By Rebecca Hoey ~ Long Islanders are getting a rare chance to attend a special viewing of Joseph Sikorski’s, “Invisible Threads, From Wireless to War,” which follows his 2015 documentary “Tower to the People,” which will be screened at Lessing’s Bourne Mansion in Oakdale on Friday, November 12, beginning at 8 p.m.
The screening will benefit the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe and the Long Island Radio & Television Historical Society(LIRTVHS).
“I’d like people to see the important role Long Island had in the development of early wireless, where Nikola Tesla, Guglielmo Marconi and Telefunken operated within 60 miles of each other on Suffolk County,” said Sikorski. “The LIRTVHS was full of knowledge that no one else has, and I enjoyed capturing it on camera with every shoot.”
The award-winning filmmaker and Babylon native holds immense appreciation for those who helped with research, on both the local level, and more well-known experts, including authors, Tesla biographer Dr. Marc J. Seifer, and Marconi author Dr. Marc Raboy, “who have impressively researched their century-old subjects from original sources.”
He also worked with actor Tony Todd, known for “The Rock” and “Candyman” who narrates the film. LIRTVHS presents the film as, “the documentary delves into the early development of wireless technology on the eve of WWI that connectedInventors Nikola Tesla and Guglielmo Marconi to a shadowy radio station in West Sayville, New York called Telefunken.”
Sikorski adds that while it gives special attention to the Telefunken station, it also goes into other areas of Nikola Tesla’s struggle with his Wardenclyffe lab in the lead up to World War I.Viewers will surely experience many fascinating layers of the history of Tesla’s and Marconi’s work with telecommunication that was nothing short of astounding. Educating others is at the heart of Sikorski’s film.“Few residents are aware that both inventors had a Long Island presence committed to wireless at the turn of the 20th century, with Tesla’s laboratory in Shoreham, New York and Marconi’s ship-to-shore stations in Babylon and Sagaponack,” Sikorski added.
Fire Islanders will want to pay close attention when watching the film, as there’s a direct link to Fire Island that can be found when the navy was trying to figure out if unneutral messages were being sent from Telefunken, Admiral Bullard ordered the Fire Island listening station to write down all messages.
Tickets are $25 per person, and can be purchased at www.TeslaScienceCenter.org. After the screening, attendees will be treated to a Q & A with Sikorski himself.The production of “Invisible Threads,” was made possible with support of the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.
