Ladislas Starevich (1882-1965)Władysław Starewicz (Lithuanian: Vladislovas Starevičius) was a Lithuanian director of Polish descent, a pioneer of puppet animation, who worked in Lithuania, Russia and France in the first half of the 20th century. This artist was not only one of the first in the world to use puppets in his films, but he also worked at a level that his contemporaries were unable to reach. The professional details of his work were carefully and deliberately guarded, and some of the animation and optical tricks he created have remained secret to this day. As the film critic Skirmantas Valiulis has pointed out, Starevičius had a tendency to mystify his life to some extent, which is why the knowledge that has come down to us about the director and his work is quite contradictory and misleading. Having developed a new animation technique, he continued to improve it. He was proud of creating expressive puppets and realistic facial expressions. The realism and plasticity of his animation made it possible to combine puppetry and live-action acting in his films. An example of such acting is the film 'The Puppy Talisman' (1933). In it, a plush toy dog embarks on a journey through the city's frightening streets, going on perilous adventures in order to bring an orange to his beloved owner. The puppy firmly believes that the orange can help the seriously ill girl to get better faster. The pianists of the silent film screening, known as the Tapers, are representatives of a unique and highly specialised field of music. It is said that the original function of live music in silent films was to drown out the noise of the vintage projector and the chattering audience. Today, however, live music that responds to the details of the film and the action fundamentally changes the experience of the silent cinema audience, and is able to convey the emotional state of the characters and the plot lines of the story. The piano's live improvisation and the instantaneous creativity that accompanies the silent film screening make the film screening a truly unique artistic event.