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 The Australian Centre for the Moving image every Wednesday night for most of the year.
This year many of our screenings are on Monday nights. Please check the program for details.
Admission is by membership, which can be obtained on a short-term or yearly basis.
We are a volunteer-run, not-for-profit organisation.
We know this can’t replace the joy of being in the cinema but why not join us for a weekly movie night at home?
Our Virtual Cinémathèque won’t replicate seasons slated for the 2020 Melbourne Cinémathèque but wherever possible we’ll try to stick to the weekly calendar format of double bills that showcase classic and contemporary films on specific directors, performers or a thematic.
Stay updated at the ACMI website
Virtual Cinematheque has been made possible with the generous support of:
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Monash University Museum of Art
The Goethe Institute of Australia
Stellar Dental, Collins St
Present Company Included
Today the Victorian government declared a state of emergency effective from 12:00pm, which will be enforced for at least the next 4 weeks. Under the conditions of this state of emergency, The Melbourne Cinémathèque will not be holding any screenings until further notice. In line with this, and with our venue The Capitol, RMIT University, and our presenting partner ACMI, we will be postponing all screenings throughout March and April.
Things are evolving on a daily basis and we will try to keep everyone informed about our screenings. We value our members and the community gathered around the Cinémathèque very highly – we are, after, all elected representatives of the membership – and thank you for your tremendous support so far this year. We very much look forward to the time when we will be able to return to sharing great cinema with you – once it is safe to do so. But for now, we need to help protect the health and safety of our volunteers, the staff at the venue, ourselves and, of course, all our members.
Once we become aware of a recommencement date we will arrange suitable arrangements for existing mini, year and friends Cinémathèque memberships (we will be exploring various options including extending memberships, asking members to donate the proportion of the membership elapsed to support the Cinémathèque’s, etc.). As a not-for-profit, volunteer-run organisation we rely on the support, goodwill and active involvement of our membership.
To ensure that people are informed of developments, updates will be posted onto our Facebook page and our website, as well as through this newsletter and via Twitter. Should you have any queries, please stay in touch with us.
Keep safe and all the best,
The Melbourne Cinémathèque committee.
7:00pm HIGH TIDE
Gillian Armstrong (1987) 101 mins – M
Eight years after the trailblazing My Brilliant Career, Armstrong and Judy Davis collaborated once more on this emotionally rich multi-generational drama. Davis plays a back-up singer who, when left stranded in a seaside village on the NSW coast, re-encounters the daughter she abandoned years earlier. Skirting clear of any hint of cheap sentimentality, care of Laura Jones’ (An Angel at My Table) penetrating script, this raw and affective film evocatively expresses the painful reality of fractured relationships. Davis and co-star Jan Adele won AFI Awards.
35mm print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive, Australia. Rights courtesy of Anthony I. Ginnane © 1987 SJL Productions Pty Ltd.
8:50pm UNFOLDING FLORENCE: THE MANY LIVES OF FLORENCE BROADHURST
Gillian Armstrong (2006) 82 mins – PG
Armstrong’s playful documentary-drama about the larger-than-life and truly mercurial Sydney-based artist, raconteur, socialite and – most famously – wallpaper designer Florence Broadhurst. Along with writer Katherine Thomson, Armstrong fashions a visually flamboyant portrait of an impossible to pin down personality, as well as an account of her lurid life and unsolved violent death.
Followed by
Gretel
Gillian Armstrong (1973) 27 mins – Unclassified 15 +.
This contemporary work, based on a story by Hal Porter, is the last of the three films Armstrong made at AFTS, which kickstarted her career.
Both films courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive, Australia.
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 with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.
Curated by Michael Koller, Adrian Danks, Eloise Ross and Cerise Howard for the Melbourne Cinémathèque
Subtitling Logistics: Lorenzo Rosa
Music Synchronisation: Michael Koller
Supported by Film Victoria, RMIT University & The City of Melbourne Arts Grants Program.
For all the latest news including program changes follow us via Twitter & Facebook.
© The Melbourne Cinémathèque
ABN 59 987 473 440
Supported by Film Victoria, RMIT University & The City of Melbourne Arts Grants Program.