About

10 unmissable music performances across 10 unique screenings. Celebrating a vivid and frenetic mode of filmmaking that began in the 1920s to document the excitement and chaos of modernity and the global rise of the metropolis, ‘City Symphony’ brings together a selection of films that capture the rhythm and poetry of a city in flux.

Presented as a series of 10 Live Music & Film performances, the program will run monthly from February to November throughout 2023. Insightful and fascinating, these early cinematic experiments are a meld of documentary and film poem, that respond to the complexities of urban life and range from a joyous celebration of the bustling metropolis to a revealing portrait of hardships in communal and industrial spaces.

These stylish snapshots of city life include either the whole film or large portions of the film with no spoken word and a musical soundtrack. Each screening will be presented with live musical accompaniment on stage and then a week later with the films' original soundtrack. The newly composed soundscapes breathe contemporary energy into rarely-screened silent films.

Program curated by Rosie Hays, Australian Cinémathèque.

Delve deeper on the QAGOMA Blog

Program curator Rosie Hays interviews Matt Hsu from Obscure Orchestra about crafting the live score for Lines 2021 and his approach to making music. Read about all the 'City Symphony' Live Music and Film screenings.

City Symphony Special Ticket Offer
See the full series and save!
Buy 5 to 9 tickets and receive at 10% discount.
Buy 10 tickets and receive a 20% discount.

QAGOMA acknowledges the generous assistance of the Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin; European Foundation Joris Ivens, Nijmegen; and the National Film Archive of Japan, Tokyo in providing materials for this program.