And what of the book launch itself? I had never been to the Silent Film Festival before. I loved it, particularly the silent film musicians. They’re so clever and have often not seen a film before they accompany it. The Film Festival holds Masterclass for two young musicians every year to learn about silent film accompaniment from the musicians who play for the festival. The book launch was fun and some pretty impressive characters came along including Neil Brand and John Sweeney (musicians), Kevin Brownlow the film historian and film maker, Meg Labrum from National Film and Sound Archive, Elaine Burrows, now retired from the British Film Archive, and it was introduced by Paolo Cherchi-Usai.

And here’s me with the book at the FIAF (International Federation of Film Archives) office in Brussels and at the film festival with my publisher John Libbey and silent film pianists (and geniuses) Neil Brand and John Sweeney.