2025 was a milestone year for HippFest as over 3,000 tickets were issued for the programme. Audiences packed out the Hippodrome in Bo’ness for the 15th edition which came to a close on Sunday 23 March with a screening of Victor Schertzinger’s stylishly shot thriller, Forgotten Faces (1928).
Bo’ness was abuzz for the five day festival which took place Wednesday 19 to Sunday 23 March 2025, as audiences travelled from around the country and across borders to enjoy this year’s landmark programme. Over 2,700 tickets were issued to events taking place in the Hippodrome and its locale, with a further 1,000 views from audiences tuning in online via HippFest at Home.
HippFest Festival Director, Alison Strauss reflected on this year’s event, saying: “HippFest is an invitation to be surprised and to think differently. I am grateful to the growing international silent film community for their willingness to be surprised – for putting their trust in the Festival and coming out in such numbers. We have proved once again that people will travel to Bo’ness from all corners of the world for everything from a mystical Chinese fantasy film to a documentary about the Sami people of northern Sweden, and everything in between. HippFest is a bridge between people, between cultures and between ideas and it has been wonderful witnessing the conversations and responses inspired by the films and the music.
The teams have put so much thought, care and effort into all the elements involved in the Festival, and to making it a welcoming event to be part of for everyone who comes, and I am extremely grateful to all of them for their hard work and commitment to pulling off this milestone 15th edition.”
Highlights of HippFest’s 15th edition included a piper’s salute to the Hippodrome on the red carpet from a champion piper ahead of the Friday Night Gala screening The Pride of Clan (1917) with musical accompaniment from festival regulars Stephen Horne and Elizabeth-Jane Baldry, followed by a Highland Dance display. Friday night’s screening boasted a world first with synchronised audio description of silent film for blind and low-vision audiences in the cinema and for those catching up online via HippFest at Home. Silent cinema music maestro and HippFest champion Neil Brand enchanted audiences with his charming commentary and insight with Neil Brand: Key Notes, a whistle stop tour of making music for the movies; and sell-out screenings for silver screen comedy titans, Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy in Our Hospitality (1923), We Faw Down (1928), and Big Business (1929).
In addition to welcoming old friends of the Festival, this year’s programme was enhanced by musical accompaniment from musicians new to HippFest. Wednesday’s opening night film, With Reindeer and Sled in Inka Länta’s Winterland (1926), raised the Hippodrome’s star studded roof with a demonstration of Sámi joik and electronica from Sámi musicians Lávre Johan Eira, Hildá Länsman, Tuomas Norvio, and Swedish composer Svante Henryson. Renowned Irish avant-garde and improvisational pianist Paul G. Smyth brought a touch of the Emerald Isle to HippFest for Flora Kerrigan – Rediscovering a Film Pioneer and The Near Shore: A Scottish and Irish Cine-Concert. And Scotland’s own Tommy Perman and Andrew Wasylyk brought their unique blend of found sounds and folktronica to HippFest x Flatpack commissioned What the Water Remembers – The Dark Mirror (2025), a new creative non-fiction film created by artist Moira Salt.
Once again Bo’ness and the Falkirk region played a central role in the HippFest programme, with supplementary events introducing visitors to local businesses and encouraging exploration of the area with an RSPB led bird walk, and tour of the newly reopened Rosebank Distillery.
Councillor Cecil Meiklejohn, Leader of Falkirk Council said: “Once again, HippFest has shown that it can deliver a world class event for its audiences with its varied and inspired programming. Its use of innovative in-person and online screenings coupled with renowned experts in their fields has helped contribute to its ongoing success as an event as well as supporting the local economy.”
Sambrooke Scott, Head of Audience Development at Screen Scotland said: “Congratulations to Ali and the team for delivering this stellar edition of HippFest. It brought a brilliant programme of rarely seen classic films to vibrant life with music and musicians from Scotland, the UK and beyond. The joy amongst audiences was palpable and it cements the festival’s international reputation as the premier place in Scotland to celebrate silent cinema.”
Ilia Ryzhenko, Manager of Film Hub Scotland added: “I’ve had a chance to attend the wonderful opening event of HippFest 2025, a new restoration of With Reindeer and Sled in Inka Länta’s Winterland. It’s a fascinating film about the lives of the Sámi community in northern Sweden that lucidly captures the harshness of Lapland winters, but what particularly drew me was the folk/hip-hop soundtrack performed live by musicians of Sámi heritage. This mixture of genres was unexpected but captivating — and a very sharp decolonial gesture countering the documentary’s exoticising gaze towards an indigenous community. I can’t think of a more exciting soundtrack for a silent film screening.”
