Special Features: Introduction by film historian Katie Gee Salisbury, author of Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong. Live piano accompaniment by Jon Mirsalis.

[GROßSTADTSCHMETTERLING: BALLADE EINER LIEBE]
Actress Anna May Wong, stifled by the racist limitations of Hollywood, found stardom and creative freedom in Europe. This rediscovered gem, the second of her three films with German director Richard Eichberg, showcases Wong's extraordinary talent in a role not based on her "exoticism" but on her screen presence and acting ability. A fan-dancer participating in a carnival act that goes wrong, Wong's dancer flees and finds refuge with an artist, becoming his muse. An encounter with her past leads her to escape again, this time to the streets, where she is rescued by a baron, who is captivated by her portrait and offers her salvation. Yet in glamorous Monte Carlo, she faces the ultimate choice: will she succumb to a life of luxury as a kept woman or embrace independence? Wong's nuanced performance reveals a woman fighting for agency, while breathtaking cinematography makes this one of the era's most visually stunning silent films. DIR Richard Eichberg; SCR Hans Kyser, from the novel by Adolf Lantz. Germany/UK, 1929, b&w, 96 min. Silent with German intertitles and English subtitles. NOT RATED

4K DCP restoration by Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, courtesy of Beta Film.