Not So Silent Cinema Presents: The Hands of Orlac

Not So Silent Cinema Presents: The Hands of Orlac!

Join us for a screening of the iconic silent horror film The Hands of Orlac (1924), with a live score from 

Museum Members and College Fellows

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About the Film

Join us for a screening of The Hands of Orlac (1924), performed for the first time with a new score by Not-So-Silent Cinema! This silent horror film was directed by Robert Wiene, the Expressionist director previously known for his masterpiece, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The Hands of Orlac stars Conrad Veidt as a concert pianist who loses his hands in a terrible accident and receives  a hand transplant taken from a recently executed murderer. Tortured by this fact, Orlac believes his new hands may retain the murderous inclinations of their previous owner. 

About the Speaker

L. Scott Levin, MD, FACS, FCPP: Dr. L. Scott Levin is the Paul B. Magnuson Professor of Bone and Joint Surgery, Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and Professor of Surgery. Dr. Levin is also the Medical Director of the Penn Musculoskeletal and Rheumatology Service Line and the Vice President and Associate Dean for Resource Development at Penn Medicine. 

As an accomplished clinician, Dr. Levin’s expertise focuses on surgery of the hand and upper extremity, reconstructive microsurgical techniques for extremity reconstruction, and limb salvage. In 2022, he was awarded the Kappa Delta Elizabeth Winston Lanier Award from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery, which is the highest honor awarded for achievement in Orthopedic research. In May 2011, Dr. Levin established The Human Tissue Laboratory, which acts as a teaching tool and a research facility benefiting students, residents, and CME participants. Dr. Levin heads the Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation (VCA) Program at Penn and directed the teams that performed bilateral hand and arm transplants, one in September 2011 and two international patients, one in August 2016 and then February 2019. In 2015, as Director of the Pediatric Hand Transplantation Program of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, he led the team that performed the world's first bilateral hand transplant in a child.

Event Schedule

6:30 pm - 7:30 pm: Complimentary museum admission and beer, wine, snacks available to purchase

7:30 pm: Dr. L Scott Levin will open the evening with a short conversation on advances in transplant surgery.

7:45 pm: Film screening and musical performance

*Please note no one will be admitted past 7:20pm.

This event frequently sells out! Be sure to purchase your ticket ahead of time online to avoid missing out.

About Not-So-Silent-Cinema

Not-So-Silent Cinema is the project of Philadelphia composer Brendan Cooney. Cooney pulls together different groups for each of his film projects, creating diverse mash-ups of musical personalities from different music scenes to create lively new platforms for interaction and creativity. His scores are tightly composed, time-coded and thematic but also have plenty of room for improvisation and interaction between players.