All posts filed under: film

‘Tanna’ film screening plus Q&A

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It’s always nice to be able to get behind new Australian films, and this one sounds as though it may be really worth the effort. The Melbourne premiere of ‘Tanna’, the first feature film to be shot entirely in Vanuatu, will be held next Tuesday 20 October at Cinema Nova in Lygon Street. The event will include a post-screening Q&A with the directors Bentley Dean and Martin Butler and cultural director Jimmy Joseph Nako, plus a special Yakel dance performance by the cast, who are largely non-professional actors from local communities. ‘Tanna’ won the International Critics’ Week Audience Award for best film, and also scooped the critics prize for cinematography at the Venice Film Festival. Based on a true story, the film tells the story of forbidden love and tribal warfare on the tiny island of Tanna. Here’s the trailer: If you can’t make it to the premiere, keep your eyes peeled for screenings at Melbourne’s independent cinemas where it’s bound to make the rounds. ‘Tanna’ film screening plus Q&A Date: 20 October 2015 Time: …

Amnesty International free film screening

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On July 23, Amnesty International’s Urgent Action Network will host a free film screening event of the documentary ‘Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’. This 52-minute doco explores the circumstances and reasons that many asylum seekers make the choice to step onto boats and make the dangerous journey to Australia. The filmmakers, Jessie Taylor and Ali Reza Sadiqi, met with 250 asylum seekers in gaols, detention centres and hostels across Indonesia to discover what drives refugees to become ‘boat people’. The refugee issue continues to be a controversial and desperately misunderstood subject in Australia, as it is in many other parts of the world. No matter your personal opinion on this issue, this event is sure to be thought-provoking. Catering will be provided by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. Book your free tickets here.   AI film screening: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea   Date: 23 July Time: 7pm–9pm Venue: Hares and Hyenas Address: 63 Johnston Street, Fitzroy Tel: 9412 0700

The Night Market Cinema

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Everyone loves a good night market. The food, the bustle, the twinkly lights — it’s all pretty winning. Melbourne’s biggest and best-loved night markets happen every summer and winter at the Queen Victoria Market, with this year’s winter season kicking off on Wednesday 3 June. But this year, it gets better. The 2015 Winter Night Market has just become a little more exciting with the announcement of a new addition to the event: a screening of short films programmed by a new guest presenter every week. It’s always great to see local institutions supporting and celebrating local artists, and of course very cool to have a free weekly cinema event to hit up during the winter months. Check out the Night Market website for a run-down of upcoming screenings. So grab a noodle box, folks, and settle in for some short film fun every Wednesday night for the next couple months.   The Night Market Cinema   Dates: Every Wednesday, 3 June — 26 August 2015 Time: 5pm–10pm Venue: Queen Victoria Night Market, Melbourne CBD

Fred Schepisi in conversation at ACMI

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There’s only a small handful of internationally successful Australian film directors around — a very small handful — and they tend to keep out of the spotlight, so having the chance to hear one of these elusive characters speak publicly is pretty exciting. Particularly if said director has a career spanning 40 years and has worked with the likes of Meryl Streep, Paul Newman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Geoffrey Rush, Michael Caine, Juliette Binoche, John Cleese and Helen Mirren — to name a few. Fred Schepisi’s best-known films include the Australian classic The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978), Roxanne (1987), Evil Angels (1988, also released as A Cry in the Dark), Last Orders (2001), the mini-series Empire Falls (2005), and most recently Words and Pictures (2013). He’ll be speaking with producer Sue Maslin at ACMI this Friday as part of the free Friday on My Mind series. If you missed his 2013 talk, make sure you catch this one. Note the new FOMM time of 6pm.   Friday on My Mind: Fred Schepisi Date: 27 March …

Food Truck Festival at Coburg Drive-In

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For a city madly in love with all things retro, plus all things food (particularly, for the moment at least, if said food is made in a truck), the Coburg Drive-In’s monthly Food Truck Festival is going down a treat. Many Melburnians have never heard of the drive-in cinema in Coburg, let alone seen a movie there. Now, not only can you rock up with car-load of friends to see new-release films like in the good old days, but once a month you can munch on some tasty food truck grub as you watch. This month, the Food Truck Fest happens Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 November, with eight different trucks in attendance on both nights. Click here to check out the truck selection and flicks showing this week. Movie tickets cost $17.50 for an adult, $14 for concessions and $40 for a car load (five people max). Food Truck Festival Dates: Monthly (check website to confirm dates) Time: from 6pm Damage: $17.50 full / $14 conc. / $40 car (five people)

Events: Melbourne Fringe, Muff and Mexfest 2014

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Melbourne loves its festivals, and as we head towards summer they’ll just keep coming. And coming. Here’s a few, to begin with. Starting tomorrow is the Melbourne underground Film Festival. Founded in 2000, MUFF celebrates ‘avant garde, cutting edge, and underground film from both local filmmakers and abroad’ and has drawn fire in the past for screening banned films. This Sunday, Federation Square will host the Mexican Festival, where you’ll find live music and dance performances, tasty food and the traditional ‘El Grito’ ceremony to mark Mexican Independence. And finally, next week will kick off the fabulous Melbourne Fringe Festival, showcasing a tonne of local artists from theatre, circus, music and cabaret to dance, visual art, live art, comedy and kids performers. Check out the full program here. Time to get festive, Melbourne!   Melbourne Underground Film Festival When: 12–19 September 2014 Where: The Backlot Studios Address: 65 Haig St, Southbank   Mexican Festival 2014 When: 11.30am–8pm, 14 September 2014 Where: Federation Square, Melbourne   Melbourne Fringe Festival 2014 When: 17 September — 5 October 2014 Where: various …

Event: The Growing Food Project

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Where does our food come from? This question is seldom asked in wealthy first-world societies, where food seems to originate — individually wrapped and pleasingly presented — on the supermarket shelf. The lack of basic knowledge about growing food must be one of the more significant tragedies of the modern age — one that has contributed to many of today’s health and environmental problems: food waste, poverty, obesity, even climate change. Melbourne artist, activist and nutritionist Rasha Tayeh is passionate about food. Her new short documentary, The Growing Food Project, looks at Melbourne’s expanding local food movements, which sees local communities coming together to create sustainable food systems. ‘The  Growing  Food  Project  is  an  attempt  to  allow further exploration of positive relationships with food, whilst documenting various stories of grassroots initiatives that search for meaning through food,’ Rasha explains. ‘There is a growing energy in Melbourne responding to food and sustainability issues. Local communities are teaming up to strengthen the way we produce and distribute local food. From community gardening to neighbourhood feasts, these community food projects improve …

Exhibition: Shaun Tan’s ‘The Lost Thing’

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Shaun Tan is one of Australia’s most talented visual storytellers. His illustrated storybooks and graphic novels are nuanced, intriguing and moving, and often explore complex and challenging themes (even those created for children). To describe Tan as a children’s storyteller is limiting — his books go well beyond any age barriers. In fact, his 2006 wordless graphic novel The Arrival was named both ‘Book of the Year’ at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards as well as ‘Picture Book of the Year’ by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. In 2010, Tan was asked to direct a short animated film based on his 2000 book The Lost Thing. The film went on to win the Oscar for Best Animated Short. Here’s the trailer: Recently I stumbled across a small exhibition about The Lost Thing and its cinema adaptation at ACMI. The exhibition features original drawings by the author as well as interviews with the filmmakers describing the production process. The film is also showing here in a small nook next to the main exhibits. The exhibition is really worth …

Antenna Documentary Festival 2013

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For the first time since its inception in Sydney three years ago, the Antenna Documentary Festival will this year come to Melbourne. The Melbourne tour will showcase twelve international feature-length documentaries, to be screened at ACMI in Federation Square from tomorrow (the 19th) until Monday. Among the collection are the critically well-received After Tiller by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson, and Fire in the Blood by Dylan Mohan Gray (see the trailer below).     Tickets are $17 full / $15 concession, or you can buy a five- or three-session pass. Check the ACMI website for ticketing, times and booking info.   Antenna Documentary Festival 2013 Dates: 17–20 October 2013 Venue: ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne Damage: $17 full / $15 concession / $14 ACMI members