Wareham silent film festival honours 1920s stars

Mary Pickford made more than 160 films

A 1920s Art Deco cinema is marking its centenary with a silent film festival of restored films, some of which were first shown there 100 years ago.

The Rex in Wareham, Dorset, is showing 11 films, accompanied by a live pianist, featuring Mary Pickford and her husband Douglas Fairbanks.

The Mary Pickford Foundation has granted The Rex access to restored rare footage, including six UK premieres.

Silents Weekend at the Rex runs from Friday to Sunday.

Canadian actress Mary Pickford made more than 160 films, including My Best Girl and The Poor Little Rich Girl.

The foundation, which works to preserve films and bring them to new audiences, describes the actress as a "a talented performer, a creative producer and a savvy businesswoman who helped shape the film industry as we know it".

Rex projectionist Trez Moretti said: "To me she was the beautiful woman with the long ringlets but, because of this weekend, I've learned that she was so much more.

"She was a trailblazer, a writer, a director, a producer, she was the first woman to fly an aeroplane on screen."

The Rex cinema is celebrating its centenary

David Evans, chairman of the cinema's trustees, said: "We really wanted to celebrate the 100 years of cinema in Wareham.

"This is what was screened throughout the first 10 years of life at The Rex and its something that's very special to this little cinema where you can experience the movies in the same space you would have 100 years ago."

The Rex, originally called Empire Cinema, opened in the Oddfellows Hall in 1920 and showed silent films until "talkies" arrived in the early 1930s.

It was renamed The Rex in 1963 and has been run by a charity since 2009.

The silent film festival is being supported by the BFI Film Audience Network and South West Silents.

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