User:SilentFilm101

Joe Fanning has been a longtime advocate of the pre-1929 film format. He has run various festivals in Northern NJ and Eastern Pennsylvania that deal with that cinematic era. Over the years he (was lucky enough) to meet and converse several times with Blanche Sweet one of the major performers at the Biograph Studio who was artistically involved with D.W. Griffith. In 1993 he was the organizer and speaker at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in NYC for the centennial Celebration of Robert Harron's birth. His work on the biographical detail aspects lead him to determine that Harron's death was not accidental but suicidal. He gathered copies of the Death Certificate and an autopsy report which, following consultations with medial practitioners, showed that the deadly gunshot wounds were self-inflicted due to the angle and powder burn widths.

An aspect of Fanning's deep connection with Silent Movies is that one of the curators at MoMA humorously declared that "Between us (MoMA) and UCLA, you have the largest collection of silent movies, books and memorabilia in the entire country." Thus, his serious concerns for fostering the information of early films and procuring spots to show those movies has been paramount (pun intended). Afterall, as he types, the personally autographed photo of Ms. Sweet stares at him to ensure everything he does is right on target.

The main concept of this contact page - hence the aspect of 101 - is to help lead, guide, foster, and interact with those who wish to learn basics as well as more details about those early non-Talkies.