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 AFERIM!
Radu Jude (2015) 108 mins – Unclassified 15+
Using western tropes to explore the overlooked topic of the Romani slave trade in 19th century Europe, Romanian maverick Jude’s fourth feature is also his most extravagant, its luscious, 35mm-shot black-and-white imagery recalling both Red River and Stagecoach. With the intention of historicising the racism against Romani people in present-day Europe, the film is a potent and entertaining formal mix, including dialogue spoken in authentic 19th century Romanian.
Preceded by Song of the Prairie Jiří Trnka (1949) 23 mins – Unclassified 15+. Trnka’s brilliant puppet animation is the first screen outing for Jiří Brdečka’s Lemonade Joe character. 16mm print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive, Australia.
CTEQ ANNOTATION
History and Oblivion: Radu Jude tells a “new” story an old way with Aferim!
by Shari Kizirian
9:30pm THE WIND BLOWS UNDER YOUR FEET
György Szomjas (1976) 90 mins – Unclassified 15+
The first of Szomjas’ two stylish, violent, Leone-influenced “goulash” westerns transposes genre topoi onto the quintessentially Hungarian puszta landscapes familiar from the work of Miklós Jancsó. Set in the 1830s, it concerns the antagonism between an outlaw (charismatic Bulgarian actor Đoko Rosić) and a sheriff (István Bujtor – the Hungarian Bud Spencer) against a backdrop of canalisation threatening each of their traditional ways of life. With striking cinematography from Elémer Ragályi and a plaintive folk score by Ferenc Sebő.
Digital print courtesy of the Hungarian National Film Archive.
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, Cerise Howard and Andréas Giannopoulos for the Melbourne Cinémathèque
Subtitling Logistics: Lorenzo Rosa
Music Synchronisation: Michael Koller
Supported by VicScreen & RMIT University.
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© The Melbourne Cinémathèque
ABN 59 987 473 440
Supported by VicScreen, RMIT University & The City of Melbourne Arts Grants Program.