Century-old silent film made in New Hampshire found in Japan antique shop

Billy B Van’s 1919 comedy Van-ar-chy found by student in Sendai will be shown in early November in New Hampshire

A silent comedy filmed in New Hampshire more than a century ago was recently found in Japan, and plans have been set to show the film in early November in the state where it was created.

Van-ar-chy, a 1919 film starring the US entertainer and film-maker Billy B Van, was rediscovered by Kohei Okita, a film student in Sendai, Japan. While researching early cinema related to the word “anarchy”, Okita bought several old film reels at an antique store in Japan and found the comedy starring Van, whom he did not recognize, according to a Van-ar-chy news release.