All of us at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival and the Cineteca del Friuli mourn the loss of our dear friend and collaborator Russell Merritt (31.08.1941-03.03.2023).

He taught film history at the University of California in Berkeley, but his vast knowledge extended to all fields. Brilliant, loving, generous, enthusiastic about life, he was a formidable speaker and at the same time capable of listening, curious about everything. A great expert on Walt Disney (he co-authored two books that we published, Walt in Wonderland and Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies), D.W. Griffith, Erich von Stroheim, Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes, and much more, since 1986 he had not missed a single edition of the Pordenone festival, which presented the Jean Mitry Award to him in 2018 for his tireless work on silent cinema.

He loved opera and all music (Bob Dylan first and foremost), dance (he could also dance the merengue!), and art, including the art of the Friuli region, never missing the chance to discover more of our local artistic heritage each year thanks to the cultural tours organized by the festival. He was so in love with Venice that we nicknamed him “The Doge”.

It is hard to accept that his great heart has stopped beating. He leaves a huge void in the lives of all who knew him, because Russell was unique. We were looking forward to seeing him in Pordenone again, together with his beloved wife Karen, next October. We still cannot believe he won’t be with us anymore. But he will live on in our hearts, and in the spirit of the festival he loved so much.

The 42nd edition of the Pordenone Silent Film Festival will be dedicated to Russell Merritt.