Norwich Film Festival: The Phantom of the Opera (1925) + Live Score by Minima

After a sell-out performance of Nosferatu in 2024, Minima returns to Norwich Film Festival at the Playhouse to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of The Phantom of the Opera (1925), accompanying the film with an electrifying original live score.

Beneath the sewers of the Paris Opera House dwells a masked figure. He is the Phantom, a hideously disfigured composer whose dream is to turn chorus singer Christine into a diva. Lon Chaney, the “Man of a Thousand Faces”, dominates this classic adaptation of the 1910 novel. His ghastly make-up and outrageous performance made The Phantom of the Opera one of the great classics of American silent film.

Fast-moving and exciting, the film is a dramatic tale of obsession, kidnap, murder and revenge, beautifully tinted throughout and featuring an impressive sequence of early Technicolor as the Phantom appears at a Masked Ball.

This is the original film version of Phantom which inspired numerous remakes. It was a critical and commercial success upon release, as these press quotes from the time contest: an “ultra fantastic melodrama” (New York Times); “produced on a stupendous scale” (Moving Picture World); “probably the greatest inducement to nightmare that has yet been screened” (Variety)

Minima has specialised in live accompaniment to screenings of silent films since 2006. Their electrifying original score for The Phantom of the Opera captures the horror of the story but also finds pathos, romance and humour. Drums, bass, guitar and cello strike up a thrilling relationship with the film, following the Phantom down into his subterranean nightmare world.

“Minima are one of the leading bands accompanying silent film in Europe.” (Barbican Centre, London)
“Minima’s spine-tingling music clung to each twist of the movie… spellbinding accompaniment.” (The Guardian)
“Minima turned the 1925 Phantom of the Opera into an immersive and gripping emotional experience.” (Swansea International Festival)

This screening is part of Norwich Film Festival 2025, showcasing a range of features, shorts, panels, workshops & more in venues across Norwich from 3 -16 November 2025.