AN UNUSUAL cinematic treat is in store for fans of silent film.

A trio of masters of American country music will provide live musical accompaniment to some of the earliest short films to have emerged from Hollywood, by pioneering director Frank Borzage.

The Sonic Silents performances will take place at Marnhull Village Hall on Friday, November 28 at 7.30pm and Buckland Newton Village Hall on Saturday, November 29 from 7.30pm.

Luminary of old-time American old-time country music and champion Maryland fiddle player Kate Lissauer (Buffalo Girls) will be joined by master of the five-string banjo John Whelan, and Jason Titley, arguably the UK’s finest bluegrass guitarist, for two special performances in Dorset this autumn through Artsreach.

Beginning his career as a successful and sought-after actor, Frank Borzage started directing short films in 1915, and won the first ever academy award for directing in 1927, for Seventh Heaven.

Famed for his focus on the emotional and sensual elements of stories, Borzage was a true Hollywood maverick.

Rejecting conventions, he offered an insight into the lives of early settlers in such a way that gives modern audiences a refreshing new look at a long established film tradition. Two of Borzage’s earliest short films will be screened with live musical accompaniment.

The trio will perform a new live score of original compositions and arrangements of original material to The Pilgrim (1916) and The Pitch o’ Chance (1915).

The Pilgrim is a Western with a difference, all about Borzage’s personal views on manhood and The Pitch o’ Chance was Frank Borzage’s first film as a director and is another western where the cowboy hero has a fondness for girls and gambling.

These films offer an absorbing and poignant glimpse of a bygone time, and of the creative forces that shaped the film making industry.

Ranging from lively to melancholy, the music is evocative, bringing the films fully to life.

For tickets for Marnhull on Friday, November 28, call 01258 820381.

For tickets for Buckland Newton on Saturday, November 29, call 01300 345455.

For more details on the film visit artsreach.co.uk