A Page Of Madness

Join us on our opening night for an exciting new score to a long lost classic in the beautiful Birmingham Royal Conservatoire.

Opening the festival this year is the world premiere of a newly commissioned live score by Sinestro Home Video, a six-piece ensemble pulled together by composers Matt Eaton (Pram) and Gareth Jones (Misty’s Big Adventure, Grandmaster Gareth). You may remember the group closing Flatpack 2016 in some style with their multi-textured score to Murnau's Faust and tonight they're looking to top that extraordinary performance, accompanying a film which is very close to their hearts.

Thought lost for nearly five decades and then rediscovered in the 1970s, A Page of Madness is a stunning, surreal exploration of truth, memory and mental illness. Alongside the band vocalist Atsuko Kamura will play the role of live benshi (narrator and storyteller), recounting the tale of a sectioned woman and her husband’s doomed attempts to extricate her from the asylum. The film has recently undergone a sumptuous restoration, and with Sinestro Home Video’s terrific new accompaniment it should be a festival opener to remember.

Doors open: 20:00
Start time: 20:30