A MASSAFRA IL CINEMA MUTO TORNA A VIVERE: CHARLIE CHAPLIN, MUSICA DAL VIVO ED EMOZIONI SENZA TEMPO

On November 12, at the “nordsud” Hall, the educational and cultural project **“The Return to Silent Cinema”** will be presented. The program includes Charlie Chaplin’s *The Kid*, accompanied live by accordionist Antonello Tannoia, the great-grandson of Luigi Laterza, a renowned musician and silent-film accompanist.

There is a kind of cinema that needs no words to tell stories capable of transcending time and speaking to the heart of every generation. It is silent cinema, made up of images, gestures, expressions, and music—the focus of a special event that Massafra is dedicating to culture, education, and the rediscovery of the origins of the seventh art.

On Thursday, November 12, 2026, at 7:30 p.m., at the “nordsud” Hall, 2 Via M. Costa, the educational and cultural project **“The Return to Silent Cinema – A Journey to the Origins of Cinema through Images, Live Music, and Emotion”** will be presented. The project is promoted by Agora APS in collaboration with the associations nordsud and La Bottega del Libro.

The initiative is aimed at teachers in schools of all levels and seeks to offer an original educational journey through the language of film, encouraging students’ sensitivity, creativity, and ability to interpret images. It is an opportunity to rediscover an artistic heritage that retains all of its expressive power and can still offer important food for thought to younger generations.

The evening’s special feature will be a screening of *The Kid* (*Il monello*), Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 masterpiece and one of the most beloved films in the history of cinema. Through the poetic comedy of the great Charlot and his tender relationship with the child at the center of the story, the film explores universal themes such as childhood, poverty, love, solidarity, and hope, offering viewers a story of extraordinary humanity.

The screening will be accompanied by live music performed by accordionist Antonello Tannoia, in an experience that faithfully evokes the atmosphere of movie theaters in the 1920s, when the piano, accordion, and other musical instruments accompanied the images on the screen, giving them rhythm, intensity, and emotional depth.

This connection with the past takes on an even more special meaning thanks to Antonello Tannoia’s family history. He is the great-grandson of Luigi Laterza, a renowned silent-film accompanist. Although he was forgotten in his own homeland, Laterza was widely known around the world. His story is now resurfacing through the talent of his great-grandson, bringing to light a musical tradition that accompanied the birth and development of cinema and deserves to be recognized and celebrated.

“Bringing silent cinema back to the screen with live musical accompaniment means giving audiences an authentic experience and rediscovering a tradition that is also part of our own history,” the organizers emphasize.

The project **“The Return to Silent Cinema”** thus seeks to combine culture, education, and memory, offering teachers an opportunity to introduce students to an artistic language capable of bringing different generations together. The evening will also pay tribute to Charlie Chaplin and to those musicians who, through their art, transformed every screening into a living and unrepeatable performance.

A journey to the origins of cinema, where images speak once again through music and where the memory of a rediscovered tradition meets the emotions of the present.

**INFORMATION**

- **Date:** Thursday, November 12, 2026
- **Time:** 7:30 p.m.
- **Location:** “nordsud” Hall, 2 Via M. Costa, Massafra
- **Film:** *The Kid* – Charlie Chaplin
- **Live musical accompaniment:** Antonello Tannoia, accordionist

For information and reservations: **339 88 90 822**