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.
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 PERINBABA
Juraj Jakubisko (1985) 89 mins – Unclassified 15+
This beautiful adaptation of a Brothers Grimm fairy-tale has become a staple of Slovak Christmases, notwithstanding its plentiful adult content, horrific elements and that it was only made because its director was forbidden from producing more personal projects. Giulietta Masina shines as Perinbaba, aka “Lady Winter”, the “Feather Fairy”, in this tale of a young boy whose life she saved who wishes to leave her enchanted domain for the real world, notwithstanding the latter’s many terrors. Jakubisko steeped this cult classic in Slavic folklore; the breathtaking cinematography is by Dodo Šimončič.
Digital print courtesy of the Slovak Film Institute.
CTEQ ANNOTATION
Once Out of Nature: Juraj Jakubisko and Perinbaba (1985)
by David Melville
8.40pm THE PRIME OF LIFE
Juraj Jakubisko (1967) 95 mins – Unclassified 15+
Abetted by the brilliant Igor Luther’s grainy, overexposed black-and-white cinematography, Jakubisko’s inventive, existential, semi-autobiographical debut feature “signaled not only the birth of an exceptional talent, but also the birth of a Slovak style” (Mira and Antonín J. Liehm). Two brothers in their early 30s – the film’s original Slovak title translates literally as “Christ’s Years”, alluding directly to the age of 33 as signifying one’s peak – establish, through their absurdist games, that life is made up of “love, foolishness and death”.
Digital print courtesy of the Slovak Film Institute.
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.
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© The Melbourne Cinémathèque
ABN 59 987 473 440
Supported by VicScreen, RMIT University & The City of Melbourne Arts Grants Program.