened by such an appreciative audience, and in my stomping grounds is a thrill. I cannot wait to experience the film with the famously appreciative audience.”

“Sunnyside,” which Baumgartner suggested to accompany War Story, was released in 1919. Chaplin said making the film was like “pulling teeth” but it mines comedy by putting Chaplin in a rural setting. He plays a handyman who works every waking hour at a hotel and its owner’s farm, all while pining for a local girl.

“Sunnyside” includes a variety of notable set-pieces over its 34 minutes, including a dream sequence where Chaplin dances with wood nymphs. The sequence is said to be an homage to the famed Russian choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun. Film buffs have long debated whether the “Sunnyside” ending is also a dream.

CSFF executive director Emily Laurance, a Cleveland Heights resident, says “Sunnyside” and “War Story” make a great pair.

“Both films showcase a put-upon everyman beaten down by an uncaring system in the person of a tyrannical boss, and both protagonists are transformed by a love that directly challenges their surrounding hierarchies,” she explains. “Also, both films are deliberately a little ambiguous about how that plays out but, ultimately, both films are about hope.”

Laurance adds that pianist Petrone is a local institution, having performed over 6,000 times at Johnny’s Downtown on West 6^th Street. He also created the score for “War Story” on the original soundtrack, which he will draw on for the upcoming film screening.

“I think the audience will be surprised to witness the care John Baumgartner’s ‘War Story’ invested in mimicking the overall feel and look of a Chaplin film (starting with the vintage camera used),” said Petrone in a statement. “Seeing the films back-to-back should be striking—considering they were made 80 years apart.”

Laurance adds thar the CSFF is dedicated to presenting films with live music—as they would have been seen and heard when they were first released, declaring, “The Cleveland Silent Film Festival's partnership with the Cleveland Public Library is a real milestone for the organization.”

The free screenings of “War Story” and “Sunnyside” will be at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 9 in the Louis Stokes Wing Auditorium of the Cleveland Public Library, 525 Superior Ave. Free weekend parking is available in the Huntington Building Garage, 777 Rockwell and ABM Rockwell Garage.