BUSTER
KEATON

_ENG

Ciclo WHERE CINEMA BEGINS I
(Curated by Alexandre Braga)

“BUSTER KEATON SHORT FILMS”

Saturday, 09/19 at 10:30am

A selection of Buster Keaton's most unforgettable short films, sequences, and gags, celebrating the undisputed master of visual comedy and one of the greatest geniuses of silent cinema.

‍ ‍BUSTER KEATON: CINEMA DISCOVERS MOVEMENT

Before superheroes, before digital animation, and long before special effects, there was a man capable of defying gravity through nothing more than the movement of his body, the precision of his gestures, and an extraordinary ability to transform the unexpected into comedy.

In this first session of CINEMA BEGINS HERE I, we invite children and families to discover the world of Buster Keaton, one of the great geniuses in the history of cinema.

Through a selection of short films and some of his most unforgettable moments, we will explore how cinema learned to tell stories before words, when a glance, a movement, or a carefully choreographed fall was enough to inspire both laughter and wonder.

At a time when we are surrounded by fast-moving images and constant stimulation, returning to Buster Keaton's cinema means rediscovering a different way of looking. A way that is more attentive, more patient, and more open to finding humour in the small accidents of everyday life.

Because cinema is also this: the discovery that movement can become a language, that objects can come to life, and that a dream can transport us to places where anything seems possible.

After the screening, we will hold a short open discussion, inviting children to share what they discovered throughout this journey into some of the earliest and most extraordinary moments in the history of cinematic comedy.

Perhaps this is the best place to begin.

To discover that cinema is much more than simply watching a film. It is learning how to look at the world.

Why these films?

The programme for this first session was designed as a short journey through the different ways in which Buster Keaton transformed movement into a cinematic language.

One Week is perhaps the perfect introduction to his universe. The construction of a house becomes a succession of unexpected events in which walls seem to change places, doors stop fulfilling their purpose, and objects acquire an almost magical autonomy. Everything appears to follow the free and unpredictable logic of imagination.

The Goat introduces the rhythm of pursuit, misunderstanding, and the extraordinary physical precision that established Keaton as one of the defining figures in the history of cinema. Every movement is carefully calculated, revealing his remarkable ability to transform the body into an instrument of expression and humour.

In the Cops excerpt, the chase reaches an entirely new dimension. What begins as a simple escape gradually develops into a collective choreography, where the movement of dozens of characters creates one of the funniest and most memorable sequences of the silent era.

The Sherlock Jr. excerpt introduces an idea that children intuitively understand: dreams follow different rules from reality. When the character falls asleep in a projection booth and steps through the screen, the scenery continuously changes beneath his feet. A garden becomes a street, a street becomes a mountain, and a mountain turns into an ocean. Nearly a century later, it remains one of the most extraordinary demonstrations of cinema's ability to reinvent space.

Finally, the Steamboat Bill, Jr. excerpt takes us to one of the most iconic moments in film history. In the middle of a violent storm, the world seems to lose all stability, and an entire building façade collapses onto the character in a sequence that continues to inspire amazement through its audacity and precision.

Together, these films reveal different possibilities within cinematic language and invite us to discover that, long before digital special effects, cinema was already a territory of invention, surprise, and wonder.