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 SEED
John M. Stahl (1931) 96 mins – Unclassified 15+
Based on a social-realist novel by Charles G. Morris (Seed: A Novel of Birth Control), Stahl’s bracingly restrained second talkie is a “masterly orchestration of sympathies” (David Bordwell) in which a frustrated but entitled writer (John Boles) abandons his art to support his large family. An old flame (Genevieve Tobin) returns to work for his publishing firm, recognises his suppressed talent and rekindles their affair. This landmark work initiates the series of extraordinary romantic social dramas that constitute Stahl’s greatest cinematic contribution, demonstrating his understanding of the fate of women in male-dominated society. With ZaSu Pitts and Bette Davis.
35mm print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
8:50pm MEMORY LANE
John M. Stahl (1926) 76 mins – Unclassified 15+
One of Stahl’s last silent films, this timeless exploration of love and second chances stars Eleanor Boardman, Conrad Nagel and William Haines. Masterfully blending the comic with the bittersweet, it is a testament to Stahl’s ability to craft romantic stories with sensitivity and restraint. Haines plays what some consider his finest role, though his acting career was to be cut short in the following decade because of his refusal to deny his homosexuality. According to Imogen Sara Smith, with this film Stahl became “a filmmaker who ranks with Mikio Naruse as an artist of tender irony and heartbreaking reserve”.
35mm print courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington.
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.
For all the latest news including program changes follow us via Twitter & Facebook.
© The Melbourne Cinémathèque
ABN 59 987 473 440
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.