- On Saturday 17th October, City Lit students gathered in the Cultureplex screening room for a celebration of Nosferatu at 100
- A screening of the film was accompanied by insight and engaging talks from expert guests.
- Attendees were treated to a talk by Hollywood director, E.Elias Merhige.
Nosferatu at 100
As we approach Halloween City Lit celebrated the centenary of a landmark horror film, F. W. Murnau’s celebrated Nosferatu (1922 Germany) on Saturday 17th October.
Drawing together international scholars, City Lit tutors and a Hollywood film director, City Lit students were treated to a day of analysis, discussion, and debate in City Lit’s Cultureplex screening room.
Opening presentation and a screening of Nosferatu
The event began with a presentation from vampire film expert Professor Stacey Abbott who explored Gothic silent cinema and the idea of the spectral vampire.
Professor Abbott explored the relationship between pre-cinematic entertainments and early filmmaking techniques, examining how both sought to represent spectral bodies of one kind or another.
In conclusion, Professor Abbott demonstrated how Nosferatu was perhaps an inevitable development of prevailing interests at the turn of the 19th century.
After questions and a discussion with the audience, the film Nosferatu was screened so as to set the mood for the rest of the day.
Nosferatu’s Afterlives
In popular culture
Exploring the many ‘afterlives’ of Murnau’s film through an examination of the film Shadow of the Vampire (E. Elias Merhige 2000 US/UK), Dr Massaccesi’s contribution, delivered by Paul Sutton in her Covid-enforced absence, considered the ways in which Nosferatu has become embedded in popular culture since it was first released in 1922.
Dr Cristina Massaccesi is City Lit tutor and a Senior Teaching Fellow in the School of European Languages, Cultures and Society of University College London.
In Hollywood
We were lucky enough to have Elias Merhige join us via Zoom from Los Angeles to discuss the making of his film, which stars John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe and the British comedian Eddie Izzard.
The audience were treated to a series of thoughtful reflections on Nosferatu, the film's director Murnau, and Merhige’s own film, Shadow of the Vampire. Merhige also went on to deliver some insightful anecdotes on his experiences of working with such a celebrated group of actors.
Narrative, Realism and Horror in Nosferatu
Jon Wisbey rounded off the talks by contributing a very useful presentation on Nosferatu, situating the film in its German Expressionist context, and exploring silent filmmaking of the period in more general terms.
He explained that while Nosferatu was undoubtedly a key horror film and a significant Expressionist work, it was also very much a product of classical narrative filmmaking and that despite its distinctive visual style it demonstrates a notable commitment to cinematic realism, which lends the film its unique look and uncanny nature
Jon Wisbey teaches film at City Lit. His focus is on classical and post-classical Hollywood, European cinema, British cinema, film noir and horror cinema.
The afternoon ended with an hour-long roundtable discussion, involving all the presenters and the audience in a wide-ranging exploration of Nosferatu and many of the themes and ideas that had made the day such a rewarding experience.
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