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Musical Silents: Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

Wednesday, March 25th, 2026
7:00 pm
Details
68 mins | USSR | Silent w/ live musical accompaniment
Category
Screening Room @VTIFF
Film Type
Documentary
Cost
$20 general admission | $10 student | Member benefits may apply
Location
The Screening Room @VTIFF
60 Lake Street, 1st Floor
Burlington, VT

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Director
Dziga Vertov
Sponsors
Vermont Arts Council, Lake Champlain Chocolates, John M. Bissell Foundation

Live improvised score by Matt Hagen plus Johnnie Day Durand

One of the most innovative and influential films of the silent era, Dziga Vertov’s Man With a Movie Camera utilizes rapid editing and innumerable other cinematic effects to create a work of amazing modernity and power. This dawn-to-dusk view of urban Soviet life shows people at work, at play, and at the machines that endlessly whirl to keep the metropolis alive. It was Vertov’s first full-length film, and it employs all the cinematic techniques at the director’s disposal—dissolves, split-screens, slow-motion, and freeze-frames—to produce a work that is as exhilarating as it is intellectually brilliant.

Matt Hagen is a Burlington, Vermont-based musician whose sound is as layered and unhurried as the Green Mountain seasons. His music varies from instrumental, genre bending guitar to intimate storytelling, with a voice that feels lived-in and genuine. A fixture in Vermont’s independent music scene, Matt has earned recognition, trust, and respect as a standout voice in Burlington’s vibrant creative community. Whether performing at premier clubs, intimate local venues, headlining events, supporting main stage acts, or tucked into a quiet corner of the city, he brings a rare authenticity that resonates long after the last chord fades. A seasoned songwriter, bandleader, and eclectic collaborator, Hagen writes and performs in a palatable fashion while unafraid to wander into strange sonic territory. It’s music made for people who listen closely.