The Prince Charles Cinema

Her Name Was Moviola

Her Name Was Moviola

  • 2024
  • 70mins
  • UK
  • (18)
  • Documentary
Directed by Howard Berry Starring Walter Murch, Dan Farrell, Mike Leigh

Featuring Post-Film Q&A with Walter Murch and Director Howard Berry

Invented in 1922, the Moviola remained for a long time the dominant machine for editing film in English-language cinema. Mastering it allowed an editor, in tandem with the director and producer, to create a language and rhythm within a film. Her Name Was Moviola sees Academy Award®-winning sound and film editor Walter Murch working with a team to rebuild a Moviola editing suite to take us through the process of how a film was pieced together. Using two scenes from Mike Leigh’s 2014 drama Mr. Turner – reverse-engineered from digital to 35mm prints – Murch and his collaborators take us through the way the Moviola was employed to bring a multitude on individual shots together into one cohesive narrative. It’s a riveting deep-dive into a process that is key to every form of filmmaking.

Thursday 14th May