BAAM at The Gem Presents Silent Synced: A Woman of the World with Pearl Jam
- Fri, Apr 10
Midnight weekend screenings happen on Friday & Saturday nights (meaning arrive on Friday and/or Saturday night by 11:45pm for seating, the movie starts after midnight)!
Director: Malcolm St. Clair Run Time: 70 min. Release Year: 1925
Starring: Blanche Mehaffey, Charles Emmett Mack, Chester Conklin, Holmes Herbert, Pola Negri
Join BAAM at The Gem on Friday, April 10th at 6:30 pm for a screening of the silent film A Woman of the World (1925) synced with the Pearl Jam albums Vs. and Vitalogy.
Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2025, A Woman of the World (1925) follows a liberal European countess, played by Pola Negri, who scandalizes a small, mid-Western American town with her unapologetic independence, sharp wit, and tattooed arm. Silents Synced creator, Josh Frank, explained, “She’s done being pushed around by men. She’s punk rock before punk even existed. How frickin’ cool is that!”
Pearl Jam, one of the most influential rock and roll bands, continues to sell out stadiums to audiences of 50,000+ and engages with a loyal and enthusiastic fanbase. Frank chose to pair the film with the music from Pearl Jam’s seminal albums Vs. and Vitalogy, saying, “The moment I rewatched this film, I remembered the lyrics of ‘Animal’ – ‘I’d rather be with an animal’ – it just fit.” Pearl Jam’s raw energy and urgent, emotional soundscape mirror the countess’s defiance and vulnerability, bringing a gritty new layer to this 100-year-old film.
Pearl Jam’s nonprofit foundation, Vitalogy, will donate earnings from this project to Austin Women’s Health, a local provider supporting reproductive care in Silents Synced creator’s hometown. Their response reinforces their reputation as authentic philanthropists and strengthens the project’s core themes of activism, female empowerment, and creative courage.
A Woman of the World is a long forgotten rare classic ready to be discovered for the first time – it has never been screened until now!
About Silents Synced
Silents Synced is an independent cinema event series created by Josh Frank (Blue Starlite Drive-In) that pairs classic silent films with modern alternative rock albums, creating a unique communal music and film experience designed to attract new audiences, with early pairings including Nosferatu with Radiohead’s Kid A/Amnesiac and Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. with R.E.M.’s Monster.
5:30 pm Social Hour with live music from Kale Churchill
6:30 pm Film Screening
“Pay What You Can” tickets benefit future BAAM programming.
