Cave of the Spider Women at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival

The film’s story comes from a classic of Chinese literature involving a pilgrim monk and his followers—monkey, pig, and shark spirit—who ward off the notorious Spider Queen. The film set 1927 box-office records but was considered lost until its recent discovery and restoration by the National Library of Norway. The director’s granddaughter will attend the screening.

Cave of the Spider Women features extraordinary views of life and landscape in Beijing, filmed during the last years of China’s Qing dynasty, before the 1911 Xinhai Revolution overthrew imperial rule. The focus is on everyday life, and the views of hawkers, laborers, traders, and artisans reveal the city’s vibrant street culture.

Directed by Dan Duyu, China, 1927, 60 m. (Pan si dong)
With Yin Mingzhu, He Rongzhu, Dan Erchun

Live musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin and Frank Bockius.
Donald Sosin scores silent films for major festivals, archives, and DVD recordings and is the resident accompanist at New York’s Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Museum of the Moving Image, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Versatile percussionist Frank Bockius will join Sosin for this program.