Pittsburgh Silent Film Festival Returns with Classics from 1926

The Pittsburgh Silent Film Festival opens this weekend, screening films from 1926 at venues across the city through October 4, 2026.

The Pittsburgh Silent Film Society (PSFS) organizes the event, which has quickly become a fixture for cinephiles in western Pennsylvania. Screening sites include the Harris Theater in Downtown Pittsburgh, Row House Cinemas – Hollywood in Dormont, The Frick Pittsburgh Museums & Gardens, and other partner venues.

The program centers on films released exactly a century ago. Highlights include Charlie Chaplin's The Kid, Flesh and the Devil starring John Gilbert, and the pioneering animated feature The Adventures of Prince Achmed. According to the festival's presentation, the lineup features restorations and live musical accompaniment.

Tickets and full screening times are available through the Pittsburgh Silent Film Society's website.

The festival builds on more than a decade of silent-film exhibition in the region. PSFS was founded in 2013 to foster silent-film programming with live musical accompaniment in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania. In 2014, founder Chad Hunter secured a grant from the Sprout Fund to launch "Silents, Please," a monthly silent-film series at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont.

Working frequently with early jazz musician and scholar Tom Roberts, Hunter has since programmed and presented more than 70 silent films, pairing them with area musical performers across western Pennsylvania.

PSFS launched the Pittsburgh Silent Film Festival in 2023, partnering with 8 venues to show 9 films. The 2026 edition, built around the centennial of its selections, marks the festival's continued growth — a sign that a century-old cinema culture still draws audiences willing to hear it played live.