The SFFF partners with the Sacramento Philharmonic in the US Premiere of a classic silent film, An Italian Straw Hat (Un Chapeau de paille d'Italie, 1928), one of the most famous and funny French silent film directed by René Clair, and new musical score.

Music will be performed live by thirteen musicians from the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra -including an accordion player of course! Raymond Alessandrini, French composer of the new score who will travel from France especially for the occasion, will conduct the orchestra.

Based on a play by vaudeville playwright Eugène Labiche, An Italian Straw Hat is a highly entertaining typically French farce: Fadinard is on his way to his wedding when his horse eats the hat of a married woman who was spending time with her lover in the bushes of the bois de Vincennes... To avoid her dishonor, Fadinard must find the very same rare hat, made out of straw from Italy. This will greatly disturb his wedding plans… for our guilty pleasure. Famous film critic Pauline Kael described An Italian Straw Hat as “One of the funniest films ever made... so expertly timed and choreographed that farce becomes ballet.”

There will be only two performances of this fun-filled and one-of-a-kind event featuring a rare 35mm restored print from the French repository of film archives, the Cinémathèque Française.

Join us for a fun-filled, first-time-ever SFFF event!