From the macabre to the magnificent, the films included in this program delve into varying cinematic ruminations on life; its creation, preservation, and ultimate transfiguration.

Selected titles include: The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover 1989 (Peter Greenaway), Flux Gourmet 2022 (Peter Strickland), Death Becomes Her 1992 (Robert Zemeckis), Still Life 2006 (Jia Zhangke), 24 Frames 2017 (Abbas Kiarostami), A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence 2014 (Roy Andersson), Meanwhile On Earth 2020 (Carl Olsson), Little Joe 2019 (Jessica Hausner), The Lobster 2015 (Yorgos Lanthimos) and Taxidermia 2006 (György Pálfi).

Still Lives
GOMA, Brisbane
9 October 2022 – 12 March 2023
www.qagoma.qld.gov.au

Born into the luxuriance of Milanese aristocracy, Visconti would nevertheless begin his career by crafting deeply sympathetic portrayals of the downtrodden in early neorealist classics. His work would adopt a newfound resplendence with the vividly envisioned costume drama Senso 1954 – a milieu to which he would repeatedly return, most celebratedly in his Palme d’Or winning masterpiece The Leopard 1963. Endlessly dynamic, his later output grew more openly lurid and psychosexual, with the decadent ‘German Trilogy’ finding acclaim and controversy in equal measure.

Drawing heavy inspiration from opera and literature – including directly adapting works by major literary figures such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Albert Camus and Thomas Mann – Visconti crafted a singular cinematic style that rejects easy categorisation. A master of both visual extravagance and quietly rich character studies, his films remain vital and highly influential portraits of society, class, and the vagaries of power.

This program presents a near-complete retrospective of the director’s feature films. It showcases a collection of imported archival 35mm prints and digital restorations, with highlights including Visconti’s rarely-seen adaptation of Camus’ The Stranger 1967 and a newly struck 35mm print of the four-hour director’s cut of historical epic Ludwig 1973. It also includes two anthology films to which Visconti contributed: Boccaccio ’70 1962 and Le Streghe (The Witches) 1967, both of which will be presented in full, alongside episodes directed by such masters of Italian cinema as Federico Fellini, Vittorio De Sica, and Pier Paolo Pasolini.

The Innocent and the Damned: The films of Luchino Visconti
31 May – 30 June 2019
GOMA – Brisbane
www.qagoma.qld.gov.au

From the sublime to the outrageous, ‘Beauty in the B Grade’ celebrates the ‘B’ movie at its height from the 1930s to the 1960s. Produced quickly, with a fraction of the budget of an ‘A’ feature film, ‘B’ pictures mirrored popular genres of the time, and screened before the highly publicised ‘A’ film in double features at movie theatres in the 1930s and 1940s. With the rising popularity of television in the 1950s — and with a delight in tales of haunted houses, mystical arts, scientific hubris and oversized monsters — the ‘B’ picture found a new home on late-night television and at drive-in theatres in the 1960s.

‘B’ films are now synonymous with lurid plots and low-budget scares, but early classification of what constituted an ‘A’ or ‘B’ picture was often ambiguous. ‘B’ pictures offered directors an opportunity to show studio executives their abilities to respond to limited film budgets with innovative and experimental ideas. ‘Beauty in the B Grade’ brings together a selection of films by some well-known Hollywood directors who made the ‘B’ picture their own — James Whale (The Old Dark House 1932), Jacques Tourneur (I Walked with a Zombie 1943), William Castle (The Tingler 1959) and Roger Corman (The Little Shop of Horrors 1960).

Beauty in the B Grade
03 May 2019 – 29 May 2019
GOMA, Brisbane
www.qagoma.qld.gov.au

The Sisters Brothers (Les Freres Sisters), Jacques Audiard’s western starring Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly, has received nine nominations, including for Best Director. The film has already enjoyed a number of international accolades including winning the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival last year and screened at the launch of the 2019 Alliance Française French Film Festival just two weeks ago.

The Alliance Française French Film Festival’s Opening Night film, Pierre Salvadori’scomedy The Trouble With You (En Liberté!) also received nine nominations whilst French actor-turned-director Gilles Lellouche’s Sink or Swim (Le Grand Bain) about a men’s synchronized swimming team received 10 nominations.

Among the other big-name nominees are fan-favourite, Audrey Tautou, in the best supporting actress category for her role in The Trouble with You and Vanessa Paradis & Johnny Depp’s daughter, Lily-Rose Depp, who is up for an award in the best new actress category for her role in Louis Garrel’s A Faithful Man (L’homme Fidele).

Brisbane film-lovers will have the chance to see six of the seven ‘Best Film’ nominees at the Alliance Française French Film Festival – The Trouble With You, The Sisters Brothers, Sink or Swim, Memoir of War (La douleur), Guy and In Safe Hands (Pupille).

The 44th Cesar Awards ceremony will take place this Friday February 22 (Saturday morning Brisbane time) at the Salle Pleyel in Paris and will be hosted by French actor Kad Merad. Legendary American actor, Robert Redford will receive this year’s honorary Cesar award and British actress Kristin Scott Thomas will preside over the ceremony as honorary president.

The Alliance Française French Film Festival is on from March 14 to April 14 at the Palace Barracks and Palace James Street

The full programme and complete list of ticket prices is available at: www.affrenchfilmfestival.org.

Tickets can be purchased via the Festival website or at participating cinema locations.

National dates and venues for the 2019 Alliance Française French Film Festival are:
SYDNEY: 5 March – 10 April, Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona, Chauvel Cinema, Palace Central & Hayden Orpheum Cremorne
MELBOURNE: 6 March – 10 April, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, Kino Cinemas & The Astor Theatre
CANBERRA: 7 March – 10 April, Palace Electric Cinema
PERTH: 13 March – 10 April, Palace Raine Square, Cinema Paradiso, Luna on SX, Windsor Cinema & Camelot Outdoor Cinema
BRISBANE: 14 March – 14 April, Palace Barracks & Palace James Street
HOBART: 14 – 23 March, State Cinema
ADELAIDE: 21 March – 18 April, Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas, Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas
AVOCA BEACH: 22 – 27 March, Avoca Beach Picture Theatre
PARRAMATTA: 28 – 31 March, Riverside Theatres Parramatta
BYRON BAY: 4 – 17 April Palace Byron Bay
www.affrenchfilmfestival.org

The 2018 Radical Reels Australian tour features a carefully curated program of films that has something for every kind of adrenaline junkie. And for the first time, audiences can choose their own adventure with a choice of three programs on show, instead of just the same  films screened every night.

The program of films for each night is listed below.
4 Dec – Orange Program
5 Dec – Red Program
6 Dec – Yellow Program
7 Dec – Yellow Program

Grab your tickets and hang on to your seats as Radical Reels present the world’s best action films on skiing, boarding, climbing, biking, kayaking and more – all brought to life on the big screen.

Radical Reels Tour 2018
04 – 07 December, 2018
Brisbane Powerhouse
www.brisbanepowerhouse.org or www.radicalreels.com.au

Opening the festival is UNDER THE TREE, a very dark comedy from Icelandic writer-director Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson. The shade from a front-yard tree sees the already simmering tensions between two families come to the boil in an astute observation of suburban mores.

Mid-way through the 20-day festival will be special event screenings of AMATEURS, winner of the 2018 Göteborg Film Festival award for Best Nordic Film. The comedy from director Gabriela Pichler hints at the changing face of Sweden as two high school girls use mobiles and selfie-sticks to create a promotional video for their town. This screening will be accompanied by a Swedish cocktail on arrival.

Other films in the program include:
Winner of Best Screenplay and Best Actress at the Danish Academy Awards (Robert Festival), A HORRIBLE WOMAN is a provocative drama/comedy that cleverly explores a dysfunctional relationship from the man’s point of view from the writer/director of Parents (Scandi FF 2016), Christian Tafdrup. Also from DENMARK, comes; DARLING, a captivating film with a superb Danica Curcic in the lead, the film follows a world-renowned ballerina caught up in a love triangle while preparing for a new production of Giselle; two awkward European entrepreneurs set out on a business venture to try and make their fortune in China’s lucrative pet industry in THE SAINT BERNARD SYNDICATE; in the wry comedy WORD OF GOD starring Søren Malling, changes threaten the peace in a 1980s suburban Danish household; inspired by true events, WHILE WE LIVE is the Danish Academy Award nominated drama from Mehdi Avaz which follows four people in Northern Denmark and how their fates intertwine after a tragic accident; and multi-award winning drama and winner of Best Film at the 2018 Danish Academy Awards, WINTER BROTHERS follows two brothers whose routines, habits, and rituals are ruptured by a violent feud with a neighbouring family.

From FINLAND comes breakout SXSW hit comedy HEAVY TRIP in which a young man tries to overcome his fears by leading his small-town Finland heavy metal band to a massive music festival in Norway. And in LAW OF THE LAND by first time feature filmmaker Jussi Hiltunen, a retiring policeman gets caught up between his two sons trying to kill each other in this remote western thriller.

ICELAND’s offerings include THE SWAN, a 7-time Icelandic Academy Award (Edda) nominated drama in which a young girl is sent to mature and work on a farm after shoplifting, but there finds herself deeply entangled in an adult drama and opening night selection UNDER THE TREE.

From NORWAY comes the harrowing drama depicting the 2011 attack on Utøya island U – JULY 22. Erik Poppe, the award-winning director of The King’s Choice, crafts a heart-breaking yet compelling re-telling of this real life tragedy filmed entirely in one take; critically acclaimed hit at the Toronto International Film Festival, VALLEY OF SHADOWS is a Gothic mystery that follows a young boy who leaves his remote Norwegian village and ventures into the forest; And supernatural coming-of-age drama, THELMA follows a student who moves to Oslo where she discovers that she has terrifying powers. Directed by Joachim Trier, the film was selected as Norway’s foreign-language Oscar entry.

SWEDEN brings strong titles including; winner of Un Certain Regard at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival BORDER which tells the story of customs border patrol officer Tina, and a mysterious traveller that upends her world; set in 1970s Sweden RAVENS, is a powerful coming of age story about a young teenager, Klas who dreams of escaping the harsh life on the farm eked out by his parents and generations before them; the astonishing rise to fame in the 1970s of singer Ted Gärdestad is chronicled in the music-filled biopic A MOON OF MY OWN, from the director of A Man Called Ove (Scandi FF 2016); the early life of much-loved children’s writer Astrid Lindgren is explored in heartfelt drama BECOMING ASTRID by Pernille Fischer Christensen; in THE REAL ESTATE, after a life of decadence financed by her father, 68-year-old Nojet inherits an apartment building in downtown Stockholm, but what appears to be a cash cow is in fact a curse; and to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Ingmar Bergman’s birth the festival will be screening BERGMAN REVISITED a curated selection of six short films inspired by Bergman’s universe and made by some of Sweden’s most prominent directors including Tomas Alfredson.

The festival will take place nationally from 10 July in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Brisbane and Hobart.

Volvo Scandinavian Film Festival 2018
NSW – 10 – 29 July Palace Verona, Palace Norton Street & Palace Central
ACT – 11 – 29 July Palace Electric
VI – 12 – 29 July Palace Cinema Como, Palace Brighton Bay & Palace Westgarth
WA – 19 July – 1 August Cinema Paradiso
QL – 19 July – 5 August Palace Barracks
SA – 18 July – 5 August Palace Nova Eastend & Palace Nova Prospect
TA – 19 July – 25 July State Cinema
scandinavianfilmfestival.com

Due to popular demand, Pinnacle Films and Monster Fest are pleased to announce an ENCORE Screening of OCCUPATION on Friday May 25th at Event Cinemas Myer Centre.

With the first screening having sold out in 3 days be quick and don’t miss your last chance to be the first in the world to see Occupation ahead of its general release. Both sessions will include a Q&A with special guests from the film!

After their small Australian country town is annihilated by an overwhelming airborne attack, a group of civilians evade capture and discover they are now among the last remaining survivors of an extraterrestrial invasion engulfing the entire planet. As humanity falls under world-wide occupation, they form a home-grown army to fight back against vastly superior enemy forces. On the frontlines of the battle for Earth, they are our last hope.

Be the first in the world to see this movie – tickets are available here!

www.occupationthemovie.com

An eclectic mix of documentary, drama and escapist fantasy, these films transplanted topical narratives of shifting gender, race and social values to the dramatic foreign landscapes of Africa, the Middle East, the South Seas and Asia.

‘Exotic Hollywood’ brings together a selection of these films drawn from the time between World War One and World War Two, when international tourism was still only accessible to the affluent. It offers insights into the American imagination and its conflicted relationship with cultural, racial and sexual views of the time.

It depicts thrilling, if not accurate, tales of adventure and heroism that enticed audiences with dreams of an unspoiled Eden where, after the horrors of World War One, freedom and redemption were possible.

Exotic Hollywood
4 – 28 February 2018
GOMA, Brisbane
www.qagoma.qld.gov.au

The program features works that reflect on humanity’s engagement with the natural world and built environment; portraits of public and private personalities made from home recordings; visual essays and compilations that mine material appropriated from news agencies, advertising and popular cinema; and pioneering collage films that juxtapose found footage from disparate sources. Connecting the various works is a desire to understand the world through poetic forms of montage.

The program takes its inspiration from Alain Resnais’s short film Toute la mémoire du monde 1957 that explores the limits of human memory through the rigorous cataloguing and organising of collections at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

The program is presented in four overlapping thematic sections: ‘Travelogues’, ‘Home movies’, ‘Hijacked media’ and ‘Ready-made cinema’. Each grouping sees artists and filmmakers move deftly through visual and political histories, cultures and environments, and map a deeply personal view of the human condition.

All the World’s Memories
5 January – 24 February 2018
GOMA, Brisbane
www.qagoma.qld.gov.au

From acclaimed director Raoul Peck (The Man by the Shore, Lumumba, Murder in Pacot), I Am Not Your Negrobrings to life Remember This House, the unfinished manuscript of American novelist and intellectual James Baldwin. Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, this blistering film shares Baldwin’s personal experience of racism as considered through the lens of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr.

A most expertly crafted documentary of recent times I Am Not Your Negro offers crucial insights into the history of racism in the United States and acts as a stirring call to action against injustice in modern America and beyond. Director Raoul Peck says; “Never before has Baldwin’s voice been so needed, so powerful, so radical, so visionary.”

ACMI’s Head of Film Programs, James Hewison says; “A deeply personal memoir about the revolutionary James Baldwin, I Am Not Your Negro is made by iconoclast filmmaker, Raoul Peck. This Academy Award®-nominated documentary serves as a rallying point to not only chronicle the seismic impact of the US Civil Rights movement but also to bear witness to Baldwin’s considered yet razor-sharp activism and demands of its audience to ask profound questions of race relations today, not just in the U.S. but indeed Australia in 2017.”
Not just a cinematic experience, ACMI will highlight Baldwin’s voice in a provocative program of special event screenings. Audiences will be challenged to take their viewing of I Am Not Your Negro beyond the screen and share their opinions of race relations in Australia.

On Monday 11 September ACMI, The Saturday Paper and DocPlay will co-present a special preview screening of the film followed by a town hall-style discussion of race relations, inviting audience members to discuss the themes in the film. Leading the discussion will be filmmaker and activist Khoa Do, editor of The Saturday Paper Erik Jensen, and ACMI’s James Hewison.

Opening Thursday 14 September, ACMI will present The Sound of Resistance, a creative response to I Am Not Your Negro. Following a screening of the film, celebrated local musicians will discuss the power of the protest song followed by an intimate performance in the ACMI Cafe & Bar. The Sound of Resistance explores music as a potent form of cultural expression, political protest and as a vital call to action.

Race Politics and Identity on Sunday 24 September offers audiences a rare chance to hear from influential thinkers on African American race politics. Former Kansas State Senator, Donald Betts Junior and American History Professor, Michael Ondaatje. As Donald Betts Junior says, “We need to raise it up, we need to fight and to shout, but we also need to bring it down, to talk and to listen in order to make change.”

ACMI continues to present films that challenge and inform audiences, offering a space for conversation and debate. I Am Not Your Negro and its associated programming provokes greater examination and discussion not only about the historical and contemporary effects of racism globally but also the chasm that exists in contemporary culture for the celebration of ideas, intellectualism and debate in wider society.

I Am Not Your Negro is screening at ACMI from 11 September to 1 November 2017. For tickets and information please visit acmi.net.au/ianyn.

I Am Not Your Negro
11 September – 1 November 2017
ACMI, Melbourne
acmi.net.au/ianyn