ILKLEY Film Society commemorates the centenary of the Battle of Verdun with a special screening of the 1928 French silent film Verdun: Visions of History on Sunday, February 7 at Ilkley Playhouse from 8pm.
The longest battle in history, lasting ten months in 1916 and claiming more than 300 thousand lives, Verdun holds the same place in the French national memory as the Battle of the Somme does for the British. Twenty million shells were fired, a rate of almost one per second from February to December.
The film is not a documentary but a recreation with actors, filmed on the location of the battle and using hundreds of extras who had actually fought in 1916. Never released in Britain, it was lost for 50 years until a complete print turned up in Moscow. The Film Society thanks the Cinematheque de Toulouse for allowing the film to be shown in Ilkley – it is probably the UK premiere of the film, and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see it on a big screen.
Guest tickets cost just £4 (£2 for students) and can be reserved by telephoning Dave Howell on 01943 430097. Further information on the current season is available online at www.ilkleyfilmsociety.org.uk
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