Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 8:00pm
Eisenstein's classic 1921 silent film is considered one of the greatest films of all time. Local composer and performer Brendan Cooney has composed an original score for the film to be played by members of the *West Philadelphia Orchestra*. The screening will take place on *Wednesday, October 21st, 2009* at the *Rotunda* on 40th and Walnut in West Philly. Show time is* 8pm*. Admission is $5. This will be a one-time only performance.
Battleship Potemkin is an early Soviet film well known for its pioneering use of "montage" as a film technique. The subject matter of the film is radical as well. It tells the story of a mutiny aboard a tsarist battleship during the failed 1905 revolution in Russia.
Cooney's score blends Eastern European and Russian melodies, jazz and classical idioms taking full advantage of the improvisational abilities of the performers. Joining him on saxophone is Philadelphia free-jazz legend* Eliiot Levin*, classical trumpeter and improviser *Dawn Webster*, West Philadelphia Orchestra band leader and drummer* Gregg Mervine*, and jazz bassist *Chris Coyle*. *Cooney* himself will play piano.
This October marks the 92nd anniversary of the "October Revolution", the successful Soviet revolution of 1917. The screening of Potemkin is meant to coincide with that anniversary.
