Newly Discovered Fritz Lang 1920s Film Unveiled in Prague Archive
London-UK, November 12, 2025
The history of silent cinema has been rewritten following the astonishing discovery of a complete, unknown 1920s film directed by the legendary German filmmaker Fritz Lang in the unassuming archives of the National Film Institute in Prague, Czech Republic.
Lang, the visionary behind classics like Metropolis and M, was long believed to have had several early works lost to history, but the reels, titled The Silent City, were found misfiled under a Czech distributor’s label.
The discovery is being hailed by cinephiles and historians as a monumental find, offering a crucial missing link in understanding the evolution of Lang’s stylistic mastery and the dark, expressionistic aesthetics that defined Weimar-era German cinema.
Key Headlines
Monumental Discovery:
The film, The Silent City, is a complete, feature-length silent work directed by Fritz Lang, created circa 1924, a period of his most intense creative output.
Prague Archive Find:
The missing film was located in the National Film Institute in Prague, mislabelled under a generic Czech import title, preventing its identification for decades.
Expressionist Link:
Historians believe the film provides key insights into the transition from Lang’s earlier adventure films to his later, celebrated works of German Expressionism and dystopian drama.
Restoration and Premiere:
A painstaking, year-long 4K digital restoration is currently underway, with plans for a grand global premiere at the Berlin Film Festival next year.
The discovery originated during a routine inventory check at the Prague archive. Film conservationists were cross-referencing old nitrate prints against original production records when they noticed an anomaly.
A feature-length film reel, filed under the title “Město Ticha” (Czech for “Silent City”), bore a unique internal coding and a faint, heavily scratched distributor mark that did not align with the generic adventure film it was supposed to be.
Further investigation, including a frame-by-frame analysis of the director’s signature visual composition and set design, pointed unequivocally to Fritz Lang.
Lang’s silent-era output is divided into celebrated masterpieces and a handful of critically important, but entirely lost, films.
The Silent City fills a crucial gap, believed to have been made between Die Nibelungen (1924) and Metropolis (1927).
Initial reports suggest the film is a dark, urban thriller revolving around a man investigating a mysterious, soundless city populated only by automatons—a theme that bridges his early melodramas and the dystopian science fiction that followed.
Dr. Elara Vogt, a leading Lang scholar, remarked on the significance of the find: “To find a complete, print-quality feature from Lang’s most fertile period is like finding a missing chapter in art history.
It allows us to trace the development of his visual grammar, particularly his pioneering use of shadow and geometric composition, that would define all of cinematic modernism.
” The discovery confirms the long-held suspicion that many European silent films survived outside their country of origin due to aggressive international distribution in the 1920s.
The film’s survival is particularly miraculous because it was stored on highly unstable nitrate film stock. The Prague archivists have already begun a meticulous process of stabilising the material before commencing a full 4K digital restoration.
This complex and expensive process, expected to take over a year, will ensure the film is preserved and viewable for future generations.
The find is more than just a historical footnote;
it is a vital addition to the canon of German Expressionism. This movement, characterised by highly stylised sets, dramatic lighting, and themes of societal alienation, profoundly influenced Hollywood and directors like Alfred Hitchcock.
The unknown Lang film is anticipated to offer new context for how these visual themes evolved and spread across Europe.
Following the extensive restoration, the National Film Institute in Prague, in partnership with the German Film Museum, plans to unveil The Silent City at a special gala event at the next Berlin International Film Festival, followed by a limited theatrical and streaming release.
The anticipation for this newly rediscovered work of a cinematic master is palpable, promising a rare opportunity to step back into the dark, dynamic world of 1920s cinema as viewed through the uncompromising lens of Fritz Lang.
