A mythical slapstick silent comedy that’s been missing for more than a century “miraculously” turned up inside a dusty antique shop in Japan. 

The long-lost 1919 film “Van-ar-chy,” starring old-time comedy star Billy B. Van was found by film student Kohei Okita — who was researching films about “anarchy” at the time — when he bought a batch of old reels from an antique shop in Japan, according to the comedian’s website. 

Inside that batch, “the film miraculously surfaced,” and once Okita realized what he’d found, reached out to New Hampshire film archivist John Tariot, who restored the film. Tariot is now planning to screen the film for the first time in 100 years, in the very same place it was created in New Hampshire. 

“For nearly a century… [Van-ar-chy] was presumed lost forever, sadly the fate of roughly 75% of all American silent films,” said Kiki Keating, a spokesperson for Tariot. 

“An extraordinary story of international discovery, lost cinema, and local New Hampshire history is heading to the stage at [New Hampshire’s] Newport Opera House — the lost film is making its official world premiere back where it was created over 100 years ago,” Keating said. 

Van, born William Webster Van de Grift in 1870, was a star of vaudeville and Broadway before he built the Equity Motion Picture Company on the shores of Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire, which many historians believe was northern New England’s first movie studio.

The film maker would cast locals in his slapstick comedies and shoot them on the region’s own streets — meaning New Hampshire natives might spot their great-grandparents or other past relatives on screen as extras.

The premiere of the film is taking place on Nov. 1 at the Newport Opera House at 2 p.m.

The screening will also feature live music performances and the premiere of another Van film, “Where Are Your Husbands?” — a role-reversal farce he also made in 1919 and was recently rediscovered more than a century later.