What's New?
Updated 3 September 2008
AICE Israeli Film Festival 2008: reviews up live on AFCA
Check our 'On Film' section for a taste of the program, which runs from 25 August - 7 September.
THE NAKED BUNYIP - 4pm 20 September, ACMI Melbourne
AFCA's fifth joint screening with ACMI will be held on Saturday, 20 September at 4pm. General admission: $8
Unclassified 18+. John B. Murray, 136 mins, Australia, 1970, 35mm. Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. See the ACMI link for film-maker notes.
In his first feature film, Graeme Blundell stars as an innocent young market researcher assigned to report on sex. In this raucous documentary he gets up close and personal - but too personal in fact for the censors of the time who demanded cuts to the film. Rather than remove the offending footage, however, Murray instead inserted bunyip caricatures and bleeps over the objectionable segments, infuriating the censors but making a bold statement about censorship. With a guest appearance by Barry Humphries (amongst many other prominent Australians) The Naked Bunyip helped to revive the Australian film industry. Followed by a panel discussion hosted by the Australian Film Critics Association.
MIFF Reviews go live on AFCA and members' review sites
AFCA members are going square-eyed at Melbourne International Film Festival previews to bring you sneak peaks at the program, which runs from 25 July - 10 August.
YAKKETY YAK - 4pm 12 July, ACMI Melbourne
AFCA's fourth joint screening with ACMI will be held on Saturday, 12 July at 4pm. General admission: $8
Unclassified 18+. Director: Dave Jones, 86 mins, Australia, 1974, 16mm. Source: National Film and Sound Archive
Inspired by films such as Fellini's 8 1/2 and Truffaut's Day for Night, Yakkety Yak follows a filmmaker and university lecturer (played by the director himself) as he attempts to make a film in the basement of a building. It's literally a classic underground comedy in which a group of people fight over the logistics of making a truly collective, revolutionary and existential movie. When original intentions get sidetracked, all attempts to set things straight result in a different - but strangely similar - script. Also starring John Flaus. Followed by a panel discussion hosted by AFCA.
DEMONSTRATOR - 4pm 10 May, ACMI Melbourne
AFCA's third joint screening with ACMI will be held on Saturday, 10 May at 4pm. General admission: $8
Unclassified 18+. Director: Warwick Freeman, 112 mins, Australia, 1971, 35mm. Source: National Film and Sound Archive
Demonstrator comes from deep within the vaults - a political drama starring Joe James as Joe Slater, the Australian Minister of Defence. Seeking a military alliance with Asia, Slater is thwarted by his anti-war son Steven (Gerard Maguire). Demonstrator was an important stepping stone in the revitalisation of the long-dormant Australian film industry. Scriptwriter Kit Denton adapted the film from an original story by Elizabeth and Don Campbell.
Demonstrator has not been shown publicly since its initial limited release in 1971 and, for Australian cinema, is a rare excursion into political territory. At one point, it was thought that the print had been lost forever, however recently the National Film and Sound Archive discovered one remaining print, which we are delighted to be able to screen.
There will be a post-screening panel discussion on the film with Peter Krausz (AFCA Chair), AFCA members Greg King and Deb Verhoeven, with a planned telephone link to the director Warwick Freeman and appearance by David Walker who played the Israeli Ambassador.
JINDABYNE - 4pm 16 February - JOINT SCREENING WITH ACMI
AFCA's second joint screening with ACMI will be held on Saturday, 16 February.
Jindabyne was adapted from the Raymond Carver short story 'So Much Water So Close to Home', and stars Gabriel Byrne, Laura Linney, Deborra-Lee Furness, and John Howard. The film shows the consequences for a small
community when four men fail to report their discovery of a dead Aboriginal woman until they return from their fishing trip. Winner and nominee of many awards, it makes a welcome return to the big screen.
There will be a post-screening panel discussion on the film and its making in the context of Australian cinema with Peter Krausz (AFCA Chair), AFCA Members, and the musicians from Soteria Bell who worked with Paul Kelly in fashioning the score for the film.
General admission: $8
Australian Film Critics’ Association (AFCA) today announced the results of their inaugural Film Awards for 2007. Spanning four categories comprising Best Australian Film, Best Overseas Film, Best Documentary and Best Un-released Film, the winners were:
Best Australian Film: Noise. Commended: The Home Song Stories, Romulus, My Father
Best Overseas Film: No Country for Old Men (USA). Commended: The Lives of Others (Germany), 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days (Romania)
Best Documentary: Forbidden Lie$ (Australia). Commended: Deep Water (UK), Sicko (USA)
Best Un-released Film: The Band’s Visit (Israel)
Formed in 1996, AFCA started life as the Melbourne Film Critics’ Forum, expanding to a national organization in 2004. In the same year, AFCA became a member of FIPRESCI, the internationally revered International Federation of Film Critics and Film Journalists and in 2007 helped to establish the first FIPRESCI jury at the Adelaide Film Festival.
AFCA’s members, several of whom contribute to internationally recognized media outlets, are comprised of professional film critics, film reviewers and film journalists, from all media forums, who provide informed discussion, analysis and comment on Australian and world cinema. The body supports both mainstream and independent cinema and particularly aims to generate appreciation for significant or challenging films that may, for whatever reason, have been overlooked.
AFCA also enjoys an association with Australian Centre for Moving Image (ACMI) for which it hosts screenings and panel discussions.
For interviews and media enquiries, please contact: Peter Krausz, AFCA Chair, M: 0413 599 840, E: krausz.peter.gATedumail.vic.gov.au
AFCA -ACMI JOINT SCREENING
AFCA's first joint screening with ACMI was held on Saturday, December 1. It was a highly successful
screening with over 140 attending the screening of A Sting in the Tale,(Schlusser, 1989) a rarely seen Australian political satire starring Diane Craig.
There was a lively post-screening panel discussion on the film and its making in the context of Australian cinema and representation of politics in Australian film with Peter Krausz (AFCA Chair), Greg King (AFCA Committee Member), Eugene Schlusser (writer, director), and Rosa Shepherd (Colosimo) (writer, producer).
UPDATE: BEST BOOKS ON CINEMA
Following the call for submissions in older news below, AFCA has reviewed and submitted the following list to FIPRESCI's inaugural review of the best books on cinema published throughout the world in 2006-2007.
1. SHEEP & THE AUSTRALIAN CINEMA: by Deb Verhoeven, Melbourne University Press, 331pp, 2006. $AUS49.95. Presents a study of Australian cinema exploring the relationship between a series of films produced in different periods of Australian history, but linked by a representative trope: the repeated image of sheep.
2. 100 GREATEST FILMS OF AUSTRALIAN CINEMA: ed. by Scott Hocking, Scribal Publishing, 260pp, 2006. $AUS59.95. Offers a pictorial celebration and scholarly essays of the best Australian films, as leading critics and commentators discuss and dissect Australia's most memorable movies.
3. TREAD OF THE WHITE MAN'S FOOT: AUSTRALIAN PACIFIC COLONIALISM AND THE CINEMA 1925-62: ed. by Jane Landman, Pandanus Books ANU, 268pp, 2006. $AUS34.95. Presents a full and convincing interrogation of colonial Australia's relationship to 20th Century film, and the forces that shaped it.
4. THE PIANO: by Gail Jones, Currency Press/ScreenSound Australian Film Classics, 80pp, 2007. $AUS16.95. Presents an essay on the acclaimed Jane Campion film of 1992, bringing a fresh and original vision to this film.
5. ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF THE DOCUMENTARY FILM: ed. by Ian Aitken, 3 Volumes, Routledge Reference, 2006. $US625.00. This is a comprehensive 3 volume publication that details the history of the documentary film form and the key films that were made, with over 800 contributions from around the world.
6. ILLUSION OF LIFE 2: ed. by Alan Cholodenko, University of Illinois Press, 576pp, 2007. $US47.00. This is a follow-up to Illusion of Life, containing more essays about the animated film from a variety of contributors.