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Turn Around
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Australian Film Culture
Dreaming in Motion: Five Films from Five New Filmmakers by Felicity Collins
Following on from Shifting Sands: From Sand to Celluloid is Dreaming in Motion, a new series of indigenous shorts. Collins takes a closer look at their thematic and formal qualities.
Hidden Face: Asian Cinema and the Sydney Film Festival by Pauline Webber
Despite proclamations to the contrary, the portion of Asian cinema in recent years at the Sydney Film Festival is small. There is instead an overall bias toward films from English-speaking countries.
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Ken Park
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Censorship Forum at the Sydney Film Festival
A forum on censorship replaced the scheduled screening of the recently banned Ken Park at the Sydney Film Festival. Larry Clark and various local anti-censorship activists participated.
Daily Reports from the 52nd Melbourne International Film Festival
'60s Australian Independent Cinema
The Ubu Moment: An Interview with Albie Thoms by Danni Zuvela
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The Girlfriends
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Thoms looks back on his achievements as a pioneering experimental ‘filmer’ and
advocate of independent cinema.
Carlton + Godard = Cinema: An Interview with Nigel Buesst by Jake Wilson
Reflections on Melbourne’s own ‘new wave’ from a participant and observer.
Steven Spielberg
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Awakening to A.I.'s Dream by Gregory Solman
Spielberg's spiritual quest in A.I. reveals how faith can open moribund myths to
glorious cinematic expression.
Minority Report: A Dystopic Vision by Lester D. Friedman
Social oppression and philosophical uncertainty define the noir atmosphere of
Spielberg’s least overtly religious science-fiction film.
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The Question Spielberg: A Symposium
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A.I.
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Childlike visionary or prince of darkness? Critics from around the world offer a range of views on the world’s most successful filmmaker.
Part One: Position Papers
By Thomas Caldwell, Dan Callahan, Carloss James Chamberlin, Darragh O'Donoghue, Jean-Michel Frodon, Christian Ramírez, Keith Uhlich
Part Two: Films and Moments
By Warren Buckland, Martin Mhando, Julie Rigg, André Caron, Jorge Didaco, Dag Sødtholt, Michael Koresky, Robert Keser
Lost Films
Paradise Regained: Queen Kelly and the Lure of the 'Lost' Film by Darragh O'Donoghue
Why do ‘lost’ or mutilated films hold such fascination? O’Donoghue searches for
an answer in the fragmentary legacy of the patron saint of the film maudit, Erich von Stroheim.
From the Beginning: Notes on Orson Welles' Most Personal Late Film by Peter Tonguette
On the trail of the unfinished Isak Dinesen adaptation The Dreamers, Tonguette
talks with Welles experts and associates about this crucial late work.
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Queen Kelly
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Breathing Together: The Author in Search of Investors by James Leahy
In 1969, Hollywood exile Nicholas Ray arrived in Chicago hoping to film a
radical ‘documentary.’ His collaborator recalls the era, the project and the man.
Features
Female Vampire
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The Frontiers of Genre and Trance: Five Films by Jess Franco by Maximilian Le Cain
Despite having seen only a portion of Franco's incredibly vast oeuvre, Max's discussion is nevertheless insightful, uncovering the workings of what he refers to as "a paroxysmal non-narrative cinema based on the director's sensations".
Absolute Definition: Katharine Hepburn by Lesley Chow
Katherine Hepburn died last month aged 96. This tribute takes a close look at
what made her performances unique.
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Phantasmatic Fissures: Spider by Patricia MacCormack
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Spider
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As a film which dramatises a state of 'schizophrenia', MacCormack argues, by going beyond psychoanalysis, that Spider and indeed Cronenberg's films generally offer creative possibilities for thinking new realities and states.
Central Asian Films by Jared Rapfogel
Jared delights in films from this region of the world, in particular, their humility, insight and complexity in grasping a reality much harsher then that of the contemporary West.
The European Undead: Tsai Ming-liang's Temporal Dysphoria by Fran Martin
Martin examines the complex, layered workings of cinematic and cultural referencing in this film and its overall sensibility of temporal disjuncture.
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Dharmasena Pathiraja
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Blind Shaft
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New Chinese Cinema
"There Is No Sixth Generation!" Director Li Yang on Blind Shaft and His Place in Chinese Cinema by Stephen Teo
Li Yang discusses his impressive first feature, a drama set in China's mining industry, starring professional and non-professionals, exploring socio-historical, ethical, and existential themes.
Performing the Documentary, or Making It To the Other Bank by Charles Leary
A recent, unconventional Chinese documentary blurs the lines between cinema,
theatre and ‘reality.’
Film Theory
Unforgiven
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Don't Fence Me In: Reading Beyond Genre by Robert Briggs
Unforgiven as a fantasy film? Star Trek as a Western? How do we go about
classifying films by genre – and what are the risks of doing so?
Material Film by Hugo Salas
Could Adorno have been right in his belief that cinema was not an art? In this
provocative essay, Salas argues for a re-assessment of the concept of
the ‘culture industry.’
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You can order these books directly from
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From St. Kilda to Kings Cross (Almost): Some Observations on the 2003 Sydney Film Festival by Adrian Danks
Hukkle at Sydney FF
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You're Smiling! You're Winning! Have You Considered CineVegas? by Rhiannon Aarons
MIAF at the Crossroads: a Report on the 2003 Melbourne International Animation Festival by Daniel Yencken
Cinémathèque Annotations on Film
The following are annotations for films screening at the Melbourne Cinémathèque on Wednesdays during August and September.
Lunch on the Grass
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Emigrating to Madness: Despair (Eine Reise ins Licht)
by Carloss James Chamberlin
Diary of a Country Priest
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Diary of a Country Priest by Dan Harper
Fireworks by Chris Meir
French CanCan by Rick Thompson
Lunch on the Grass by Stuart Lord
The Merchant of Four Seasons by Girish Shambu
Un chant d'amour by Mark Adnum
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