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 20

7:00pm – MISS OYU
Kenji Mizoguchi (1951) 94 mins – Unclassified 15 +

Tanaka’s titular widow falls for the fiancé of her younger sister. The marriage goes ahead and a tentative, emotional ménage à trois ensues. Sometimes regarded as a minor Mizoguchi work when viewed alongside such monumental films as The Life of Oharu, this subtle and clear-eyed view of the complexities and constraints of Japanese social life – focusing, in this case, on arranged marriage – offers grand scope for the kind of generous, vulnerable performance that typifies Tanaka’s best work. Based on Junichiro Tanizaki’s 1932 novel, The Reed Cutter.

CTEQ Annotations:
‘Miss Oyu’ by Darragh O’Donoghue.

35mm print courtesy of the Japan Foundation.

8:45pm – THE WANDERING PRINCESS
Kinuyo Tanaka (1960) 102 mins – Unclassified 15 +

Tanaka’s fourth feature as director is a powerful collaboration with writer Natto Wada (The Burmese Harp) – based on the bestselling book by Hiroko Aiishinkakura – centring on the Japanese woman chosen to marry the younger brother of the “puppet” Emperor of Manchuria (Manchukuo) during that region’s occupation by Japan in the 1930s and early 1940s. Machiko Kyo (Mizoguchi’s Empress Yang Kwei-Fei) stars in this characteristically complex tale of female hardship, thwarted desire, arranged marriage and the yoke of imperial male power. It develops into a tragic romantic drama of star-crossed lovers as Japan loses the war.

35mm print courtesy of the Japan Foundation.

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 with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.

Curated by the Melbourne Cinémathèque.

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

Supported by Screen Australia and Film Victoria.

NEWS

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MAY ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2018

NOTICE: The committee of The Melbourne Cinémathèque wishes to make some changes to our constitution, however, to do that we now have to conform to the model constitution in the 2012 Act, so a number of other changes are also required.

Here is a copy of the constitution with the changes on RED.

The Melbourne Cinémathèque Constitution 2018.

We wish to pass these changes at the AGM on Wednesday May 30, at 6:40pm.

Please read the RED stuff and consider. It won’t take long. Then come along to the AGM.

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