UK Premiere: Großstadtschmetterling (Pavement Butterfly)
classified 15 PSpart of Restored & Rediscovered
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Frustrated by the typecasting she faced in Hollywood, pioneering Chinese American actress Anna May Wong found true stardom and creative freedom in Europe, where she made several of her finest pictures, from E. A. Dupont’s Piccadilly (1929) to this little-seen rediscovered gem, the second in three films with German director Richard Eichberg following Schmutziges Geld Song (1928).
Pavement Butterfly opens with Mah (Anna May Wong), an exotic Parisian dancer credited as being “the world-famous Princess Butterfly”. Mah soon finds out that she has been framed for a crime she didn’t commit and flees into the streets of Paris. She encounters an impoverished Russian painter Fedja Kusmin (Fred Louis Lerch) and starts a love affair which takes her to the French Riviera. Wong's nuanced performance reveals a woman fighting for agency, while breathtaking cinematography makes this one of the era's most visually stunning silent films.
A 4K digital restoration by DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum; courtesy Beta Film.
Presented by South West Silents.