Concordia’s Film Club brings history to life with screening of 1923 “Martin Luther” silent film with live organ accompaniment

Concordia students and the community watching the 1923 “Martin Luther” silent film.

Photo credit: Benjamin Frerking

By Benjamin Frerking

Concordia’s Film Club brought history to life Friday evening with a screening of the 1923 silent film, “Martin Luther,” accompanied by live organ music, in Weller Chapel to celebrate Reformation Eve.

Senior music student Rocco Fritz provided live organ accompaniment throughout the nearly two-hour film, incorporating recurring musical themes and familiar hymns to help tell the story of Martin Luther and the Reformation.

Fritz explained that he watched the film beforehand while sitting at a piano, developing musical themes to accompany different stages of Luther’s life. He also incorporated hymns that complemented particular scenes.

“It’s kind of like going to a performance, as opposed to watching something on YouTube,” Fritz said.

He went on to explain that live music creates an energy and atmosphere that a recording can’t quite replicate.

Senior Timothy Baker initially had doubts about watching a nearly two-hour silent film, but found himself enjoying the experience.

“I was a little nervous about the prospect of sitting through two hours of silent movies,” Baker said.

Despite his initial hesitation, Baker said the organ accompaniment kept him engaged throughout the screening. He particularly enjoyed how Fritz incorporated musical themes and hymns to complement the film’s characters and scenes.

“I felt like I was engaged … the whole time, and it was really interesting and fun to watch,” Baker said.

Film Club president and senior Micah Knerl said the event was an opportunity to strengthen connections between Concordia students and the surrounding community.

“The hope would be that the community would see Concordia as, like, a benefit to them,” Knerl said.

Approximately 15 people attended the screening, according to an unofficial estimate, with roughly half of the audience consisting of community members rather than Concordia students.

Knerl said the Film Club initially considered showing a classic horror film because of the event’s proximity to Halloween, but ultimately decided a Reformation-themed film would better reflect Concordia’s Lutheran heritage.

Despite the challenges of accompanying a nearly two-hour film, Fritz said he would gladly participate in another event like it.

“Oh, absolutely. Absolutely, yeah” he said.