AFI to host area premiere of “The New Babylon”

Originally banned for its “aesthetic frivolity,” The New Babylon will make its DC-area premiere this weekend at the AFI in Silver Spring. This film from the height of the Soviet silent film era depicts a forbidden romance between lovers on opposing sides of the Paris Commune, an historic 1871 revolt of workers and laborers in Paris. The screening features a live performance of Dimitri Shostakovich’s score by the PostClassical Ensemble, whose performances with “The Plow that Broke the Plains,” “The River,” and “The City,” have been part of the DC LaborFest.

---