MondoCelluloid.com and the Art Theatre of Long Beach are pleased to present a special screening of F. W. Murnau’s 1926 film classic, “Faust”, with a live score written and performed by Cabeza de Vaca ArcestrA, Friday, Sept 11th @ Midnight.

While not as well known today as Nosferatu or The Last Laugh, “Faust” is perhaps director F.W. Murnau's masterpiece; few films by any director can match it for the sweeping impact and beauty of its visuals or the power of its storytelling. “Faust” was the mammoth German production, which won F. W. Murnau his contract with Hollywood's Fox Studios. Murnau approaches Goethe's tragedy of a man who learns all too well the price of his soul with appropriately broad dramatic strokes, and if the effect seems a bit over the top in the early reels, it hits with full melodramatic force at the end; the full, horrible impact of Faust's comeuppance is as disturbing today as it was in 1926. Gosta Ekman is fine as the luckless Faust and Emil Jannings is brilliant as Mephisto, the embodiment of cunning and evil. And the camerawork by Carl Hoffman and production design by Robert Herlith and Walter Rohrig are nothing short of astounding, creating a brilliantly controlled and beautifully painterly visual sense that's the ideal backdrop for this fable. —All-Movie Guide
Cabeza de Vaca ArcestrA is the vision of Jimi Cabeza De Vaca—the man who climbs holy mountains in between playing with bands like dios (malos) and Red Cortez. The Cabeza de Vaca Arcestra is not a band, it is an ArcestrA, whose membership fluctuates anywhere between three to three-dozen members. They have performed music for seances, live film scoring, exorcisms, and tributes, and previous ArcestrA performances have been known to include a choir, dancers, and are generally unpredictable!