A collection of 12 award winning Australian short films and documentaries, brought together in the 18th World of Women National Film Festival, for a celebration of women and film.

Peekaboo – Damien Power dir.
On the train home, a stranger plays peekaboo with a young child. When the toddler goes missing, her desperate mother searches frantically.  A thriller.  Stars Justine Clark (Look Both Ways, Bastard Boys)

Melbourne International Film Festival 2011, Sydney Film Festival – Dendy Awards 2011, Flickerfest 2012 (Sydney)- Avid Award for Best Editing, WOW Film Festival 2012 – Winner SBS Award, Joint Winner Best Editing, Audience Choice Award

Wonder Boy – Corrie Chen dir.

It’s Chinese New Year – dancing lions, dragons and blood red firecrackers. Ten year old Clancy is from Chinese background.  Living in Australia he is stuck between a life he doesn’t know and a life he wants to belong to.  Stars Evonne Fletcher (Blue Heelers, Neighbours) & Sophia Chen.

Flickerfest International Short Film Festival 2011 (Sydney, Australia), WOW Film Festival 2012 – Winner Best Student Film

Heck - Tanya Goldberg dir.

In this black comedy, 75 year olds Ray and Mary  decide to take fate into their own hands―but their double suicide pact doesn’t go according to plan!  Stars Robina Beard (Home and Away)

Palm Springs International Shortsfest 2011, Winner Best Script for Short Film, AWGIE Awards 2011, WOW Film Festival 2012 –Highly Commended Screenwriter Award, Audeience Choice Award

Garbo – Venetia Taylor dir.

Bill and Barbara aren’t growing old gracefully, but they’re usually too drunk to care. ‘Garbo’ is an elegy for the old people we don’t hear about.  Stars Helen Tonkin (Home and Away, Underbelly)

Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2011 (York, UK), Crystal Palace International Film Festival (London, UK), Dungog Film Festival 2011 (Aus), Holmfirth Film Festival 2011 (UK), & others, WOW Film Festival 2012

Camera Obscura – Marta Maia dir.

Maria lives inside her Camera Obscura, until the day she feels that things outside are changing. No one seems to notice those changes … sometimes you need to create projections in order to make the others see.

Official Competition for New Portuguese Filmmakers 2011 Cinanima, 2011 Revelation Perth International Film Festival, 2011 Dungog Film Festival, Australia & others, WOW Film Festival 2012 – Winner Best Australian Animation, Best Woman Composer Award

Kamambo – Victoria Goodyear dir.

Inspired by a true story, “Kamambo” is a drama about a 10 year old West Papuan asylum seeker who has escaped to Australia.  Haunted by violent memories of her homeland, she longs for a safe haven.  Stars Joanne Owen-Smith (Payload)

Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Market 2012 (France), Flickerfest International Film Festival (Aus) Finalist, VCA Premiere Awards 2010 Panavision Best Graduate Diploma producton (Aus), Papua New Guinea Human Rights Film Festival 2011, Canberra Short Film Festival 2011 (Aus) – finalist, & others, WOW Film Festival 2012 -  Winner Best Woman Screenwriter Award

Playlunch - Cassandra Nguyen dir.

Dumplings, fishballs, nine layer cake, fruit and so much more.  Little Molly Lam has promised her mother that she will finish her lunch before playing. But with so much food how will she have time to play football? Food, friendship and football.

WOW Film Festival 2012 – Audience Choice Award

Distant Thunder – Venetia Taylor dir.

Pam and Richard are divorced. Richard has a new life, but there’s something on the horizon that will shake things up. An existential comedy about marriage and death.  Stars Jan Langford Penny (Not even a Mouse,The Storymaker, Water Rats)

Holmfirth Film Festival 2011 (UK), Langsett Independent Film Festival 2011 (UK), WOW Film Festival 2012

The Burnt Cork – Alexandra Edmondson dir.

In 1950s rural Australia, a man faces losing everything when love, fear, duty and shame collide, following the birth of his illegitimate child with his aboriginal childhood friend. When a policeman arrives, Matthew is faced with a critical decision. Today they are known as ‘The Stolen Generations’.  Stars Kyas Sherriff (The Alice), Amber McMahon.

Festival de Cannes Short Film Corner 2011, Dungog Film Festival 2011, St Kilda Film Festival 2011, Canberra Short Film Festival 2011, Show Me Shorts Film Festival NZ 2011, Bahamas International Short Film Festival 2011, WOW Film Festival 2012, Winner: The Black Shorts Award, Adelaide Shorts Festival 2012

Something Fishy – Kristy Best dir.

Set in the colourful and animated world of a child on Summer Holidays. Cheeky 7 year old Maxine has a fantastical obsession with the world of goldfish. A new game, has darkly comical results.  

LA Comedy Shorts, Vail Film Festival, Friars Club Comedy Film Festival, Dungog Film Festival 2011, Canberra Short Film Festival 2011, DC Shorts Film Festival 2011, Cornwall Film Festival 2011, Connecticut Film Festival 2012, Winner: Best Editing in a Short film: Australian Screen Editors Awards, Kristy Best nominated for a Reel Women Film Award at the Cornwall Film Festival, WOW Film Festival 2012 – Winner  Best Australian Fiction Comedy

Piercing Silence – Ninna Millikin dir.

Many women experience abortion, but silence surrounds it.  Here three women overcome self-judgment and stigma to share their personal stories.

WOW Film Festival 2012, Byron Bay Film Festival 2012 – nominated for Best Experimental Film

Murder Mouth – Madeleine Parry dir.

Could you kill what you eat? Maddie, a 21 year old meat eater with her culinary future on the line, decides to find out. She loves her Greek family’s cuisine but her friends claim meat is murder. Maddie, a 21 year old meat eater, who’s never killed anything bigger than a spider decides to find out – or never eat meat again.

Canberra Short Film Festival 2011 Winner – Best Grassroots Film, Inside Film Awards 2011 (Sydney, Australia), Brisbane International Film Festival 2011, Dungog Film Festival 2011 (Australia), St Kilda Film Festival 2011 (Melbourne, Australia), South Australian Screen Awards 2011 Winner – Audience Choice, Bondi Short Film Festival 2011 Winner – Best Short Film, Winner – Best Cinematography, Edindocs Film Festival 2011 (Edinburgh,UK), Amsterdam Film Festival 2012 (Netherlands) & others, WOW Film Festival 2012.

  Presented in association with the Zonta Club of Adelaide Hills 

Stingray Sam (Cory McAbee) has given up his life of crime to be a lounge singer on Mars, but reuniting with his former accomplice, the Quasar Kid (Crugie) he’s drawn into a plan to rescue a young girl (Willa Vy McAbee) from the hands of a mad corporate figurehead. Distributed on multiple platforms, Stingray Sam is best enjoyed in the cinema! Also with shorts RENO (2007) and FAIRY BALL (2011).

OPENING EVENT

Need a laugh? This year’s Summer Scoops festival opens with Rottofest’s Funniest Shorts, a handpicked selection of comedy shorts plus some of our own local talent, live at the mic! Rottofest, Western Australia’s only ‘overseas’ festival that you don’t need a passport for, celebrates the finest comedy filmmakers, stand-up comedians and musicians from across the country. www.rottofest.com.au

Special price: $18/$15 includes drink on arrival and snacks.

A series of eleven year-olds from 15 countries across the world candidly reveal their desires and concerns at an age in which they are becoming more conscious of events in the world around them.  This award winning film offers heart-warming insight into both the similarities and differences between their cultures and the thoughts and lives of young people in their pre-teen years. 

WINNER: IF Awards Best Doc, Melbourne IFF Audience Award

SEASON ENDS SOON

A collection of 12 award winning Australian short films and documentaries, brought together in the 18th World of Women National Film Festival, for a celebration of women and film.

Harold Holt is Dead – Alice Foulcher dir.

December 23rd, 1967 – a week since Australia’s Prime Minister Harold Holt went missing. Jean’s booked in for midday and nobody knows. But as the time draws closer to leave she begins to doubt…  It’s sink or swim.  Stars Emily Thomas.

WOW Film Festival 2012

Revive - Alyson Standen dir.

Could you fight the seduction of sleep? Those achingly precious moments between sleeping and being awake. Why is it so hard to wake up?  Stars Alyson Standen (Rescue Special Ops, All Saints) and Hannah Pollard.

Palm Springs ShortsFest 2012, WOW Film Festival 2012

Crystal Jam - Leonie Savvides dir.

Crystal and James fell in love in an online virtual world but have never met. When James dies mysteriously Crystal travels to see him for the first time …  Stars Sarah Snook (Packed to the Rafters, Sisters of War, My Place, Sleeping Beauty, Not Suitable for Children)

WOW Film Festival 2012

Beneath the Waves – Renee Marie Petropoulos dir.

Throughout her short life, deaf teenager Eleanor, has become disconnected from the world, especially from her father. Eleanor must find the strength to reconnect in this tough world.  Stars, Freya Tingley (Cloudstreet), and Susan Boyd.

Los Angeles New Wave International Film Festival 2011 – Winner -Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography & Best Supporting Actor (Ash Vlahos)’, Gotham International Screen Film Festival (USA) 2011; Winner Best in Editing, Best in Directing, Best in Cinematography & Laurie Fitzgerald Prize in Innocation & Creativity in Sound and/or Film at 12th Golden Eye Awards at the University of Technology Sydney 2011, WOW Film Festival 2012

Hairpin – Laura Scrivano dir.

Two corporate middle managers wage war over their shared desk space.  As the battle escalates, they find themselves drawn into an unexpected and unusual relationship.  Stars, Katie Fitchett (Crownies, All Saints, Hating Alison Ashley)

Dungog Film Festival 2011 (Aus), WOW Film Festival 2012

Naked Lady – Cigdem Serce dir.

Living in Sydney’s Western Suburbs, young Turkish Woman, Elif struggles with love, independence and her parent’s cultural expectations.  To please her father or to make her own choices.  Stars Nadine Joy.

LA Short Film Festival 2011 (Los Angeles, (USA), Canberra Short Film Festival 2011 (Australia),  Baghdad International Film Festival 2011 (Iraq) & others, WOW Film Festival 2012

The Rose Tattoo – Alanna Rose dir.

In the summer of 1951 the mysterious death of their friend, Dusty Rose, changes three young Aboriginal men.  Thirty years later, memories resurface and secrets are revealed. 

WOW Film Festival 2012 – SBS Selection

Phobia – Jessica Signorille, Ronni Weldon, Kelera Rabauatoka, Jasmine Tilberoo & Jensen Arico dirs.

Three teenage girls from Glebe think a new resident could be a terrorist hiding out in their neighborhood. Intent on finding out the truth they get a lot more than they bargained for. Glebe Pathways Project production.  Stars Jessica Signorille, Ronni Weldon, Kelera Rabauatoka, Jasmine Tilberoo, Jensen Arico

WOW Film Festival 2012

Slashed - Rebecca Thomson dir.

Worlds collide when erotic fantasies cross the digital frontier. As Renata, “Star Police” enthusiast, writes an alternate showdown between space cop, Draker and his nemesis Thrax, a real life showdown occurs with Frieda.  Stars Coco Whelan, Jane Stoddart (Cupcake,: A Zombie Lesbian Musical), Sara Cooper (My Brother Jack, Arctic Blast)

New York City International Film Festival 2011, , Razor Reel Fantastic Film Festival 2011 (Belgium), Mardi Gras Film Festival 2011 (Sydney), Melbourne Queer Film Festival 2011 Special Commendation & Audience Award for Favourite Australian Film, Dungog Film Festival 2011 (Aus), St. Kilda Film Festival 2011 & others, WOW Film Festival 2012

UMOJA: No Men Allowed - Elizabeth Tadic dir.

Tells the amusing and life-changing story of a group of tribal Samburu women, in Northern Kenya, who reclaim and empower their own lives, turning age-old patriarchy on its head, when they set up a women’s only village.

Flickerfest International Short Film Festival 2011, Reflecting Images – Panorama Film Festival 2011, Amsterdam, Netherlands, WOW Film Festival 2012 – Winner Best Australian Documentary, Highly Commended Woman Cinematography Award, Audience Choice Award, Joint Winner Best Woman Editor Award

     Presented in association with the Zonta Club of Adelaide Hills 

Sol Beer opening night fiesta & Mariachi Gringo premiere

A stifled, small-town young man stuck in a dead end life, runs away to Mexico to be a mariachi singer. MARIACHI GRINGO is a musical tour-de-force exploring the reality of “following your dreams” across cultural, personal, social and geographical borders.

The film brings a unique blend of talent to the screen, starting Shawn Ashmore (X men), Martha Higareda, and internationally renowned Mariachi singer Lila Downs.  The film depicts the beauty of Mexico and the folklore of it’s culture in this hearty comedy.

Mariachi Gringo has been selected to be the Official Opening Night film of the Hola Mexico Film Festival in Australia 2012.  The film will be followed by an after party where Tequila, Beer, Mexican food by Los Amates and a live Mariachi band will be the stars of the night.

Set in the 1940s, Donkeys is the story of Lautaro, a ten-year-old kid who lives in the so-called Tierra Caliente in southern Mexico. After his father is killed, the boy is sent to live with an aunt in a far away town Lautaro decides, for a number of reasons, to run away home and on his way back discovers many people, living and dead to help him on his journey.

After her daughter’s death, Tere lost her passion for cooking and stopped working at her traditional Mexican food restaurant, El Molcajete, in downtown Mexico City. Trying to save the business, Beatriz, the manager of El Molcajete, hires Rosi, a Cordon Bleu chef educated in France. But Maria, Tere’s sweet and bright grandchild, hoping to put a smile on Tere’s face, plans to make her go back to cooking and running the restaurant,. Meanwhile, chef Rosi changes the menu, making it a light trendy cuisine, so that Jocelyn, a well known TV food critic, decides to go and pay a visit after she reads a review about it. When Tere finally realises that she needs to go back to business, she learns that chef Rosi is tearing the restaurant’s reputation to pieces. Maria, who loves traditional cuisine, prepares everything to prove that chef Rosi has no place at El Molcajete. The cuisine battle between Tere and chef Rosi is an epic fight not only between long-established Mexican food and light food, but also a struggle of family bonds, friendship, cooking secrets, flavour’s passion and more than two hundred ingredients that are needed in order to prepare Mole, a traditional Mexican sauce

A film that changed Mexico, and got everyone talking.

¡De Panzazo! is the true story of what happens behind the doors of schools in Mexico. It tells the stories of the students and what Mexico’s future will be if we don´t change our (Mexico’s?) education system today

Best actor and best first film at Guadalajara Film Festival 2012

Lazaro (Kuno Becker, Goal) is kidnapped and thrown in a 3 x 1.50 square meter room completely isolated from the outside world.  Forced to reveal intimate information about his family, he falls into despair and abandons all hope of surviving. Then, a seemingly meaningless event makes him realise that his heart and his mind are not kidnapped and never will be. Lazarus forces himself into a disciplinary routine that helps him endure his unbearable situation, letting his imagination, memories, introspection and faith push him through each day to overcome the constant threat of torture and death. Based on true events, Richness of Internal Space is a testimony of a man’s will to live and his unbreakable spirit.

Official Selection: Tokyo International and Los Angeles International FF

After the passing of his mother, Chencho, a 13-year-old kid, decides to go to Chicago in search of his older brother. On his way he meets an old man who dies right after letting him on his wagon. While he tries to follow north on the compass trapped in the dead man’s hand, peculiar characters join his surreal journey as it progresses with absolutely no direction.

Staring Andy Garcia and Eva Longoria

What price would you pay for freedom?  In the exhilarating action epic FOR GREATER GLORY an impassioned group of men and women each make the decision to risk it all for family, faith and the very future of their country, as the film’s adventure unfolds against the long-hidden, true story of the 1920s Cristero War – the daring people’s revolt that rocked 20th Century North America.

Miss Bala tells the story of Laura, a young woman whose aspirations of becoming a beauty queen turn against her, delivering her into the hands of a gang that’s terrorizing northern Mexico. Although Laura succeeds in winning the beauty queen crown, her experiences as an unwilling participant in Mexico’s violent war leave her shaken and transformed.

Winner, Los Angeles Film Festival, best documentary

Every year residents from the ejido (communal land) Los Cuates de Australia in Northeast Mexico undertake a mass exodus to look for water during drought. In this exile, men, women, elders, and children wait for the first drops of water to return to their lands, a greater metaphor of a small town hiding from death.

Winner of various ARIEL (Mexican Oscars) including best film.

For as long as he can remember, Agent Jesus Juarez, known in his neighborhood as Chucho, has played “the Devil” in his town’s traditional Nativity Play… but this Christmas, things have changed.  When Chucho arrives late to auditions, the new pastor of the church, Edmundo Posadas, has already cast all the roles. Now, Chucho must enter into an epic battle between good and evil – a battle between himself and the new pastor to recover the role that is rightfully his.

Duncan Bridgeman (1 Giant Leap) weaves a beautiful and rhythmic cinematic tapestry composed of original songs, conversations, reflections, wisdom and humour featuring many of the greatest performers and sharpest minds of Mexico today.

The film showcases the richness of Mexican music both young and old, from traditional music to pop rock and rap blended with interviews from Diego Luna, Lila Downs and many more leading personalities.  The result is an inspiring and often funny musical road trip trough modern day “Mexicanity”, which resonates globally.

Set amid the noisy outskirts of an unnamed Mexican metropolis, Los Chidos tells the story of the Gonzales Family. Shady proprietors of a tire repair junkyard sandwiched between two busy freeways, the Gonzales clans’ days are spent wallowing in lazy, mindless routine. Barely able to converse without resorting to misogynist and homophobic comments, the six of them pass the time glued to a decrepit television and stuffing their faces with tacos, preying on the occasional unlucky motorist. When a confused American industrialist happens into the shop with a flat tire, the family’s place in the shame-free food chain is called into question. With his vehicle “out” for repairs indefinitely, a strange scenario unfolds whereby the pale stranger finds himself welcomed into their unpleasant fold. To complicate matters, he soon becomes infatuated with the newlywed bride of the family’s neighbor. As a new love blossoms, dark secrets begin to emerge, and both the family and their guest are in for some surprises. Los Chidos is at once delightfully funny and desperately depraved; a satirical, sociopolitical commentary on the dynamic relationships between exploiter and exploited.

Felix is a home-movie actor and human trafficker in Tijuana. Felix has lived through the transformation of “the line” that divides these two countries and has managed to tell his story through multiple low budget films where he reveals his actions, strategies and methods. Felix: Self-Fictions of a Smuggler exposes, for the first time, the world of human trafficking from the eyes of a smuggler.

Leandro and Odón want to be “Obregonistas.“ They travel north to reach this goal; riding on a zebra found at a destroyed circus. They believe is a “gringo” horse. On the way they have several adventures : they escape from women who enslaved them; they meet the General Quesada, who wants to found a new republic; they get lost in the desert, etc. When they finally find the Obregón troops, one colonel thinks they are spies of Villa, and Odón has to kill Leandro in order to prove his faithfulness.

DocWeek celebrates documentary film and television and is a new event on the festival calendar.

DocWeek has grown out of the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC), an annual industry conference and market for professional film and television makers and broadcasters from around the world. AIDC has a 25 year long history, but happened, until now, behind the scenes and out of the eye of the general public. It is the backstage area of the television and cinema world.

DocWeek offers an extensive screening program, master classes that are part of the DocWeek Summer School Program, special events and Q&A sessions.

DocWeek is complimentary to other film festivals, as it doesn’t look for the hottest films of the moment, but celebrates the work of a limited number of carefully selected filmmakers, organisations or topics.  DocWeek is the ultimate introduction to the wonders of the documentary cinema genre.

DocWeek is part of the Adelaide Festival program and takes place at several venues around Adelaide’s CBD between February 25 and March 3.

For more information on DocWeek 2013 head to program.docweek.org.au, including event schedules & ticket purchases

Chris (Steve Oram) wants to show Tina (Alice Lowe) his world and he wants to do it his way. That is, on a journey through the British Isles in his beloved Abbey Oxford Caravan. Tina’s led a sheltered life and there are some sites she really needs to see; like the Ribblehead Viaduct, the Keswick Pencil Museum & the rolling countryside. But it doesn’t take long for the dream to fade. Litterbugs, noisy teenagers and pre-booked caravan sites, not to mention Tina’s meddling mother, soon conspire to shatter Chris’s dreams and send him and anyone who rubs him up the the wrong way, over a very jagged edge!

“…it’s very black, very funny and a times quite strangely poignant” Four stars, Margaret Pomeranz.

**NB: schedule change. Final screening Fri 15 Feb 6.30pm**

Listed as one of the Guardian’s top 10 films of 2012, this see-it-to-believe-it doco is a rags-to-riches story with the epic proportions of Versailles itself.  The Queen of Versailles follows Florida time-share real estate billionaire David Siegel and his wife – a former beauty queen with a penchant for plastic (surgery and cards) as they build their 90,000 square-foot home. The largest private residence in the US and based on the Palace of Versailles in France.  Filmed over several years, filmmaker Lauren Greenfield captures the effect of the GFC and its consequence on this mega-rich couple and lays bare the flaws in the American Dream.  And gives a satisfying depth to the word schadenfreude!

Alma is a 15-year-old small-town girl from the hinterlands of Norway and is consumed by out-of-control hormones and fantasies. These fantasies range from sweet, romantic images of Artur, the boyfriend she yearns for, to raunchy daydreams about virtually everyone she lays eyes on. After Alma has a stimulating yet awkward encounter with Artur, she makes the mistake of telling her incredulous friends… Laced with warmth and quirky humour, Turn Me On, Goddammit! is a light-hearted take on a story that is often told about boys but so rarely about girls.

Kate and her husband Charlie (Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad fame) like getting smashed. After yet another boozy night, first grade teacher, Kate, pukes in front of her class. When a student asks if she’s pregnant, she panics and says yes, a lie that literally ends up saving her life! Kate sets on a course of recovery – but not without cost.  Winner of a Sundance special jury prize, Indie hit Smashed is a compassionate take on love and addiction.

“Sad, funny, and strangely exuberant… enhanced by a rich, offbeat sense of life teeming in the margins” Variety.

A British remake of Nicolas Winding Refn’s cult classic, Pusher is a high-adrenaline tale of a desperate drug dealer fighting to stay alive. Frank is a small-time London drug dealer who stages a major deal to get out of debt and into the big time. Of course it all goes wrong and he finds himself in serious trouble with a merciless gangster. Gritty, vivid with viciously drawn characters, this is to London what Refn’s Drive was to LA – a gripping look at a surprisingly human underworld, complete with a brilliant soundtrack by Orbital.   

Eleven year-olds from 15 countries across the world candidly reveal their desires and concerns at an age when they are becoming more conscious of events in the world around them. This IF Best Doc and Melbourne IFF audience award-winning film offers heart-warming insight into both the similarities and differences between their cultures and the thoughts and lives of young people in their pre-teen years.  Everyone who sees this film simply adores it.  

Inside Out explores the life and persona of celebrated rock photographer (and film director – Control) Anton Corbjin.  The film offers great insight into the man and uncovers his creative motivations and conflicts. With interviews from Bono, George Clooney and most importantly Corbijn himself, we follow him to places he’s lived and worked, the studios and the film sets, to reveal an intimate, never-before-seen portrait of one of pop culture’s most significant figures.

Winner of the Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival, Beauty is the powerful story of a man in turmoil.  South African François is a successful family man in his mid-40s. He runs his own timber company, is the father of two daughters and a devoted husband, but beneath this seemingly faultless veneer is a seething nest of internal conflict.  When a chance encounter unravels his controlled life, Francois is thrown into flux and embarks on a desperate path to take from the world what he wants – happiness.  An electrifying drama and an illuminating study in obsession and self-destruction: a cinema experience you’ll not easily forget.  “Powerful. One of the year’s most moving and fascinating films” four stars. Evan Williams, Australian.

Sandra, an overworked manager at a fast food restaurant receives a call from a police officer accusing one of her employees, teenage Becky, of stealing from a customer. Taking the officer at his word, Sandra detains Becky and strip searches her, but the demands of the disembodied voice soon escalate to disturbing heights and the scenario spirals out of control.  Based on true events, Compliance is a psychological thriller about normal people manipulated into monstrous acts. “Compliance might be the most disturbing movie ever made.” Huffington Post

Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir is a life-affirming story of the man and the filmmaker. With unprecedented access and told with touching sincerity, Polanski details his extraordinary life from his childhood in the Cracow ghetto to the meteoric rise of his career in Europe and America.  Polanski also discusses the horrific murder of his pregnant wife Sharon Tate, the controversy surrounding his arrest in 1977 as well as his work and life today in France.  Filmed during his house arrest in Gstaad, this is an honest and revealing portrait of a true artist. Featuring many excerpts from his distinguished filmography.

One of Margaret Pomeranz’s top 5 films of 2012, The Master, is a stand out film of the year but only had a short run in Adelaide.  From Paul Thomas Anderson the director of Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love and There Will Be Blood; The Master tells the relationship between Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix), a WWII veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress and cult leader Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman).  Loosely based on the early years of Scientology, this film is a work of art that dissects postwar America.  “It is an extraordinary film and I think Paul Thomas Anderson is an extraordinary filmmaker.” 4.5 stars, David Stratton.

Chasing Ice is one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering physical evidence of our changing planet. With a band of young adventurers in tow, acclaimed photographer James Balog used revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s melting glaciers.  His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. Chasing Ice is the story of a photographer striving to deliver indisputable evidence of the costs of our carbon-powered planet whilst personally contending with harsh conditions and facing his own mortality.  Compelling viewing, Chasing Ice has won 23 awards at film festivals around the world.

This moving documentary follows five families whose children are subject to bullying and highlights the damaging impact of bullying and makes a strong case for action. A restrictive classification system in the US has drawn criticism because it has prevented kids who could benefit from the film from seeing it.  The film contains some strong language but probably no worse than what you might hear in the school yard!

When Steve (Shaun Goss) is released from prison, still haunted by his relationship with a fellow inmate, he is unable to connect with his girlfriend Susie (Bree Desborough). Taking a ‘meals-on-wheels’ job, he meets Rodney (Henri Szeps), an irrepressible older man, who is the full time carer for his invalid mother Franky (Maria Venuti). Rodney is an eccentric “backyard magician” and brings the same vaudevillian exuberance to his job as Franky’s carer. But he is torn between the love and loyalty he feels for his mother and the need to lead his own life. Captivated by the mother and son’s extravagant world of make-believe, a close friendship between Steve and Rodney develops.

Bathing Franky is about forgiveness, hope and the trouble with using imagination and fantasy as a way to deal with the harsher aspects of reality.

Rodriguez was the greatest ‘70s US rock icon who never was. Momentarily hailed as the finest recording artist of his generation, he disappeared only to rise again in a completely different context a continent away.

In the late ‘60s, a musician was discovered in a Detroit bar by two celebrated producers who were struck by his soulful melodies and prophetic lyrics. They recorded an album they believed would secure his reputation as one of the greatest recording artists of his generation. But the album bombed and the singer disappeared into obscurity amid rumors of a gruesome on-stage suicide. But a bootleg recording found its way into apartheid South Africa and, over the next two decades, it became a phenomenon. Two South African fans then set out to find out what really happened to their hero… Searching for Sugarman is a film about hope, inspiration and the resonating power of music.

A young American, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and a young French woman Céline (Julie Delpy) meet on a train on route to Vienna and spend the night walking around the city, getting to know each other.  With separate journeys in the morning, they have limited time to explore thoughts and perspectives, knowing that once morning comes they may never see each other again. Coming in at number 3 in The Guardian’s best romantic films of all time: the tension builds as dawn draws closer.  

L’Avventura had a tumultuous reception at its premiere at Cannes but is now considered an influential and modern masterpiece. A young woman (Lea Massari) mysteriously disappears on an excursion to an island near Sicily with a group of wealthy socialites. Her friend (Monica Vitti) is seemingly alone in her concern for her friend’s disappearance. The story of a woman forgotten; this is a scathing depiction of an unhappy, listless society devoid of meaningful human emotion.

Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival (1960)

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive.

A portrait of marital dissolution in upper-class Milan. It is a day in the life of an unhappily married couple, successful author (Marcello Mastroianni) and his frustrated wife (Jeanne Moreau). They wander, lost and bored between a visit to a dying friend, a book-signing event and finally, a party for the rich and famous, all the time questioning the depth of their love for each other. Antonioni explores the mental landscape of his protagonists, using landscape and architecture as key ingredients to mood and exploration of character.

Winner Golden Bear, Berlin Film Festival (1961)

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive.

**Specially imported**

Educated, articulate and mentally unbalanced Johnny (David Thewlis) rapes a woman and flees the law to take up with an ex-girlfriend. Antagonistic towards her and her female flatmate, he delights in verbal and sexual dominance. Johnny is constantly denigrating those around him in the belief that he is the most cultured and intelligent person in the room and possibly the world, until he finds himself on the receiving end of some equally disdainful physical violence. A confrontational and ambiguous film: the post-Thatcher underclass is represented by a character more distasteful and destructive than the government it seeks to critique.

Crude gangster Spica (Albert Gambon) has taken over a high-end London restaurant and holds court there each night, antagonising staff and customers alike with his boorish behaviour. His wife Georgina (Helen Mirren) is driven into the arms of a quiet bookseller and the stage is set for murder and horrid revenge. A visual treat of formalism, Greenaway’s film still shocks and rings with the sound of aristocratic monocles hitting the floor at the sight of the inheritors of Thatcher’s reforms; violent thugs who believe their economic success can buy them culture.

A robbery gone wrong, a rising tide, an isolated home and a gangster holding a married couple hostage; neuroses and sexualities simmer away and give way to a mental ménage a trois. With everybody falling quickly and easily into role-playing and sexual humiliation, Polanski turns an already taut piece of paranoia into a darkly humorous comment on modernity and collapsing values.

WINNER: Golden Bear.

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive.

Carole (Catherine Deneuve) is detached enough from her own life, so when her promiscuous sister goes on holiday and leaves her alone in their apartment, she no longer has an anchor to reality. Carole’s repressed sexuality and apparently inherent violence bubble to the surface and she is threatened by hallucinations. Disorienting and subjective, Polanski’s English-language debut is the stuff of claustrophobic nightmares and a malevolent precursor to Eraserhead, with crushing modernity outside and madness within.

WINNER: Silver Bear & FIPRESCI prize (Berlinale, 1965).

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive.

Mick (Graham Green) has little to do in Sheffield except work on his motorbike, hang out with mates and collect the dole. There are no jobs, no industry and no hopes for the future. A friend joins the Army and gets embroiled in The Troubles, Mick meets a girl and between them, they might find a way out of the long dark winter that was Britain’s crippling recession. Adapting a Barry Hines novel (as he did with Kes) Loach takes his trademark social realist look at the plight of the working class.

Omar, a young British-Pakistani is torn between his alcoholic father’s idea of a university education and his rich entrepreneurial uncle. In the end Omar follows his uncles’ lead and transforms a run down Laundromat, given to him by his uncle, into a glittering monument to the garment.  Help comes to Omar from his childhood mate, the tough Johnny, played by Daniel Day Lewis in his first major role. Set in London’s Asian community in a time of little acceptance, Hanif Kureishi’s screenplay pushes the boundaries of race and sexuality and enabled Frears to create an Oscar nominated, landmark film.

Jake (Jack Nicholson) has his normal routine of matrimonial surveillance for divorce cases, making a comfortable living out of other’s misfortunes. Until one case drags him into murder, corruption and high-stakes wrangling to control Los Angeles’ water supply. With the sharpest script of his career (courtesy of Robert Towne) and a gifted cast and crew, Polanski turns in his masterpiece, with one of the most searing and downbeat endings in Hollywood.

WINNER: Oscar (Best writing/ screenplay) and three BAFTAS.

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive.

A young married couple almost hit a hitchhiker and decide to take him to go sailing on a lake. The mean-spirited husband, jealous of the chemistry between the unnamed young man and his wife, takes cruelty and taunting to great heights, pushing all three in unexpected directions. Polanski’s feature debut is a minimalist powerhouse that propelled him onto the world stage as one of the primary new directors of psychological thrillers.

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive.

With a simple narrative structure – a young woman (Monica Vitti) leaves one lover (Francisco Rabal) and tentatively explores the beginnings of an affair with another (Alain Delon) – L’Eclisse is a meditation on the possibilities of love in the modern age. Whilst Antonioni’s vision can be bleak and uncompromising, his images pulse with energy and beauty. All around the doomed affair of the young couple, life goes on with equal parts of hope, vitality, loss and despair.

Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival (1962)

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive.

[Nine years later…] Jesse is now a writer enjoying success with a novel about a one-night stand. He bumps into Céline in Paris. They steal away for a stroll around the city but things have changed. No longer hopeful young things with life spread out before them, Jesse and Céline confess to disappointments and resentments. Time is short; they only have 80-or-so minutes (played out in real time) before Jesse must return to his wife and child in the US. From this melancholy scenario, is an honest but affectionate portrait of an amorphous romance – not to mention “one of the most tantalising and ingenious endings 
in all cinema.” The Guardian.

7:30pm Thursday 16 May

Originally made as a six part television series, Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes From A Marriage was alleged to cause the divorce rate in Sweden to nearly double in the year that the series was released. The story gives an unflinching insight into the loneliness, doubt, despair and confusion felt by Marianne (Liv Ullmann), a lawyer, when she discovers her fickle husband, Johan (Erland Josephson), a professor, is having an affair.  Featuring rapid and articulate monologues by few cast and a hyper-realism and naturalist style, the film was praised receiving numerous awards including a BAFTA for Ullmann and a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film. 

Five key moments are depicted in reverse order to reveal the disintegration of a marriage between Gilles (Stéphane Freiss) and Marion (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), starting in the lawyers office where their separation is being finalised going back to when they first met at an Italian beach resort.  The film is punctuated with romantic Italian love songs that Ozon included for their dramatic quality.  The director has said the story was inspired by Jane Campion’s Two Friends (1987). Nominated for a Golden Lion and winner of Best Actress at Venice Film Festival 2004.

7:30pm Thursday 23 May

Starring Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney, Donen’s film is about an architect and his wife as they ‘make something wonderful out of being alive’.  Frederic Raphael’s Oscar^© nominated script examines the couples’ twelve year relationship whilst on a road trip to the south of France. Stylistically, the non-linear format of the film (popularised by films of the French New Wave), was considered challenging for wider audiences at the time. Henry Mancini’s score is a highlight.

Compared with Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage by The Guardian, the 2012 Palm d’Or and BAFTA winning, Oscar^© nominated Amour is somewhat of a modern day masterpiece. Retired music teachers Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) and Geroges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) are happy, in love and live a full life in their book lined Paris apartment. Tragedy strikes when Anne suffers two strokes leaving her physically impaired and in pain. With Anne’s wishes in mind and filled with love, Georges is faced with the ultimate dilemma when caring for a life companion.

A vacillating former member of the IRA (an Oscar^© winning role for Victor McLaglen) betrays a friend so he and his girlfriend can migrate to America and start afresh. But nobody escapes their conscience. Ford deals with one of his regular themes of honour and personal values, whilst also showing his sympathies towards the IRA.

WINNER: Oscars^© (Best Director, Screenplay, Actor, Music).

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive.

Having lost their farm in the Great Depression, the Joad family pack up their remaining possessions and head west to find work. Tom Joad (Henry Fonda in a defining role) is shocked to find conditions in the itinerant camps worse than his recently completed prison sentence, and begins to agitate for the rights of the common man. Adapted from John Steinbeck’s masterpiece, with Gregg Toland’s masterful cinematography, the plight of the Okies remains as relevant now as it was decades ago.

WINNER: Oscars^© (Best Director, Best Actress).

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive.

Ford returns to his beloved Irish countryside and takes his most famous leading man for what seems an uncharacteristic romantic comedy/drama. John Wayne is Irish-American Sean Thornton, returned to reclaim his family’s farm and falls in love with neighbouring Mary (Maureen O’Hara) despite the objections of her overbearing brother. Filled with absurd hijinks typical of a rom-com, it encompasses Ford’s concern with a man’s inner turmoils. Not to mention one of the most outrageous fist-fights ever committed to celluloid.

WINNER: Oscars^© (Best Director, Cinematography).

A close-knit Welsh family see their lives slowly dismantled by the outside forces of greedy mine owners, small-minded gossip and the economic and environmental decline of their hometown. Adapted from Richard Llewellyn’s novel, and once again showing Ford’s concern with family and the man on the street, the film scooped five Oscars^©; infamously beating Citizen Kane.

WINNER: Oscars^© (Best Director, Picture, Cinematography, Art Direction)

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive.

Based on the classic play of the same name by Jacobean English playwright, John Ford, this is one of the most controversial love stories ever told. Annabella (Rampling) hurriedly marries Soranzo when she is found to be pregnant following her incestuous relationship with her brother, Giovanni. Jealousies and envy lead to her past being revealed, resulting in her husband seeking murderous revenge, ultimately uniting all in classic tragedy. 

With dark and disturbing themes and a morally ambiguous ending, The Night Porter has continued to divide audiences. Lucia Atherton (Rampling) is a concentration camp survivor who had an ambiguous relationship with Nazi SS officer Maximilian Theo Aldorfer (Dirk Bogarde), who tormented but protected her. In an iconic scene, Lucia sings a Marlene Dietrich song to the concentration camp guards while wearing pieces of an SS uniform, Max “rewards” her with the severed head of a male inmate who had been bullying the other inmates. Thirteen years after WWII, Lucia meets Aldorfer again; he is now the night porter at a Viennese hotel. There, they fall back into their sadomasochistic relationship.

In this psychological thriller, Rampling plays Sarah Morton, a British crime writer who goes to her publisher’s beautiful holiday house in the South of France for the solitude she needs to complete her book. Sarah’s peace is interrupted by the arrival of Julie (Ludivine Sagnier) who claims to be the publisher’s daughter… The intentionally ambiguous ending sparked controversy with audiences. Ozon himself has stated ‘everything that is imaginary in Swimming Pool is realistic so that you see it all – fantasy and reality alike – on the same plane’. Rampling; at the height of her powers.

WINNER: European Film Award (Best Actress).

Come celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures (1963, 45mins), which outraged moral guardians, tore the doors off the cinematic ghetto of the Underground and forever invaded the daylight world of film. Also screening: A MOVIE (Bruce Conner, 1958, 12mins), COSMIC RAY (Bruce Conner, 1962, 4mins), PRELUDE: DOG STAR MAN (Stan Brakhage, 1962, 25mins) and SURFACE TENSION (Hollis Frampton, 1968, 10mins).

Kenneth Anger’s 1964 celebration of occult imagery, pop music and bikie fetishism became one of, if not the most widely screened films of the American Underground. Come along and find out why it earned such devotion, as well as experiencing BLOW JOB (Andy Warhol, 1963, 28mins), HOLD ME WHILE I’M NAKED (George Kuchar, 1966, 15mins) and THE ACT OF SEEING WITH ONE’S OWN EYES (Stan Brakhage, 1971, 32mins).

Listed as one of Sight and Sound’s top 10 films of all time, Rules of the Game was banned when first released as it was labelled ‘too demoralising’ and was only made available in its original form some 17 years later. A group of aristocrats gather for rural time out at a lavish country Chateau. In between hunting, servant dramas unfold downstairs while upstairs romantic encounters and deception go on between husbands, wives, mistresses and lovers. Comedy and melancholy combine in this examination of class division.

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive.

Newlyweds Jean (Jean Dasté) and Juliette (Dita Parlo) live aboard the canal barge L’Atalante that Jean captains with two other crew. River life soon loses its appeal for Juliette who goes in search of excitement when they dock in Paris.  Jean, angered by this departs without his wife but soon returns. Vigo, the son of an anarchist, creates a captivating aesthetic with contrast on screen between surface realism (working class hardships) and the surreal landscapes. Vigo’s classic film was a forerunner to the French New Wave, utilising a discontinuous style, and remains a celebrated film to this day, often appearing in ‘best films of all time’ lists (eg Sight and Sound).

Said to be based on a real life story of an innocent man charged with a crime, The Wrong Man is one of the few Hitchcock films to be based on a true story, making this a unique addition to the Hitchcock oeuvre.  This is a harrowing study of the psychological cost of misguided suspicion and mistaken identity.  Starring Henry Fonda and Vera Miles, (Hitchcock makes his signature cameo as a silhouette at the start of the film).

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive.

One of the defining films of the French New Wave and the directorial debut for Truffaut, The 400 Blows is a semi-autobiographical story about a misunderstood adolescent in Paris, thought to be a troublemaker by his parents and teachers. This was the first in the Antoine Doinel trilogy (the character invented by Truffaut) tracing him from antisocial anguish to domesticity and was the film to reignite French cinema internationally. The 400 Blows remains a cornerstone in film history that can, and should be revisited numerous times over. 

WINNER: Best Director, Cannes Film Festival

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive.

Werner Herzog’s love letter remake of Murnau’s seminal original brings grit, filth and overbearing dread back to the vampire film and manages to save the genre from the creeping camp of the Hammer films. Claustrophobically filmed and meditatively paced, this film features an effortless and fearless performance by Klaus Kinski, who takes Max Schreck’s otherworldly creation and makes it his own.

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive.

WINNER: Silver Bear, Berlinale

In his first feature film, Tony Scott not only displays many of the visual motifs that would make him as much a filmmaking style as a filmmaker, but gives us a glimpse of the art house career he might have had if his next film had not been Top Gun. There is no doubt that The Hunger is an exercise in style over substance, but when that style includes David Bowie and the infamous seduction scene with Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon, substance really doesn’t seem so important. 

Although overshadowed upon release by The Lost Boys, Kathryn Bigelow’s biker/western reinvention of the American vampire film has since moved through cult status to genuine classic at 35 on Rotten Tomatoes list of the 50 best reviewed horror films of all time! With both Bill Paxton and Lance Hendricksen in fine form, a young Adrian Pasdar (long before he became “that guy from Heroes”) and one of the most famous bar room scenes in film history, Near Dark remains every bit as effective today as it was upon release.

This is a YOUNG CINÉMATHÈQUE NIGHT 

We are actively recruiting the next generations of cinefiles! Free entry on this night for anyone aged 15 – 20.

WE WANT YOU!

Whatever it is about Max Schreck’s vampire that has inspired other actors so much, is in evidence once more in Willem Dafoe’s Oscar nominated turn in the role. This darkly comic fictionalisation of the making of Murnau’s original Nosferatu, suggests that the secret of Schreck’s performance was that it was no performance at all. It explores both a filmmaker’s (Malkovich) obsession with getting their vision to film and the agonies of a vampire who simply can’t understand why so many people are needed to make a film… surely he could just eat one?    

Before reunification, a woman doctor is transferred to a hospital in East Germany. Planning her escape to the west, who can she trust? 

LAUNCH EVENT

SA PREMIERE

This is the true story of a marketing campaign that sparked a revolution.  After military dictator Augusto Pinochet called a referendum in 1988 in response to heavy international pressure, a young advertising executive is persuaded to develop the ‘No’ campaign against an extension of Pinochet’s term.  This is a fascinating and involving story of democracy in action – and the mobilising of an opposition that felt participation itself was a sellout.

Special guest The Hon. Mark Butler MP, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, will launch Seniors on Screen 2013.

This is a visually stunning fresh interpretation of Charles Dickens famous story, featuring excellent casting, beautiful landscapes and atmospheric settings.  The central romance between the naive orphan Pip and the knowing heartbreaker, Estella, is well drawn as victims manipulated by scheming adults.  

A successful string quartet that has been playing together for a long time – and ageing as a group of friends – is disrupted when one of then falls ill and decides it’s time to hand over to a younger player.  The latent issues that this exposes are brilliantly portrayed by a standout cast that includes Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener and Christopher Walken.  

**MEET THE FILMMAKERS**

Working as a meals-on-wheels driver, Steve, recently released from prison meets Rodney, an irrepressible ‘backyard magician’ who is the full time carer for his eccentric, invalid mother, Franky. The pair form a close and unexpected friendship in this delightful well-crafted film about forgiveness, hope and the trouble with using imagination and fantasy as a way to deal with the harsher aspects of reality.

When suspected saboteurs are arrested by the Nazis in Russia during the war and only one is released, he is under suspicion by partisans as a collaborator.  He claims this was a Nazi ploy to sow dissent – but can he be trusted?  With savagery on both sides, the effect of the daily struggle for survival on these people is brilliantly and movingly portrayed. Won FIPRESCI prize at Cannes Film Festival.

This is a coming-of-age story profiling 16 year-old Ngaa Rauuira Pumanawawhiti, railing against his people’s statistics of uneducated youth, prisons, gangs and alarming suicide rates. At 4 he learnt English. At 12 he began his first university degree. At 14 he enrolled in summer school at Yale University. What if you could turn back the clock and watch the minds forming of those who would create political zeitgeist shifts in the future? This film does just that.

Tolstoy’s great story of love and politics amongst the 19th century aristocracy of St Petersburg is dazzlingly and thrillingly brought to life.  While the style might bring to mind Moulin Rouge, Joe Wright – who made such a success of his adaptation of Atonement – never loses sight of the moral and philosophical dimensions of this Russian classic. BAFTA Academy Award costume design winner.

Teenage Mo idolises his older brother Rashid but his adulation is misguided. Rashid is a drug-dealing gang member, but despite this he is determined to keep his little bro on the straight and narrow. Set in London’s East End, the boys are of an Egyptian migrant family with little money and this story is played out in a gritty urban environment in the most compelling way. Director Sally El Hosaini has been hailed by Screen International as “UK Star of Tomorrow”.  Won Best Cinematography at Sundance Film Festival.

This Venice Film Festival prize winner is about a former left-wing activist, now a respected civil rights lawyer, who has to go on the run after a journalist discovers his background.  Still wanted by the FBI after a guard was killed in a robbery, he needs to find witnesses to help him clear his name. This is a solid thriller, although perhaps dodging the real issues of 1970s terrorism.   

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT (RUSSIAN) CINEMA BUT WERE TO AFRAID TO ASK

Infused with autobiographical episodes, Tarkovsky uses documentary footage to reveal an history of his country in the 21^st century where we see the personal meet the political and crisscross back again. The fourth of seven feature films, this is considered to be Tarkovsky’s most artistically bold work.

Show Me The Magic takes us on an enthralling journey into the life and work of legendary Australian cinematographer Don McAlpine. Weaving together footage from McAlpine’s films, his personal archive, on-set observation of his work and interviews with famous film-makers, this film will engage and entrance anyone who has ever been touched by the magic of cinema.

Screens with THE DAY MY NAN DIED (Dir. David Willing, UK, 2012, 23mins).

The convergence between the hard lives of inmates of a maximum security prison in Rome, and the roles they play in rehearsing and performing Shakespeare’s Julius Ceasar makes for fascinating reflection.  This film by the Taviani Brothers (Night of the Shooting Stars) blurs the boundary between documentary and drama as the prisoners’ roles take shape. Winner Golden Bear, Berlinale.

COME OUT FESTIVAL 2013 and SCREENSEEKERS present
Dreaming of Future Filmmakers… a special screening of shorts films made by young South Australians (especially for kids)
 

SUNDAY 26th May 4pm  - Tickets $5 includes a Sausage Sizzle

THE MEN FROM MARS
From the furthest reaches of inter-dimensional space comes an incomprehensible force that will change the face of the earth…forever!
 
HOW TO MAKE AN HORROR MOVIE
Ever wondered what really goes into the making of your favourite horror flick? Then this is the doc for you! Runner-Up National Tropfest Junior 2013.
 
CLARENCE’S KITE
An uplifting story about a boy, his kite and the tree that comes between them.  Shortlisted Tropfest 2012.
 
THIRSTY TIMES
How would you treat the environment if you had the wisdom of hindsight?  Two wasteful children find out the hard way – through time travel!  Made during the Come Out Screenseekers Bootcamp April 2013.
 
SEE-SAW SWEETHEARTS
At nine years old, Lucy is just about ready to fall in love for the first time. James is the perfect candidate and he’s got everything she could want in a boy. Unfortunately for Lucy, James has other things on his mind.  Short Focus Films.
 
CUT YOU OUT
A song by Hawks of Alba made as part of the Media Resource Centre’s Clip It! Music Video Production Initiative that teamed SA filmmakers with SA bands.
 
JUICE LORDS
A comic film noir (in the style of Bugsy Malone) exposing the underground trade in black market juice in Adelaide.  Finalist in Tropfest Junior 2012.
 
DONUT HOLES #1 DONUT HUNTERS
Where do donuts really come from, and why do they have holes? Kelly’s family are donut hunters.  They shoot the wild donuts that fly past her house every summer.  Not a scrap is wasted and while her friend Harry feels sorry for the strange little creatures, he can’t deny that they’re a tasty treat. A playful look at food politics.
 
DONUT HOLES #2: DONUT GATHERERS
Harry just wants to read his comic but it’s donut season and Harry’s Dad enlists his help to harvest the ripe donuts from the trees before they spoil.  The second short animation in the planned “Donut Holes” trilogy.
 
TOOT TOOT
A cheeky Christmas film about Stan, a six year-old boy who opens his present early, only to discover it doesn’t live up to the picture on the box. While his determined approach to fulfill his Christmas wish may get him into a whole lot of trouble, fear not; Stan understands the true spirit of Christmas!  Short Focus Films.
 
THE MEANING OF LIFE
The thoughts and feelings of a group of young filmmakers who participated in the Come Out Screenseekers Bootcamp in April 2013.
 
MY NEIGHBOURHOOD HAS BEEN OVERRUN BY BABOONS
A song by the Dairy Brothers.  A man wakes up to the alarming discovery that his house and in fact the whole neighbourhood has been taken over by baboons! Tropfest National Runner-Up 2010.
 

Twenty-five years after marrying her childhood sweetheart, Camille’s marriage has fallen apart.  Hospitalised after a drunken night out, she wakes up… 15 years old again, and facing the dilemma of going through a disastrous marriage and yet having a beloved daughter.  A gentle and charming film about coming to terms with one’s choices in life that took awards at both Cannes and Locarno.

In this absorbing and atmospheric film, two impoverished young women raised in a Romanian orphanage became lovers, but then head off on different paths.  Alina sought a better life in Germany, and Voichita entered a local convent.  Missing her, Alina returns to ‘rescue’ Voichita and take her to Germany.  The convent however sets out to ‘rescue’ Alina from her sinful ways.  Winner Cannes Film Festival best screenplay and best actress.

A young English woman, travelling to her uncle’s ranch in the far West, is abducted by a violent outlaw, who turns out to be impotent.  In this eccentric Western these two lone figures travel across a vast landscape as the would-be rapist searches for a cure, in what becomes a ‘beauty saves the beast’ romantic fable. 

Early in the French revolution, the chaotic final days of the royal court at Versailles are observed through the eyes of one of Marie-Antionette’s devoted attendants – her reader.  Aristocratic life starts to crumble as rumour and terror spreads following the storming of the Bastille. The film impressively and passionately conveys the palace’s life and times.

At 70 years young, Sigrídur Níelsdóttir embarked on a new music career. In just eight years she recorded 59 albums and nearly 700 songs to become an underground music icon in Denmark and Iceland. This is an inspiring story about limitless creativity.

SOS MUSIC DOCS: SHAKE OFF THEM WINTER BLUES!

Director Michael Altman (son of late Robert Altman) teamed up with hit singer/ songwriter and Nashville veteran, Danny Darst in 2010 producing numerous creative productions. Now Altman brings us this delightful doc about his creative partner.  A mosaic of song, philosophy and poetry this wonderful doc is sure to get your toes tappin’! 

Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s great American novel set in the roaring ‘20s east coast USA and is at its core, about the delusion of a society obsessed with wealth and status and the hollowness felt in the absence of love. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton and is the 2013 Cannes Film Festival opening film.

At 42, David coasts through life with minimal effort. Just as he finds out his policewoman partner is pregnant, his past resurfaces. Twenty years earlier, he began providing sperm to a fertility clinic in exchange for money. He discovers he’s the father of 533 children, 142 of whom have filed a class action lawsuit to determine the identity of their biological father, known only by the pseudonym Starbuck. Awarded Most Popular Canadian Film (Vancouver Film Festival).

MEET THE FILMMAKER – MARION PILOWSKY

After yet another failed relationship, Duncan (Brendan Patricks) decides to quiz his last five girlfriends to find out what went wrong in order to figure out how to find love. Loosely based on Alain de Botton’s novel On Love, this Brit-relationship comedy is a quirky hoot that utilises interesting flashback sequences where Duncan imagines his relationships as theme-park rides that take us on the highs and lows of his tumultuous love life.

Ren (Kevin Bacon) has been relocated from Chicago to a small mid-Western town and finds that dancing and rock music are banned. It’s up to him to navigate the shifting relationships and allegiances to prove to Reverend Shaw Moore (John Lithgow) that the kids just wanna have some harmless fun man! A perfect example of the Eighties feel-good movie where the misunderstood and marginalised triumph and everybody ends the day with a smile on their faces. You’re humming Kenny Loggins’ theme tune right now.

**specially imported print**

The story of a couples’ dying love.  Isa, played by Ceylan, is an academic, unfaithful to his wife, torn from within about what is expected from him and what he can give.  His wife, Bahar (Ebru Ceylan, Nuri’s wife) is a beautiful woman and television producer who we see slowly accepts that her love for her husband cannot be. Her performance is captivating as the torture within unfolds. Ceylan’s background in photography is evident in all his work and this is no exception as the story is complimented with beautifully considered composition and colour.

In her most recent film, Denis revisits themes of colonialism and its aftermath in Africa including the shifting power relationships between the black and white communities. Intelligent, nuanced and with a formidable performance from Isabelle Huppert as Maria, a coffee plantation owner, caught in the middle of armed conflict between rebels and the army of an un-named country. 

Inspired by Melville’s Billy Budd, Denis’ extraordinary movie centres on Galoup (Denis Lavant), who recalls his time as a seargent-major in the French Foreign Legion. With limited dialogue and a poetic juxtaposition of music and stunning images of beauty, Denis and her team create a fixed, timeless world of mysterious, balletic rites, rippled with simmering homoerotic tensions.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

This is an image of contemporary urban living as experienced by a city’s most peripheral citizens. The three main characters are immigrants in Paris eking out a living. Although the context is a real-life Parisian crime wave, Denis avoids the trappings of genre.  She is more concerned with exploring the isolation and power struggles of immigrants in a multi-racial culture and a seemingly ordinary world where the menacing and benign wear similar masks.

Print courtesy Ambassade de France /  Institut Français

Adelaide Cinémathèque gives Olympic fever a nod by revisiting this British classic 31 years on.  Chariots of Fire is the true story of two athletes competing in the 1924 Summer Olympics – a Scottish missionary running for God and a Jewish student running to escape prejudice – this is a highly emotive film complimented by a standout soundtrack by Vangelis.  It received numerous accolades including four Academy Awards, three BAFTAs including Best Film from both.  “It’s an exceptional film, about some exceptional people.” New York Times.

WINNER: Four Academy Awards 1982 (Best Picture; Writing; Costume Design; Music), Three BAFTAs 1982 (Best Film; Costume Design; Supporting Artist).

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive

Jimmy (Phil Daniels) don’t wanna be the same as everybody else. That’s why he’s a Mod, see? London in 1965 is the greatest place to be young, beautiful and stupid, so Jimmy and his mates make the most of it with partying, drugs, sex and maximum r&b, until after a riotous weekend fighting Rockers in Brighton, Jimmy rebels against his own peer group. Adapted from The Who’s album and also starring fellow emergent British tough guys Phil Davis and Ray Winstone this is a film to inspire generations.

Denis’ delicate and graceful film is an enchanting evocation of Ozu’s Late Spring. Lionel (Alex Descas), a widowed Parisian train-driver lives in peace and contentment with his “marriageable” daughter Josephine (Mati Diop), both resisting romantic involvement, even though they both know that Josephine will soon be moving on to live her own life. Agnès Godard’s cinematography is as beguiling and haunting as ever.

Print courtesy Ambassade de France /  Institut Français

The rockumentary had it coming, but it never expected it to be this merciless, nor this accurate, and certainly never this beloved. Improvisationally skewering the inflated egos of rock stars (and directors) Lord Haden-Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer play the titular British heavy metal band on a disastrous American tour. Cucumbers not allowed in the cinema and all drummers must have life insurance fully paid before attending. Crank it to eleven!

A bizarre mockumentary attempting to put The Sex Pistols into some kind of cultural and artistic context which the broad masses can comprehend turns into a wondrous collection of live performances, interviews and set-pieces. Telling the story from manager Malcolm McLaren’s viewpoint remains as contentious a point as his attempts to contain The Sex Pistols in some kind of narrative.

A family dislocated when small failings blow up into extravagant lies battles against the odds to stay together by covering up the truth when the father, a local politician, convinces his driver to take the wrap for a hit and run accident.  In order to avoid hardship and responsibilities that would otherwise be impossible to endure, the family chooses to ignore the truth. But does playing “Three Monkeys” invalidate the truth of its existence?  Asserting a dry humour and astute psychological insight, some have said this to be a logical expansion to Climates.  Ceylan’s photographic eye is most prevalent.

An alien botanical survey inadvertently leaves one of its crew members behind, who in short order ends up in the care of Elliott (Henry Thomas) and his family. But the mysterious government agents are close behind and all ET wants to do is get home. One of the most successful films of all time, ET showcases Spielberg’s familial obsessions, with the cute/ugly alien bringing warmth back into a home swamped by consumerism.

WINNER: Four Academy Awards, BAFTA (Best Score) 1983.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence) may be the only man left on Earth after a bizarre incident he dubs The Effect, of which he may have been a part. As guilt and isolation take their toll he is reinvigorated by finding other survivors and a plan to stop The Effect reoccurring. A stunningly minimalist post-apocalypse film with one of the greatest ambiguous endings in sci-fi, The Quiet Earth is a genre gem ripe for rediscovery. 

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive

Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is back after 57 movie years, but her fate is linked to the mysterious planet and species from which she escaped. With a squad of Colonial Marines and a little girl, Ripley proves that maternal instincts aren’t always soft and fluffy. Cameron delivers the ultimate sci-fi/action film, a fetishisation of techno-militaristic hardware and prowess where the enemy is faceless and numerous, peaceful co-existence is not an option, and only the heavily armed individual will survive.

WINNER: Academy Awards (Sound Editing; Visual Effects). BAFTA (Best Special Effects) 1987.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

The apocalypse wasn’t meant to happen like this. Tokyo was ravaged but not destroyed by a mysterious event related to someone known only as Akira. A teenage gang inadvertently stumbles into what may be the next phase of human evolution and the stage is set for the most important anime ever released. A landmark fusion of (hand-drawn!) animation, sound design and a well-rounded storyline which suggests that even amidst the ruins of our own hubris we might still advance.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Arthur (Albert Finney) swears to not get dragged into the life of domestic banality he sees from his parents and spends his spare time carousing instead. Drinking, carrying on an affair with a married woman and generally embracing the pleasures on offer, Arthur’s world comes crashing down upon him and he realises there may be no escape. Tackling sex and abortion like never before, this film scandalised British society of its era, forcing them to confront issues heretofore unspoken.

WINNER: BAFTAs (Best Film, British Actress, Newcomer) 1961.

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive

Jo (Rita Tushingham) lives with her single mother, a tarty, rent-skipping pub singer. After her mother runs out with a new bloke Jo moves in with a gay friend. Falling pregnant to a black sailor she watches the hope of forming a new family, however unconventional, evaporate under the destructive force of her mother’s reappearance. Adapted by Shelagh Delaney from her stage play this is the epitome of British kitchen-sink realism.

WINNER: Four BAFTAs 1962; Best Actor & Best Actress, Cannes 1962

Aggressive coal miner Frank (Richard Harris) is recruited for the local rugby team after a pub brawl shows off his physical prowess. Off the field he is little better, carrying on an abusive relationship with the widowed Margaret (Rachel Roberts) and unwittingly allowing himself to be a pawn of his sponsors’ whims, until tragedy strikes. Anderson’s debut feature marked the pinnacle of the British New Wave and the beginning of a unique cinematic voice.

WINNER: Best Actor Cannes, 1963. Best Actress BAFTAs, 1964.

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive

A Christ-like thief stumbles into the world of The Alchemist (Jodorowsky again) and finds himself a part of a Tarot inspired scheme to gather the most powerful people in the world and achieve immortality. More structured and dense than El Topo, Jodorowsky’s follow-up is filled to overflowing with multiple meanings and esoteric teachings gleaned from a variety of mystic traditions. A truly mind-blowing experience on the big screen.

A mysterious gunslinger with no name (Jodorowsky) journeys aimlessly through a surreal vision of the American West, his experiences layered with meaning as he battles temptation and human failure on the path to sainthood. El Topo is the ultimate Acid Western, the first midnight movie, a phenomenon of allusion and allegory, and one of the most important films of the Sixties counterculture. Unmissable.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Fenix (Axel/Adan Jodorowsky as man/child) lives with the traumatic memory of his mother’s mutilation by his father. He acts as her now missing arms whilst trying to rekindle his childhood love but finds her will overcoming his own hands. Jodorowsky (and his four sons!) returned to filmmaking after a lengthy hiatus with this giallo, twisting time and memory. Trapped within the horror and madness; an achingly tender story of two abused outsiders struggling to express their love for one another.

If you like things unrestrained, hard, adult and off-the-rails then Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone are superb in this erotic thriller involving a case of a former rock star murdered at the climax of some bondage style sex.  Catherine Tramell’s tainting of a room full of hard law enforcement men is probably the best illustration of post-feminism in action in Hollywood and rates as one of the top ten most paused scenes of all time. Despite its enragement of gay rights activists, the film was one of the top grossing films of the 90s.

Corky (Gina Gershon), a tough female ex con and her lover Violet (Jennifer Tilly) concoct a scheme to steal $2 million of laundered mob money and pin the blame on Violet’s crooked boyfriend Caeser (Joe Pantoliano). Directors Larry and Andy Wachowski make judicious use of the conventions of film noir, such as extensive chiaroscuro, and some uncomfortable extreme close-up shots. The clever cinematography by Bill Pope is backed up by a tension-laden script and an excellent cast.

A virginal young computer whizzkid named Peter is sent on a moral crusade to infiltrate the London S&M scene. He has to gather evidence of physical “assaults” in order to prosecute and shut the scene down. But Peter gets unwittingly drawn in and embraces gross humiliation at the hands of Mistress Tanya Cheex.  Alongside a professional cast, several well-known BDSM performance artists appear. A first feature from BAFTA winning director Stuart Urban that has gone on to earn cult status and a banning in Ireland.

**Early Start 7pm**

Kubrick’s last film is set in and around New York City, and follows the sexually charged adventures of Dr. Bill Harford (Tom Cruise), who is shocked when his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman), confesses to fantasising about an affair a year earlier, and so embarks on a night-long dark adventure during which he is repeatedly confronted by sexual temptation.  The film was marketed as an erotic thriller, however many argued that like some of Kubrick’s films it was initially misunderstood and that the director had made a film about sexual yearnings with dreamlike intensity.

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive

An engaging, original concoction which mixes politics, sex, comedy, nostalgia with the standard boy-meets-girl theme. Interviewer journalist (played by Jean-Pierre Leaud) has an affair with would be rock star (Chantal Goya) in 1960s Paris. Directed by the polemic French New-Wave director, Jean-Luc Godard. Not to be missed.

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive

An operatic look at a man whose greatest enemy is himself, Raging Bull throws us into the violence of the ring, the corruption of the back room, and the madness of Jake LaMotta. Fuelled by rage and jealousy he tears down his family and entire life, succumbing to his inner demons. With a flawless cast and crew, this is one of the finest films from a stellar career for both Scorsese and DeNiro. “Jake LaMotta fought like he didn’t deserve to live” (Martin Scorsese).

WINNER: Academy Awards 1981 (Best Actor; Film Editing). BAFTAs 1982 (Editing; Newcomer). 

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) a small-time boxer is picked by current heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) as his next opponent. Rocky hits the gym to train whilst romancing Adrian (Talia Shire) and preparing for a fight which will make him a household name, complete with an Oscar winning theme and a Seventies ending where even loss is inspirational. Look for B-movie icon and Stallone’s good friend Joe Spinell in a supporting role.

WINNER: Academy Awards 1977 (Best Picture; Best Director; Film Editing).

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

The Narrator (Edward Norton) can’t sleep until Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) turns his life upside down. He and Tyler form Fight Club, where men come together to participate in bare-knuckled combat. Throw Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter) into the mix as the feminine counterpoint and The Narrator is torn between his two halves. And neither Tyler nor Fight Club are quite what they seem… Fincher’s dense and immersive adaptation of Chuck Pahlahnuik’s novel remains one of the greatest Hollywood films of the 90s.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive

The last silent feature film to be made in Australia, The Kid Stakes is an enchanting comedy based on the characters of ‘Fatty Finn,’ a comic strip by illustrator Syd Nicholls. Fatty Finn and his gang enter his goat Hector in the annual goat derby, but his rival Bruiser Murphy lets him loose. The ensuing rescue adventure ends with a gripping race against time and against Bruiser’s own goat in the final race. Dismissed as a children’s film at the time, The Kid Stakes is an enduring piece of Australian film history.

This classic silent film will be accompanied by an original score composed and performed by Luke Eygenraam and Ben Campbell.

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive

Inspired by a true incident in 1862 during the American Civil War, Buster Keaton’s patented brand of physical lunacy takes us on a crazed train ride through the conflict as he tries to win the heart of his beloved Annabelle (Marion Mack) and save his equally beloved train. Come celebrate one of the finest silent films ever, local musicians and the 150th anniversary of the Great Locomotive Chase.

This classic silent film will be accompanied by an original score composed and performed by Jarrad Payne.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive

The last person to die on New Year’s Eve before the clock strikes twelve is doomed to take the reins of Death’s chariot and work tirelessly collecting fresh souls for the next year. So says the legend that drives The Phantom Carriage (Körkarlen), directed by the father of Swedish cinema, Victor Sjöström. The story, based on a novel by Nobel Prize winner Selma Lagerlöf, concerns an alcoholic, abusive ne’er-do-well (Sjöström himself) who is shown the error of his ways, and the pure-of-heart Salvation Army sister who believes in his redemption. This extraordinarily rich and innovative silent classic (which inspired Ingmar Bergman to make movies) is a Dickensian ghost story and a deeply moving morality tale, as well as a showcase for groundbreaking special effects. (Synopsis courtesy of Criterion).

This classic silent film will be accompanied by an original score composed and performed by ‘Steering By Stars’.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive

Please note this film replaces The Artist as it was requested this title be removed from the program.

Freely cribbing from Bram Stoker’s Dracula (enough so to engender a lawsuit) this Gothic masterpiece encapsulates everything about German Expressionism and the horror genre in one film. Max Schreck’s titular undead character remains one of the most terrifying and unique vampires ever, substituting disease and inhuman ugliness for the romanticism of subsequent decades. Featuring more iconic images in one film than most artists create in a lifetime, Nosferatu remains a cornerstone of any cinematic education.

This classic silent film will be accompanied by an original score composed and performed by Jesse Schuppan.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive

A mostly improvised slice of life on the streets on New York, Cassavetes’ opening shot as a director is a cornerstone of the American independent movie scene. With a jazz score and its Beat themes of alienation and unrepressed emotion, not to mention an interracial relationship, Cassavetes stripped modern America society to the bone.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Myrtle Gordon (Gena Rowlands) rehearses for a play about a woman unable to come to terms with her aging, whilst in her own life some unknown whatsit compels her towards self-destruction. The death of a fan in front of her forces a re-examination of her own decaying life. In typical Cassavetes fashion, not everything is revealed, and the audience is forced to engage with the characters from whom they can’t tear their eyes.

WINNER: Berlinale 1978 (Silver Bear; Interfilm Award)

Suburban housewife Mabel (Gena Rowlands) is a loving wife and mother, but in a mutating world she may be losing her sense of security. Faced with her increasingly erratic behaviour, husband Nick (Peter Falk) reluctantly agrees to have her committed for six months of psychiatric treatment, and is then faced with being a single father to their three children. The definitive Cassavetes film, as everybody (including the audience) is forced to confront themselves.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Cosom Vitelli (Ben Gazzara) thinks he’s finally out of debt but his weaknesses quickly drag him back in, and finds himself coerced into performing a mob killing. Filled with multiple double crosses and a typically ambiguous ending, this is Cassavetes take on street gangsters with a little help from Martin Scorsese. Originally released at 135mins, Cassavetes considered it unwieldy and recut it, not just trimming scenes but rearranging the films entire structure to further please the demanding director.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

A classic piece of Technicolor from Hollywood’s Golden Age, as Esther (Judy Garland) tries to find love amidst numerous comic misunderstandings, the build-up to the 1904 World’s Fair and the threat of her family being uprooted to New York. Filled with classic songs and lavish photography Minnelli crafts a perfectly delightful film, what better way to celebrate Christmas and wrap up the Cinémathèque year?

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

+ Man on the Moon + Billy Nayer

Nana (Anna Karina) abandons her husband and son with dreams of becoming an actress, but soon finds herself a willing prostitute, and eventually finds herself dead. Godard cuts the film into a dozen vignettes, and edits them further to disrupt the traditional flow of time and focus the audience’s attention. A scathing observation on consumerism where even human life is a commodity to be bartered.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

WINNER Venice Film Festival (Special Jury Prize) 1962

In association with Festival Hellenika, Adelaide Cinémathèque presents a glimpse into the rich history of Greek cinema with the Cacoyannis’ Zorba the Greek and the late Theo Angelopoulous’ Palm d’Or winning Eternity and a Day. Both films present a considered meditation on life through a distinct Greek perspective.

A chance meeting between the reserved Basil (Alan Bates) and the exuberant Zorba (Anthony Quinn) leads to love and tragedy for the two men as they visit an impoverished Cretan village with business plans. Adapted from Nikos Kazantzakis’ novel, Zorba is a richly human tale of conflicting passions, and of course dance.

WINNER: Academy Awards (Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Actress in supporting role) 1965

Alexander (Bruno Ganz) is a terminally ill poet trying to put his life in order before the inevitable. His past is a missing wife, his present an indifferent daughter, and his future is a vagrant boy trying to reach Albania. Angelopoulos’ meditation on fear, death and the search for meaning culminates in a sublime moment of blissful surrender and dance.

WINNER: Cannes Film Festival (Palm d’Or) 1998

The Actress is ogled while The Ballplayer impotently watches. The Professor is harassed by The Senator. Lives cross and time collapses, an eternity at 8:15am. Terry Johnson’s meditation on fame and relationships in post-WW2 America, using archetypes and stand-ins for Monroe, Einstein, McCarthy and DiMaggio, becomes an even more complex series of Roeg’s observations on time and interpersonal (dis)connection.

A woman (Theresa Russell) is rushed into a Viennese hospital after an overdose, her psychiatrist boyfriend (Art Garfunkel) is with her. An investigator (Harvey Keitel) tries to piece their complex relationship together and with others to determine, via fragmented flashbacks, whether the overdose was accidental. Still pushing critical buttons, Roeg continued his obsession with both musicians and obsession itself.

WINNER: Toronto Int’l Film Festival (People’s Choice Award) 1980

On the run from his boss, London gangster Chas (James Fox) finds himself hiding out with retired rock god Turner (mercurial Mick Jagger) and his girlfriends. The conflict between the two posturing men turns into fascination and eventually murderous transference. Or not? Cammell’s dense script is layered with philosophical complexity, and Roeg’s keen eye and fascination with editing technique created one of the most controversial art-house films of the era.

Thomas Newton (David Bowie) comes to Earth in an effort to save his home of Anthea. But his superior intellect and morality is subsumed under humanity’s materialism and the pleasures of the flesh. Roeg’s adaptation of Walter Tevis’ 1963 novel is a masterpiece of photography, editing and casting, crowned by David Bowie in the middle of his cocaine addiction as the detached androgynous alien. A science-fiction classic of ideas, short on explosions but overflowing with emotion.

Dismissed by conventional critics in Hollywood for having the most flashback within flashbacks of any Hollywood film, The Locket’s convoluted narrative becomes more and more intriguing with every passing year.  At the core of this maze lies the secret of the psychopathic anti-heroine, and a trail of dead or destroyed men all the way to the altar.

As we can expect from the director of the Draughtsman’s Contract, Z.O.O. and Belly of An Architect, Greenaway shows his idiosyncratic style in a documentary about people struck by lightning.

A family arrives at their weekend retreat, only to find their home usurped. A sudden act of violence ruptures every moral certitude Anne (Huppert) and her two children have taken for granted in their middle class lives.  Haneke’s spare, uncompromising and utterly gripping drama casts the traumatised trio into a dystopian landscape that threatens not only their survival but also, more crucially, their humanity. Haneke’s films always feel like another turn of the screw – The Time of the Wolf is extreme cinema without anesthetic, and at its centre lies Huppert, burning with a quiet intensity.  Her ghost-like performance will remain long in the memory.

The Lacemaker marks Huppert’s breakthrough role, and won her a BAFTA for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles.  In Claude Goretta’s bittersweet twist on the Cinderella story, Huppert plays Pomme, shy beautician who falls rapturously in love with a handsome student, François (Yves Beneyton). He is captivated by her, but his inability to appreciate her inner beauty leads to heartbreaking tragedy for the fragile young woman. Pomme’s final prolonged stare into the camera – as though posing for a portrait by Vermeer, one of whose paintings of working-women gives the film its title – invites each spectator to look beyond external appearances and to judge how they would have responded to her.

An adaptation of Jim Thompson’s 1964 novel Pop. 1280, Tavernier’s film is a darkly humorous satire that transplants noir tropes to colonial Africa, where the local colonial French police officer, Lucien Cordier (Philippe Noiret), is the laughing stock of his village.  Noiret is wonderful here, gaining revenge on those who have ridiculed him.  His deliberately affected goofy attitude works to his benefit when no one suspects him of the diabolical murders.  The subversive turns of events is enhanced by Philippe Sarde’s jazzy score and Tavernier’s baroque camera movements.  As Noiret’s mistress, Huppert exudes an ever dreamy sensuality perfectly in keeping with the film’s sultry overtones.

Huppert travelled to Australia to take up the role of Colo, a Frenchwoman in exile from a stifling marriage who embarks on a tentative romance with a lecturer at a school for the sight-impaired as her own ability to see ebbs. Robert Menzies plays the blind man who draws Colo into his orbit in a typically uneasy but always intriguing drama directed by Dutch-born Australian auteur, Paul Cox.  Cox regulars Norman Kaye and Sheila Florance feature in a fine supporting cast, but this is Huppert’s show.  Making the most of her diminutive porcelain features, ethereal expressions, and French accent, Cactus is a tantalizing blend of the vernacular and the metaphysical.

In the near-future is Delos, the adult amusement park where robots are almost indistinguishable from humans, and humans come to live out their dreams. But a series of faults is spreading amongst the robots, like a virus, and the system is about to break down. Crichton’s obsessions with technology, systems analysis and inherent failure have never been so starkly stated as here. Yul Brynner’s performance as The Gunslinger, inexorably marching forward in pursuit, is iconic enough to both influence The Terminator and survive it.

An overpopulated 2022, where resources are so scarce food riots break out. Soylent Green is the latest product to feed the starving masses, but may not be what it seems. A routine investigation into the murder of a Soylent executive drags detective Thorn (Charlton Heston) and his partner Sol Roth (Edward G. Robinson, who would never live to see the completed film) into the darkest of secrets. Heston’s crying out of the final line is one of sci-fi’s iconic moments.

In the year 2274 humanity lives in domed cities, run by a ‘benevolent’ supercomputer overseeing every aspect of their lives and protecting them from the surrounding wastelands. But the inhabitants have to make the most of this seeming paradise, as they’re killed off at the age of thirty. Logan 5 (Michael York) is a Sandman, killing those who don’t volunteer to be euthanised, who is sent on a mission to find the mythical Sanctuary. Now chased by his former compatriots, Logan risks his life on a mission which may overthrow his entire society. A cult classic of Seventies dystopian sci-fi, replete with ‘futuristic’ Dallas/Ft Worth locations.

Awakened from hypersleep to answer a mysterious distress signal, the crew of the Nostromo are plunged into a nightmare of survival against the most implacable killing organism in the universe. An instant classic, Alien launched careers (Sigourney Weaver’s debut and only Scott’s second film) and a franchise, not to mention irrevocably changing horror and sci-fi films, monsters and industrial design aesthetics in cinema; including costume designs by Moebius (1938-2012). A slow burning masterpiece of terror, never to be missed on the big screen.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

WINNER AcademyAwards  (Best Effects & Best Art Direction) 1980

Barrister Melville Farr (Bogarde) has a promising career and an apparently happy marriage, but an incident from his past finds him drawn into a ring of blackmailers targeting (then illegal) gay men. The first English language film to utter the forbidden word ‘homosexual’ was a cultural hand grenade, theUSgoing to the lengths of banning it for a few months until the overthrow of the Hays Code. Dearden was known for making ‘social problem’ films, and with the cast including three gay actors, this film remains a touchstone for a generation’s sexual liberation.

Frank (Bogarde) is a street thug who is disarmed by his target, the psychologist Clive (Alexander Knox) who gives him the option of jail time or being a human guinea pig in an attempt to ‘cure’ criminality. Moving into the doctor’s home Frank undermines the cosy domesticity while never giving up his life of crime. The first of the five films Losey and Bogarde would make together is an unflinching look behind the doors of the comfortable middle-classes.

Tony (James Fox) and Hugo (Bogarde) are comfortably ensconced in their master/servant relationship until Tony introduces his girlfriend Susan (Wendy Craig) whose antipathy towards Hugo encourages him to bring his ‘sister’ Vera (Sarah Miles) who happens to be Tony’s lover, into the milieu. Debasement and transference inevitably follow. Playwright Harold Pinter’s assault on the complacency of the British class system strips the Robin Maugham novella down to raw basics, and serves as a precursor to Fox’s later role in Performance.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

WINNER three BAFTA Awards

In the midst of an undeclared cholera epidemic composer Gustav von Aschenbach (Bogarde) becomes obsessed with a teenage boy and tries to regain his youth so as to gain the youth to whom he never speaks. Making copious use of Mahler’s music and the aesthetic perfection of the sinking/dyingVenice, Visconti turns Thomas Mann’s novella into a meditation on aging and the search for purity.

WINNER: four BAFTA Awards

Punk street kids hang out and goof, ‘concerned citizens’ intimidate them, aggressive boneheads escalate the violence, and nobody pays any attention to a lost generation. Using non-actors who virtually play themselves, Spheeris’ masterpiece is the most sympathetic look at adolescents without a future, stigmatised when not ignored by a society which gave up on them and bemused by their refusal to conform. Balancing humour and tragedy, as well as performances from the LA hardcore scene, Suburbia is one of the most important films to deal with punk on its own terms.

Ray (Ray Gange) falls in with The Clash, navigating the grim streets of late-Seventies London and its treacherous web of neo-fascists, cops and punks. Taking up with them as a roadie he drinks and fights his way through a tour, before aimlessly wandering off while the band prepare for a global assault. Shot through with energetic concert footage, Ray’s failure to actualise Joe Strummer’s political convictions reflects the greater cultural failure of Britain’s first wave of punk.

Riff Randell (PJ Soles) is obsessed with The Ramones and wants to write songs for them. Meanwhile the uptight Principal Togar (Mary Woronov) is on a one-woman crusade to stamp out the evils of punk. Into the midst of this come The Ramones themselves, to save the kids and overthrow the principal’s junta. With the band throwing themselves into their songs, and a crazed audience jumping in after them, this gleeful comic book of a film captures the devil-may-care energy ofAmerica’s punk pioneers.

Christine (Sandy McLeod) takes a job as a ticket seller at Variety, one of the iconic porn cinemas ofNew York’s golden age of sleaze. Her flirtation with the taboo helps open her up to the possibilities all around her, and come to terms with her own sexuality in an era slowly becoming post-feminist.

A surrealist short film that prefigured the entire American avant-garde cinema to come, the viewer must try to decipher what counts as dream, what as nightmare, what as reality, and whether these words have any meaning anymore. A subjective look into the subconscious which continues to influence.

What happens when a spoilt child star has to care for her bitter, crippled alcoholic sister? As their mutual hatreds and jealousies take hold, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis go to town on each other in a case of life overtaking art. Aldrich was unable to control the pair on set, even as assault took place before the camera, and the verbal fireworks are chilling in their authenticity. One of the nastiest peeks into theHollywoodstar machine, both on the page and off, and the film which kick-started the psycho-biddy genre.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

WINNER Academy Award (Best costume design) 1963

A writer, director and star all tell a movie producer just why they won’t work with the hated Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas and his chin), weaving tales of lies, manipulation, betrayal and death. Which shouldn’t sound unusual in Hollywood, but allows for a thinly veiled poke at many people in the industry at the time and an insight to the deceitfulness of the system, which is as fake and narcissistic off-screen as on, with great actors of the era like Lana Turner and Walter Pidgeon playing the same people they worked and fought with.

Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

WINNER five 1953 Academy Awards

Struggling writer Joe Gillis (William Holden) floats dead in a pool in one of the most famous opening shots ever, then proceeds to narrate his own demise. His accidental meeting with faded star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) leads him into becoming a kept man as Norma slides into delusion. Wilder’s fascination withHollywood, and how the disposability of the silent screen stars who built it shattered the stars themselves, shines through in this cameo filled gem of black humour.

 Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

WINNERAcademyAwards (Best Writing Story, Screenplay, Art Direction, Set decoration & Best Music) 1951

A mysterious woman survives a car accident and meets an aspiring actress. A director is intimidated by gangsters. Everyone is concerned with their dreams, particularly the audience. Initially designed as a television series, the pilot was rejected and Lynch, unable to drop the ideas he’d begun, expanded his dark fantasy into a feature film. The fractured production added to the sense that Reality was up for grabs, even for a Lynch movie. Hailed as “a poisonous Valentine toHollywood” and one of his finest works, Lynch brings his neo-noir vision to the dream factory.

 WINNER BAFTA Award (Best Editing) 2002

Screening after Blood Fest

Inspired by the musical Brigadoon and the success of Blood Feast, Lewis served up a moist tale of Pleasant Valley, which arises once a century to avenge their destruction at the hands of Union forces in the American Civil War. A half-dozen poor Yankees find themselves in Pleasant Valley on that fateful day and are subjected to numerous horrifying (yet entertaining) deaths. With more blood than ever before, Lewis also prefigures later films dealing America’s North/South and urban/rural schisms.

Q&A PRECEDING THE FILM WITH DIRECTOR, HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS.

Faud Ramses (Mal Arnold) sacrifices people to the goddess Ishtar, then uses their bodies to prepare exotic feasts. And that’s about it, except to say that mayhem ensues. Overflowing with outrageous blood and guts moments, the splatter film seemed to arrive fully formed right down to the machete wielding madman-prefiguring decades of masked killers. Prepare yourself for the infamous ‘tongue’ sequence!

Alex (Jennifer Beals) welds by day and dances at a bar in the evening. With dreams of being accepted to a prestigious dance academy, Alex has to face the entrenched snobbery of the system and her own lack of formal training. Trying to navigate a burgeoning relationship, and her own wavering confidence, Alex pulls out all stops in one of the great Eighties finales. The first collaboration of the Simpson/Bruckheimer production team, this was also one of the earliest films to truly exploit the MTV potential of its soundtrack.

 WINNER Academy Award (Best Music) 1984

Set in the New York High School of Performing Arts Fame is a high school movie of a different sort. Sprawling over the course of a few years the students struggle with both their aspirations and the grind of adolescence, not to mention the occasional spontaneous outburst of song and dance. With two TV series, a remake and a stage musical it’s time to go back to the source of this long-lived franchise. Don’t pretend you can’t sing Irene Cara’s Oscar-winning title song.

WINNER Academy Award (Best Music) 1981, BAFTA Award (Best Sound) 1981

In the summer of 1963 Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman (Jennifer Grey) vacations at an affluent resort in the Catskills with her parents and has her life changed forever. Meeting up with dance instructor Johnny (Patrick Swayze) she becomes entranced by the uninhibited dancing of the working classes and begins to take up with Johnny. The pinnacle of the Eighties music and dance cycle, with a perfectly honed pop soundtrack, Dirty Dancing is the ne plus ultra of its era.

WINNER Academy Award (Best Music) 1988

Every year, exuberant 70-something East Village concert pianist Mimi Stern-Wolfe performs a breathtaking concert of works by her friends, all composers, who were lost to the silent killer of New York City.  The award winning musical documentary ‘All The Way Through Evening’ chronicles a downtown Manhattan classical arts community in the early 1980s; the era when the HIV/AIDS pandemic swept the city and ravaged the world.  Accompanied by the moving music written by those departed, the film recalls this tragedy with candid interviews from friends, family and the lovers that survived it.  Directed by Australian Rohan Spong (whose debut T Is For Teacher was acclaimed by two local reviewers as amongst “the best films of 2009″), this engaging and poignant documentary charts Mimi’s struggle as she prepares for the concert, and is a true testament to the strength of friendship and the power of music. 

Ticket proceeds from the December 1st (World AIDS Day) screening will be donated to ACSA (AIDS Council of South Australia).  

**MEET THE FILMMAKER – Sat 20 October, 7pm**

Amiel Courtin Wilson’s award winning debut feature Hail  will open at the Mercury on Sat 20 October, 7pm.   Director Amiel Courtin-Wilson will be in attendance for an audience Q&A at this session.   The national premiere theatrical season follows its selection into numerous high profile festivals including Venice and Rotterdam and having won The Age Critics Award for Best Australian Feature at the Melbourne Film Festival.

Dan is in love with Leanne. They were born on the same day, the 6th of November, 1960. They eat together. they live together. they steal together.  When Dan’s love is suddenly torn away from him, he is reduced to savagery.  Haunted by damning memories, Dan awakes to a transparent face against the sun… a half formed body slumped over a fence.  Dan swallows. Dan tries to sleep. Dan tries to hide.  Dan inhabits a world created by an idiot – unfinished, incomplete. there are holes in this world; gaps and voids in its creation.  Time is thin around the cause and dense around the effect.  Crushed by malevolent beauty, suffocating and filled with violence, Dan thrashes against the tide and goes on a journey to take back what is his.

“Visionary… bold…expressionistic… a damaged love story and a hallucinatory tale of revenge” – The Age

“Very few people in the world make films that feel raw and alive the way Amiel Courtin-Wilson’s do.” – David Michöd Director “Animal Kingdom”

“Brutal… Magnetic… A nightmarish singular vision.” – Megan Lehmann, Hollywood Reporter

Taboo-busting filmmaker and comedian Bobcat Goldthwait (World’s Greatest Dad, Sleeping Dogs Lie) returns with an hilarious black comedy that follows a modern day Bonnie and Clyde as they eliminate some of modern society’s most obnoxious pests. Starring Joel Murray (Mad Men) and Tara Lynne Barr.

Frank has had enough of the downward spiral of American culture. Divorced, recently fired, and possibly terminally ill, Frank has nothing left to live for. But instead of taking his own life, he buys a gun and decides to take out his frustration on the cruelest, stupidest, most intolerant people he can imagine – starting with some particularly odious reality television stars. Frank finds an unusual accomplice in a high-school student, Roxy, who shares his sense of rage and disenfranchisement. Together they embark on a nationwide assault on the country’s most irritating celebrities.

 “As acidic and funny a movie as you’re likely to see this or any other year.” THE HUFFINGTON POST 

“This funny, sick twist of social satire is certainly locked and loaded… there are vicarious thrills to be had.” THE LOS ANGLES TIMES

 “Fiercely funny, savage and wise… the best American comedy I’ve seen in a very, very long time.” TWITCH