Dedicated to screening rare & significant films in their original format.

The Melbourne Cinémathèque is a not-for-profit, volunteer-run film society.

We hold screenings at The Australian Centre for the Moving image every Wednesday night for most of the year.

Admission is by membership, which can be obtained on a monthly or yearly basis.

NEXT SCREENING


June 28

7:00pm THE ROMANCE OF ASTREA AND CELADON
Eric Rohmer (2007) 109 mins
Unclassified 15+ (unless accompanied by an adult)

Richard Brody described Rohmer as “a true classicist… linking his films with the grand traditions of precinematic art.” In the director’s final film, made at the age of 87, this conjoining finds its purest expression in an adaptation of Honoré d’Urfé’s period novel. Echoing the most graceful and elegant features of 17th and 18th century French art and literature, Rohmer retells a fable of shepherds, nymphs and bucolic idylls that parlays anew his constant theme of romance complicatedly pursued. This comic pearl existing entirely outside of cinematic trends was lushly filmed in Auvergne.

CTEQ Annotation:
Late Style: The Romance of Astrea and Celadon by Xanthe Ashburner.

Trailer:

9:00pm CATHERINE DE HEILBRONN
Eric Rohmer (1980) 138 mins
Unclassified 15+ (unless accompanied by an adult)

The third of Rohmer’s period films is an austere but gorgeous adaptation of Heinrich von Kleist’s (Die Marquise von O) popular 1810 play about a beautiful armourer’s daughter (Pascale Ogier) who becomes infatuated with a knight, leaves home, and has to compete with a jealous rival (Arielle Dombasle) for his affections. Based on Rohmer’s theatre adaptation, and made for French TV, this is a typically shrewd, ethically complex and self-consciously staged attempt to explore the courtly rituals, knightly spectacle and daily realities of Kleist’s medieval tale.

CTEQ Annotation:
Images of Femininity: Catherine de Heilbronn by Cody Lang

ABOUT

The Melbourne Cinémathèque started out as the Melbourne University Film Society (MUFS) in 1948 and changed its name to Cinémathèque in 1984.

The Melbourne Cinémathèque aims to present films in the medium they were created and as closely as possible to screen films the way they would have originally screened (i.e. big screen, celluloid prints, not video or DVD).

Programmes include a diverse selection of classic and contemporary films showcasing director retrospectives, special guest appearances and thematic series including archival material and new or restored prints.

We have on occasion hosted numerous seminars featuring renowned film scholars such as David Bordwell, Adrian Martin and Ian Christie. We are also dedicated to providing new annotations on the films we screen via the CTEQ annotations, hosted as a part of the quarterly online film journal Senses of Cinema.

The Melbourne Cinémathèque is self-administered and membership-driven relying on support from individuals, foundations, corporations and government funding to maintain its high standard of excellence. If you would like to be involved, or to offer donations or sponsorship, please contact us.

Presented by The Melbourne Cinémathèque and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.

Curated by the Melbourne Cinémathèque.

Curatorial Committee: Michael Koller, Michelle Carey, Adrian Danks and Eloise Ross with assistance from Cerise Howard.

Supported by Screen Australia and Film Victoria.

NEWS

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PROGRAM CHANGES

MARCH 16, 7:00PM Douglas Sirk’s ALL I DESIRE to be replaced by Billy Wilder’s DOUBLE INDEMNITY as part of the Barbara Stanwyck program.

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