Washburn University is soon hosting the Silent Film Festival at White Concert Hall from Feb. 28 – March 1 with special guest Scott Eyman, biographer of movie actors and celebrities, making an appearance.

The festival has been organized for 28 years and will be free for anyone to attend.

Bill Shaffer, director of the event, shares his expectations for the event.

“In the past, when we first started it, I think we were getting our audience size of 700 to 800 people, and now it’s gone down a bit, then it comes back up again,” Shaffer said. “And there’s a great picture on Saturday night that we’re running. It’s called ‘Don Q, son of Zorro,’ and it’s a sequel to another film that was made in the silent year called ‘Mark of Zorro.’” 

Marvin Faulwell, pianist, added that back then he used to be all by himself with only one pianist,  but now they have a lot of other volunteers and organists to assist, and it has been a lot easier now. He will be playing for the movie “The Blue Mantic” starring Buster Keaton.

The festival will hold a number of films with each feature running for roughly an hour. Denise Morrison, film commentator, said that live music and silent movies are really exciting experiences, and everyone is invited to watch the movies and enjoy the music for free.