The American premiere of La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc with a live orchestra performance will be presented at 8 p.m. Thursday as part of the Fifth Annual Women in Film Conference, "Birthing the Millennium."

The late 1920s film first opened in Paris. The French government decided its effect was too powerful to be seen with the orchestra score. The film and music were banned from being presented together.

The silent film will be shown twice during the conference, which is held to celebrate the role of women in film. The OU symphony and chorus will join Gillian B. Anderson to perform the music during Thursday's performance. Anderson will conduct.

Anderson reconstructed the original musical score after it was lost. The piece was restored from the piano part, the only part found.

Roger Rideout, professor of music, and Joanna Rapf, professor of film and video studies, have spent two years working on bringing Anderson to OU.

"It's a stunning way of illustrating what music does to film," Rapf said.

The cinematography creates an emotional experience that is like watching music, Rapf said.

An open panel discussion with Anderson will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday in the Crimson Room.

New Zealand filmmaker Gaylene Preston will also visit OU. Her films, War Stories and Mr. Wrong will be presented.

"Films like Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line show us what men did in the war, but War Stories shows us what women did," said Andrew Horton, Jeanne Hoffman Smith professor of film and video studies.

"It will make you laugh and cry," he said.

Preston is the leading female filmmaker in New Zealand, Horton said.

"She is on the cutting edge," he said.
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