Turner Classic Movies continues its film history preservation mission by funding the restorations and commissioning new scores to accompany three rarely seen landmark silent films written, produced or directed by women. The films will debut as part of the August-long Women Film Pioneers festival honoring the more than 100 women who helped shape the early years of American cinema. The world television premiere of the TCM-funded George Eastman House restoration of CLEOPATRA (1912), which was scored by singers/songwriters Chantal Kreviazuk and her husband, "Our Lady Peace" lead vocalist Raine Maida, will air on August 10 at 8 p.m (ET). The world premiere of the Library of Congress restoration of WHERE ARE MY CHILDREN (1916), whose score was created and performed by MIT professor and leading silent film music researcher, performer and author Martin Marks, will air on August 17 at 11 p.m. (ET). The world television premiere of the Turner Classic Movies restoration of THE SCARLET LETTER (1926), scored film and television scoring team Lisa Anne Miller and Mark Northam, will air on August 31 at 8 p.m. (ET). Kreviazuk, who recently won the 2000 Juno Award for Best Female Artist, and Maida scored CLEOPATRA, one of the first films produced in the United States and one of only three surviving films produced by Helen Gardner. Gardner, an actress who made history when she founded her own production company in 1910, also stars in the film. The film revolves around the drama that ensues after Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt is forced to answer charges of conspiracy. The new score was written and recorded for the couple’s Boy Meets Girl production company with an eclectic blend of modern rhythms, soaring western and eastern melodies and delicate piano accompaniments. Kreviazuk, whose 1997 debut album Under These Rocks and Stones garnered double platinum sales in Canada, has also made several high-profile soundtrack contributions, including the rendition of Leaving on a Jet Plane featured in the movie Armageddon (1998). Maida is the lead vocalist for the Toronto-based rock band "Our Lady Peace," which recently released its second full-length album, Clumsy. Marks, who is a Senior Lecturer in Music at MIT; author of Music and the Silent Film; and has 20 years of experience researching and performing music for silent films across the country, created and performed the score for WHERE ARE MY CHILDREN?, a controversial, daring film on birth control directed and adapted by Lois Weber. This film, which concentrates on the story of wealthy women who repeatedly patronize an abortion doctor in order to avoid bearing children, was simultaneously endorsed, protested, banned, criticized and praised. In addition, the fact that one of the most respected filmmakers of the day chose this subject for her film is indicative of cinemas new stature in promoting issues in the mid-1910s. Marks’ score is faithful to the traditions of silent-period piano accompaniments. Most of the music could have been played for the film at the time of its original release and the score reflects the film’s intense moods, the psychology of the characters, and the over-riding issues of the story. Writing partners Miller and Northam, who are co-publishers of Film Music Magazine and co-founders of the Film Music Network, scored THE SCARLET LETTER, starring Lillian Gish. Adapted by Frances Marion and directed by Victor Seastrom, THE SCARLET LETTER is the first feature-film adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel about a New England Puritan woman who is exiled and forced to wear the red "A," for adulteress, after acting on her love for the community’s minister. Although the film was lauded as one of the screen’s most skillful literary adaptations, it wasn’t able to be filmed until Gish took personal responsibility and petitioned the Hays office and church leaders to lift the "blacklist" status of the project. Miller and Northam created a classically romantic score for the film, which will include 20 minutes of never-before-seen footage that was recently discovered. The team used a small chamber orchestra to create an intimate and emotional score. Miller is a classically trained composer whose film credits include No Dogs Allowed, starring Kate Capshaw and Rita Wilson, and Cold Night into Dawn. Northam is a classically trained jazz pianist and film composer whose work can be heard on the upcoming feature film Skippy, as well as Silicon Towers and Diamonds In The Rough. The commission of these scores is part of TCM’s ongoing initiative to add music to more than 200 silent films in its library. Most of these historic films have not been seen publicly since their theatrical presentations, because no score was recorded - they were originally accompanied by live orchestras. The on-going initiative includes consistent pursuit of high-profile talent to score films, as well as the annual Young Film Composer’s contest.