Dedicated to screening rare & significant films in their original format.
Dedicated to screening rare & significant films in their original format.
The Melbourne Cinémathèque is a not-for-profit, volunteer-run film society.
The Melbourne Cinémathèque is a membership-based film society based in Melbourne, Australia.
We hold screenings at ACMI, Fed Square every Wednesday night for most of the year.
Admission is by membership, which can be obtained on a short-term or yearly basis.
We are a volunteer-run, not-for-profit organisation.
7:00pm THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Mario Bava (1963) 86 mins – Unclassified 15+
Its mixing of psychological horror and sexploitation with strikingly angular, chiaroscuro cinematography led Bava’s fourth feature to be deemed, retroactively, as the birth of giallo. More deliberately, the film is a creative riff on Alfred Hitchcock, with Letícia Román as Nora, the sole witness to a murder, who seeks out evidence with Dr. Bassi (John Saxon) after the authorities refuse to believe her. Partly reshot for its English release as The Evil Eye, this more tonally consistent Italian version remains a major work in Bava’s career and in the wider horror canon. With Valentina Cortese.
8:40pm LISA AND THE DEVIL
Mario Bava (1973) 95 mins – M
Producer Alfredo Leone gave Bava complete creative control for this Gothic horror tale of a young woman (Elke Sommer) who becomes embroiled in a world of debauchery, mannequins and necrophilia when she shelters in a mansion belonging to a blind Countess (Alida Valli) and her son. After a disastrous initial screening, the film was never released theatrically in Italy and was subject to a string of re-edits. Reappraised for its evocative wide-angle colour cinematography and hallucinatory imagery, it is now considered by many to be amongst Bava’s most personal and daring works. With Telly Savalas.
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 ACMI
Curated by Michael Koller, Adrian Danks, Eloise Ross, Cerise Howard and Andréas Giannopoulos for the Melbourne Cinémathèque
Music Synchronisation: Michael Koller
State Government support by VicScreen.
Supported by the City of Melbourne Annual Arts Grants Program.
The Melbourne Cinémathèque receives funding from Creative Australia through the Australian Cultural Fund.
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© The Melbourne Cinémathèque
ABN 59 987 473 440
The Melbourne Cinémathèque receives support from Creative Australia through the Australian Cultural Fund.