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STOP PRESS
AFCA announces winners of the two awards it presented at the 2007 Harvest Short Film Festival on 20 January, 2007. The jury prize for best runner-up, worth $250, went to the Spanish film “Avatar”.
The prize for the best film of the festival, worth $1,000, went to the Australian film “All’s Swell That Ends Swell”.
For more information click here.
Peter Krausz, AFCA Chair
AFCA’s 2006 Free Monthly Public Screenings
AFCA ANNOUNCES: Tributes to Robert Altman and Ennio Morricone.
Sunday, 18 February, 7pm: The Glitch Bar and Cinema, 318 St.Georges Rd., North Fitzroy
The Dick Cavett Show, 1972, featuring a discussion with 4 film directors: Robert Altman, Mell Brooks, Peter Bogdanovich and Frank Capra. A rare opportunity to see a conversation with 4 noted film directors, including a rare appearance by Altman.
(60 minutes).
Followed by: the Director’s Cut of Cinema Paradiso (1988). This year, Ennio Morricone, who has composed over 500 film scores, including Academy Award nominations for: Days of Heaven, The Mission, The Untouchables, Bugsy and Malena, receives an Honorary Oscar: “for his magnificent and multi-faceted contributions to the art of film music”. This will be a rare screening of Giuseppe Tornatore’s Oscar winning best foreign language film in its complete director’s cut format, and a chance to hear Morricone’s superb music score for the film. (170 minutes).
AFCA ANNOUNCES: SPECIAL CHRISTMAS SCREENING OF RARELY SEEN AUSTRALIAN FILM PLUS A Q &A WITH FILMMAKERS
A Sting In The Tail (Eugene Schlusser, 1989)
AFCA’s free public monthly screenings conclude for 2006 with this rare screening of an Australian film not available on DVD. Set in the competitive world of Australian politics, Diane Craig plays a member of parliament caught up in a range of issues and game-playing in this political satire that deals with the possibility of a female Prime Minister. This enjoyable film was released in cinemas in 1989, then was shown on commercial television in 1991, but has not been seen since. AFCA is excited to show this Australian film for the first time, publicly, since 1991.
WHEN: Sunday, 10 December, 2006. 7pm
WHERE: Glitch Bar and Cinema, 318 St.Georges Rd., North Fitzroy
SPECIAL GUESTS IN ATTENDANCE TO INTRODUCE THE FILM AND DISCUSS IT AFTERWARDS IN A Q & A:
Rosa Colosimo: Producer/co-writer
Eugene Schlusser: Director/co-writer
Reg McLean: Co-writer
Patrick Edgeworth: Cast member
STOP PRESS
AFCA partners with the Australian International Film Festival to judge some of the awards at this year’s inaugural film festival being held at Hoyts Melbourne Central from 21-31 October. Apart from the audience judged awards, AFCA will be the judges for 8 other film awards to be presented on the final evening. For more information on this festival, screening over 240 films, visit www.aiff.com.au
AFCA’S FREE MONTHLY PUBLIC SCREENING FOR November:
7pm: GLITCH BAR & CINEMA, 318 ST.GEORGES RD., NORTH FITZROY
SUNDAY, 26 NOVEMBER, 2006
THE STORY OF MARIE & JULIEN (Jacques Rivette, 2003, 150 minutes)
Jacques Rivette’s rarely seen exploration of romance, time and space, is a superbly realized cinematic treat, screened publicly only once, at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2004, and now released on DVD. The film stars Emmanuelle Beart and Jerzy Radzwilowicz, and was nominated for a directing award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. Rivette’s films, since 1949, catalogue a masterwork of New Wave and beyond cinema, including such films as: Paris Is Ours (1960); La Religiuese (1966); L’Amour Fou (1968); Celine & Julie Go Boating (1974) and his most commercial success to date; Love on the Ground (1984); Gang of Four (1988); La Belle Noiseuse (1991); Va Savoir(2001); and he is now in post-production on his latest film Ne Touchez pas le hache.
The film will be introduced (and discussed after the screening) by Adrian Martin, who is Senior Research Fellow in Film & Television Studies at Monash University, co-editor of the film magazine: Rouge, contributing editor to the FIPRESCI on-line film magazine: Undercurrents, member of AFCA, and former film critic for The Age.
Thanks to Accent DVD distributors, four copies of the DVD of the film will be given away via a raffle for everyone attending the screening.
SUNDAY, 29 OCTOBER, 2006
7pm: GLITCH BAR & CINEMA, 318 ST.GEORGES RD., NORTH FITZROY
Forgotten Silver (1995) and Hallelujah(1929): two rarely seen films plus extras.
7pm: FORGOTTEN SILVER (55 minutes) is a glorious mockumentary by Peter Jackson and Costa Botes about “lost” New Zealand pioneer filmmaker Colin McKenzie who produced the first talkie in 1908 and the first colour movie in 1911. Featuring interviews with Jackson, Sam Neill, Leonard Maltin and Harvey Weinstein, plus an additional 25 minutes of “making of” footage and deleted scenes.
8:45pm HALLELUJAH (100 minutes) was a risky venture directed by King Vidor (The Crowd, Stella Dallas, Duel In the Sun, War and Peace) for MGM studios and was his first talkie (with all sound dubbed in later). This remarkably fluid early sound film about cotton-pickers, made with an all African-American cast (including Daniel L. Haynes and Nina Mae McKinney) largely avoids the usual “black” stereotypes and has been recently digitally restored to an excellent quality DVD print. Screening with this film will be two short musical featurettes from MGM produced in the 1930s and 1940s, featuring all African-American casts.
The films will be followed by a discussion on the mockumentary format, as well as the largely negative reputation early sound films from Hollywood had.
NOTE: The final two screenings for 2006, with more details to follow later, are:
Sunday, 26 November. 7pm. First public screening (apart from MIFF) of Jacques Rivette’s epic romantic fantasy/drama: The Story of Marie and Julien, featuring an introduction, plus discussion afterwards, of the film with Adrian Martin.
Sunday, 17 December. 7pm Special Christmas event. A rare screening of an Australian film not released on DVD, A Sting in the Tail (1989), a political satire featuring Diane Craig and Gary Day. Introducing the film and discussing it afterwards (to be confirmed), will be producer/co-writer: Rosa Colosimo, director/co-writer: Eugene Schlusser, co-writer: Reg McLean and the cinematographer: Nicholas Sherman.
AFCA’S FREE MONTHLY PUBLIC SCREENING FOR AUGUST:
SUNDAY, 27 AUGUST, 2006
7pm: GLITCH BAR & CINEMA, 318 ST.GEORGES RD., NORTH FITZROY
WITH THE RELEASE In JULY ON DVD OF BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, WINNER OF THREE ACADEMY AWARDS INCLUDING BEST DIRECTOR, AFCA THIS MONTH SCREENS TWO RARELY SEEN ANG LEE FILMS:
PUSHING HANDS (1992) 100 minutes
This is Ang Lee’s first feature film, and centres on an elderly Taiwanese man’s move to the USA (New York) to live with his family. A beautifully crafted, subtle first film from Lee which already indicated his interest in character development, culture and complex issues. The screenplay by James Schamus is a model of nuance, and the film deserves a wider audience.
RIDE WITH THE DEVIL (1999) 135 minutes
The American Civil War provides filmmakers with many stories, focusing on the internal divisions that engulfed the country in the 1860s, particularly between the North and the South. This film, also written by James Schamus, presents us with two friends caught up in the conflict who decide to join the renegade Bushwackers, a group loyal to the South, which leads to a series of violent and challenging experiences. The strong cast of emerging actors include: Tobey Maguire, Jewel, Skeet Ulrich, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Mark Ruffalo, James Caveziel and Tom Wilkinson. Unjustly neglected by critics and the public, this film deserves re-evaluation.
A discussion on the themes emerging from the two films, plus a discussion on the films of Ang Lee, will follow the screening.
AFCA’S FREE MONTHLY PUBLIC SCREENING FOR JULY:
7pm: GLITCH BAR & CINEMA, 318 ST.GEORGES RD., NORTH FITZROY
SUNDAY, 16 JULY, 2006
THE WEDDING PARTY (BLUTHOCHZEIT, 2005) (95 minutes)
Short-Listed, but not screened at the 2006 Festival of German Cinema, The Wedding Party, is a roller-coaster ride of a drama, strongly reminiscent of Assault on Precinct 13 and featuring an escalating story-line when a wedding reception turns sour. The film has no distributor yet for Australia, but has been reviewed very positively overseas, including a glowing review in “Variety”. The film, a genre piece, also has a rich sub-text concerning the underlying violence in German society and ways of dealing with opposing political forces. This will be the first public screening in Australia of a film that deserves a wider audience.
IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER (1955) (100 minutes)
MGM produced a number of striking musicals in the 1940s and 1950s, including two of the best regarded musicals by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen: On the Town and Singing In the Rain. They collaborated for a third time in 1955, together with Arthur Freed, Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Andre Previn, on this film, which had a story-line reuniting the three World War 2 friends from On the Town, 10 years later. This lesser known film, which turned out to be the least successful of the MGM musicals, deserves re-evaluation as its darker tone, exuberant musical numbers, and satire on the looming threat of television, provided ripe social commentary in America’s post-war readjustment period. The imported cinemascope print of the film has been digitally restored, and the film received three Oscar nominations. The screening will be followed by a new documentary on the film and the MGM studios
(15 minutes).
Following the film there will be a discussion on the reasons why the German film has not found a distributor, and why the MGM musical was a failure for the studio upon release, and brought to a close this rich period of Hollywood history.
AFCA's FREE PUBLIC MONTHLY SCREENINGS CONTINUE IN JUNE WITH THE SCREENING OF TWO THEMATICALLY RELATED FILMS
On Thursday, 22 June, 2006 at 7pm at the Glitch Bar and Cinema,
318 St.Georges Rd., Fitzroy North , a special screening of the following two films will occur:
MAX (2002, 105 minutes)
Only screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2003, Max is a remarkably well-written and directed first film from Menno Meyjes about the possible meeting between a Jewish art dealer and a young Adolf Hitler in the period before Hitler's eventual rise to leadership in Germany . Steven Spielberg initially wanted to produce the film but then declined as he felt the subject matter may have caused offence. When he saw the completed film he praised the script and direction of Meyjes. The film stars Australia 's Noah Taylor as a young Hitler and John Cusack as the art dealer. Also in the cast are Leelee Sobieski and Janet Suzman.
THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS (1970, 95 minutes)
Vittorio de Sica ( Bicycle Thieves, Umberto D) directed this exquisite and rarely seen film about a Jewish middle-class family in Italy during the 1938-1943 when Mussolini introduced many racial laws, including laws against Jews. The film deals with the way this family and those outside were able to come to terms with the way their life had changed so significantly. The film, in Italian, stars Fabio Testi, Romolo Valli and Helmut Berger, and was the recipient of the Golden Bear Award at the 1970 Berlin Film Festival. The film also won the Oscar for best foreign language film, was nominated for the best adapted screenplay Oscar, and won best film at the David di Donatello Awards. This film has received very few screenings in Australia and is not available in Australia on DVD.
No bookings required, but seats are limited.
For more information, contact Peter Krausz, the Chair of the Australian Film Critics Association on: 0413 599 840 or visit the website: www.afca.org.au
Congratulations to the distributors of "Beyond the Sea" and "Junebug" for releasing those films in July. After the AFCA screenings it was clear that they deserved a wider audience, and it is good to think that we may have played some part in achieving these films' releases.
A TRIBUTE TO CATHERINE DENEUVE, JACQUES DEMY and RAUL RUIZ
There will be two screenings this month of rarely seen films starring Catherine Deneuve.
Friday, 12 May, 2006 at 7pm :
UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (1964)
Jacques Demy's multi-Oscar nominated musical is a delightful sung-through film with Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo playing out a romantic drama, overlaid by the French involvement with the conflict in Algeria . The music by Michel Legrand is both lyrical and rhythmic and the film is beautifully directed by Demy who received the Golden Palm Award for the film at the Cannes Film Festival. (94 minutes)
This will be followed by Jacques Demy and Agnes Varda's tribute to the Hollywood musical which is rarely seen:
THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT (1967)
Set around a French seaside resort, this film served as an homage to the Hollywood musical, with music again supplied by Michel Legrand, set around a story of romantic meetings and dramatic events. Apart from Deneuve, the film stars Francoise Dorleac, Deneuve's real-life older sister who tragically died in a car accident shortly after completing the film, plus Gene Kelly, George Chakiris, Jacques Perrin, Michel Piccoli and Danielle Darrieux. (125 minutes)
Friday, 26 May, 2006 at 7pm :
TIME REGAINED (1999)
Based on a Marcel Proust novel, Time Regained is a rarely seen film from Raul Ruiz about a dying writer (Proust) reflecting on his past life and loves, set during the late 19 th and early 20 th Century. A great cast includes, Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Beart, John Malkovich and Vincent Perez. (159 minutes)
This will be preceded by a rare screening of a documentary made in Melbourne in the early 1990s, hosted by Peter Smith, called “Two in the Circle”; a film which looks at the cinemas of a bygone era in Melbourne, most of which no longer exist. The film also looks at audiences and their fondness for the cinema as a major social and cultural event. (45 minutes)
Both sets of screenings will include a discussion of the style, themes and ideas in each film.
Venue: Glitch Bar and Cinema, 318 St.Georges Rd., North Fitzroy
No bookings required, but as the cinema has limited seating, early arrival is suggested.
For more information on these films, contact the Chair of AFCA, Peter Krausz, on 0413 599 840 or email: KrauszPeter@netscape.net or website: www.afca.org.auAFCA’s 2006 Free Monthly Public Screenings
AFCA's FREE PUBLIC MONTHLY SCREENINGS CONTINUE IN JUNE WITH THE SCREENING OF TWO THEMATICALLY RELATED FILMS
On Thursday, 22 June, 2006 at 7pm at the Glitch Bar and Cinema,
318 St.Georges Rd., Fitzroy North , a special screening of the following two films will occur:
MAX (2002, 105 minutes)
Only screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2003, Max is a remarkably well-written and directed first film from Menno Meyjes about the possible meeting between a Jewish art dealer and a young Adolf Hitler in the period before Hitler's eventual rise to leadership in Germany . Steven Spielberg initially wanted to produce the film but then declined as he felt the subject matter may have caused offence. When he saw the completed film he praised the script and direction of Meyjes. The film stars Australia 's Noah Taylor as a young Hitler and John Cusack as the art dealer. Also in the cast are Leelee Sobieski and Janet Suzman.
THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS (1970, 95 minutes)
Vittorio de Sica ( Bicycle Thieves, Umberto D) directed this exquisite and rarely seen film about a Jewish middle-class family in Italy during the 1938-1943 when Mussolini introduced many racial laws, including laws against Jews. The film deals with the way this family and those outside were able to come to terms with the way their life had changed so significantly. The film, in Italian, stars Fabio Testi, Romolo Valli and Helmut Berger, and was the recipient of the Golden Bear Award at the 1970 Berlin Film Festival. The film also won the Oscar for best foreign language film, was nominated for the best adapted screenplay Oscar, and won best film at the David di Donatello Awards. This film has received very few screenings in Australia and is not available in Australia on DVD.
No bookings required, but seats are limited.
For more information, contact Peter Krausz, the Chair of the Australian Film Critics Association on: 0413 599 840 or visit the website: www.afca.org.au
Congratulations to the distributors of "Beyond the Sea" and "Junebug" for releasing those films in July. After the AFCA screenings it was clear that they deserved a wider audience, and it is good to think that we may have played some part in achieving these films' releases.
A TRIBUTE TO CATHERINE DENEUVE, JACQUES DEMY and RAUL RUIZ
There will be two screenings this month of rarely seen films starring Catherine Deneuve.
Friday, 12 May, 2006 at 7pm :
UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (1964)
Jacques Demy's multi-Oscar nominated musical is a delightful sung-through film with Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo playing out a romantic drama, overlaid by the French involvement with the conflict in Algeria . The music by Michel Legrand is both lyrical and rhythmic and the film is beautifully directed by Demy who received the Golden Palm Award for the film at the Cannes Film Festival. (94 minutes)
This will be followed by Jacques Demy and Agnes Varda's tribute to the Hollywood musical which is rarely seen:
THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT (1967)
Set around a French seaside resort, this film served as an homage to the Hollywood musical, with music again supplied by Michel Legrand, set around a story of romantic meetings and dramatic events. Apart from Deneuve, the film stars Francoise Dorleac, Deneuve's real-life older sister who tragically died in a car accident shortly after completing the film, plus Gene Kelly, George Chakiris, Jacques Perrin, Michel Piccoli and Danielle Darrieux. (125 minutes)
Friday, 26 May, 2006 at 7pm :
TIME REGAINED (1999)
Based on a Marcel Proust novel, Time Regained is a rarely seen film from Raul Ruiz about a dying writer (Proust) reflecting on his past life and loves, set during the late 19 th and early 20 th Century. A great cast includes, Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Beart, John Malkovich and Vincent Perez. (159 minutes)
This will be preceded by a rare screening of a documentary made in Melbourne in the early 1990s, hosted by Peter Smith, called “Two in the Circle”; a film which looks at the cinemas of a bygone era in Melbourne, most of which no longer exist. The film also looks at audiences and their fondness for the cinema as a major social and cultural event. (45 minutes)
Both sets of screenings will include a discussion of the style, themes and ideas in each film.
Venue: Glitch Bar and Cinema, 318 St.Georges Rd., North Fitzroy
No bookings required, but as the cinema has limited seating, early arrival is suggested.
For more information on these films, contact the Chair of AFCA, Peter Krausz, on 0413 599 840 or email: KrauszPeter@netscape.net or website: www.afca.org.au
AFCA screenings lead to film distribution
Both "Beyond the Sea", Kevin Spacey's film that AFCA screened last year at the regular Glitch screenings, and "Junebug" which AFCA screened earlier this year, have been picked up for distribution and will be released in late June/early July. Congratulations to the distributors, and an indication that AFCA screenings are having an impact on film distribution and film culture. There will be more rarely seen, classic and under-rated films screening free each month at the Glitch, including this Friday (May 26) at 7pm when we screen a film that has hardly been seen in Australia, "Time Regained" (2000), based on a Marcel Proust novel and directed by Raul Ruiz, starring Catherine Deneuve and John Malkovich.
The Australian Film Critics Association Monthly Free Public Screening
The Naked Bunyip (Australian Documentary, 1970)
The free screening will take place on Thursday, 15 December at 7pm, at:
Glitch Bar and Cinema, 318 St.Georges Rd., North Fitzroy
Stop Press: The director of The Naked Bunyip, John B.Murray, will be in attendance to introduce the film and do a Q & A afterwards.
The Australian Film Critics Association (AFCA) continues its free public monthly screenings of rare, unusual, neglected and classic films, with the screening of the Australian Documentary, The Naked Bunyip (1970), the first serious (and seriously amusing) study of sex in Australia. The director, John B. Murray (also director of a segment of Libido, co-producer of We of the Never Never, and producer of Devil in the Flesh) will be in attendance, together with some of the talent in the film: Jane Clifton, and Ross Campbell (all to be confirmed).
The film, largely made in Melbourne, and shot during 1969, before the renaissance of Australian cinema in the 1970s, features interviews etc. with Graeme Blundell (who plays the naïve researcher), Dame Edna, Carlotta, Barry Jones, John Button, Harry M. Miller, Fred Schepisi, Jackie Weaver, Beatrice Faust, Malcolm Muggeridge, Jane Clifton, Ross Campbell, and many others. When the film was released in 1970, the Censor at the time demanded that 8 scenes be deleted from the film. AFCA will be screening the film (running time: 136 minutes), followed by a Q & A with the filmmakers, a rare screening of the 8 scenes that were deleted, and a recent documentary revisiting the censorship fuss and the issues around making the film.
No bookings required, but as the cinema seats 35, first in best dressed.
For more information, contact Peter Krausz on: 0413 599 840 or email: krauszpeter@netscape.net
See also www.glitch.com.au
Melbourne To Lose Another Independent Cinema?
This letter was published in an abridged version in The Age on Saturday, 24 September, 2005
Dear Editor,
It is with great sadness that we potentially see another excellent cinema,
The Astor, closing due to poor patronage. Smaller cinemas and stand-alone
screens are at real risk of disappearing due to the increased home cinema
and other outlet choices now available. Losing the Lumiere, plus in Sydney
the Valhalla and the Chauvel, indicates that probably only multiplexes can
survive. What this does mean is that the riskier, art-house, and niche films
will find it even more difficult to find an outlet, just when we should
be developing and expanding the rich screen culture in Melbourne. Fortunately
we still have ACMI, but I do despair when the same cynical inane Hollywood
film (eg the repulsive Deuce Bigalow, European Gigolo) is played at many
screens, yet some films (such as Beyond the Sea, Kevin Spacey’s film)
cannot even find one screen and go straight to cable or DVD, or just disappears.
It is time that supporters of a diverse screen culture rally and defend
smaller cinemas as well as ACMI, and the release of a wider range of films.
The packed houses at the Melbourne International Film Festival indicate
the public will support quality product, but it must be shown by brave distributors
and exhibitors who are prepared to market these films.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Krausz
Chair, Australian Film Critics Association