UCLA Film & Television Archive Free Screening Dec. 5: Restored 'A Page of Madness' North American Premiere With Live Benshi Narration
The UCLA Film & Television Archive will screen the Japanese silent classic "A Page of Madness" (1926) for free on Saturday, December 5, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at the Billy Wilder Theater inside the Hammer Museum in Westwood, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California. Renowned Japanese benshi Ichiro Kataoka will narrate live in person, with composer and pianist Makia Matsumura accompanying on piano.
Directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa, "A Page of Madness" is a landmark of Japanese avant-garde cinema. This screening is the North American premiere of the National Film Archive of Japan's restoration, presented in the film's centennial year. In the silent era, Japanese theaters employed benshi, live narrators who explained the story and voiced the characters beside the screen; Kataoka is one of the few performers carrying on that tradition today. The program is part of the Archive's "The Art of the Benshi 2026" weekend.
All of the Archive's fall programs are free, with first-come, first-served admission and the box office opening one hour before showtime. The season's Dorothy Dandridge retrospective continues with "Tamango" and "Tarzan's Peril" on Dec. 19 and closes with "Carmen Jones" (1954) on Dec. 20 at 7 p.m., also free. Details: cinema.ucla.edu.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Hammer Museum 内的 Billy Wilder Theater，UCLA 影视档案馆的放映场地。Alexis Doine 摄，CC0，来源：Wikimedia Commons / Photo: The Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum, home of the UCLA Film & Television Archive screenings. By Alexis Doine, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
