Aelita, Queen of Mars by Yakov Protazanov, with live accompaniment

Pianist Katie Condon performs live her original score to Aelita, Queen of Mars, screened from the Walker’s rare 35mm print. Russia’s first feature-length science fiction film, Aelita, Queen of Mars presents the revolutionary spirit of the Soviet Union as a force felt across the solar system. A cryptic interstellar broadcast prompts a Moscow-based radio engineer, Los, to launch an expedition to Mars. Meanwhile, Martian princess Aelita becomes infatuated with images of Moscow and its postrevolutionary society. The fated encounters between Aelita and Los and between Mars and Moscow promise transformation for the monarchy that Aelita is set to inherit. 1924, Soviet Union, 35mm, 99 min. 

Part of Cinema Revived: Timeless Selections from the Vault, an ongoing presentation of notable feature-length films from the Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection.