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Berlin 1993 Australia had three features at the Berlin Film Festival this year, though sadly hone in the official Competition (paralleling Cannes last year). Ann Turner’s Hammers over the Anvil, David Elfick’s Love in Limbo and Richard Lowenstein’s
bourne’s best-known repertory group,
Say a Little Prayer were all screened in the Pano
The Melbourne Cinematheque, going national. The Melbourne Cinematheque
rama section, which highlights new filmmakers
is based on the famous Cinémathèque Française of Paris, a venue for people
All three films were financed as part of the
est possible range of international cin
Australian Film Finance Corporation’s third Film Fund. Beyond Films is the international sales rep
The Melbourne Cinematheque is the place for neglected or nearly forgotten
resentative.
classics, even those recent films that have missed out on a commercial re
AFC News
lease. For the film scholar and student, The Cinematheque is a precious insti tution, exhibiting works of historical sig
There appears to be an ever-increasing interest in specialist and/or retrospective cinema, as ev idenced by the number of cinema outlets which have sprung up recently around the country. In Melbourne, there is the new twin Cinema Nova in Carlton. One of the most contemporary cinema complexes in Australia, it was designed by three young architects, Leonard Hamersfeld, Andrew Straube and Peter Harper, with graphic design by Brian Sadgrove. They believe the experience of going to the cinema should be as exhilarating as the movie itself. Therefore, the architecture at Cinema Nova creates drama and the sense of theatre through the use of sculptural expressionism and stylish materials and colours. From the open foyer with floating ceilings and smashed-glass walls, past dramatically-lit gold blade walls, one enters two intimate cinemas with velvet walls and organic shaped speakers. Also new in Melbourne is the Panorama, in
of the Competition.
to discover and learn about the broad ema art.
Cinemas
and cinemas. Many critics often find the Panorama selection more innovative and interesting than that
nificance from preservation archives, avant-garde and experimental cinema which most students can only read about, films which have shaped current cinema trends and film thought. Realizing the quality and growing reputation interstate of Melbourne’s regular Wednesday-night Cinematheque habit, the Australian Film Institute has invited the Cinematheque out to the rest of the country. The National Cinematheque will bring The Melbourne Cinematheque’s 1993 programme to the AFI cinemas: The Chauvel in Sydney and The State in Hobart. Also, by arrangement with state and local organizations, the programme goes out to The Film and Television Institute of WA, Brisbane’s Metro Cinema and The National Li brary’s Theatrette in Canberra. This is the first time since the days of the National Film Theatre in the late 1970s and early '80s that Australia has had a national repertory film programme. ABOVE: INTERIOR OF THE LARGER OF THE TW O CINEMAS AT THE CINEMA N O V A IN CARLTON. BELOW: EXTERIOR OF PERTH'S CINEMA PARADISO.
The Australian Film Commission announced late last year that Sue Milliken and Associate Profes sor Stuart Cunningham have been appointed as members of the AFC for three years. Milliken is a well-known film producer (Black Robe, The Fringe Dwellers), while Cunningham is Senior Lecturer in Communications and Media Studies and the Director of Research in the School of Media and Journalism at the Queensland Uni versity of Technology, BrisbaneCathy Robinson, the AFC’s Chief Executive, welcomed both to the Board: Stuart has extensive experience in research and teaching in tertiary institutions in Australia, Canada and the United States. He specializes in film, media, cultural studies and broadcasting policy and has published approximately 60 journal and magazine articles togetherwtth several book chap ters and two books. I believe Sue’s broad knowledge of the film industry and Stuart’s academic and research back ground will prove valuable in discussions arid decisions at the Commission. Members of the Commission serve on a parttime basis. As well, Sue Murray, the AFC’s Marketing Di
Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, which shows films via video projection.
rector, has re-located to Sydney after two years in London. Cathy Robinson said:
Meanwhile, in Perth, Cinema Paradiso is a new three-cinema complex situated within the Galleria
Sue has returned to Australia to manage the AsiaPacific region initiatives, the Marketing Branch and its profile in the industry after a difficult job very well done from the AFC’s London office.
development at Northbridge. The cinema is the brain-child of Ron Egan of Entrevision. Egan made his mark on film exhibition in 1989 when he re stored The Astor, Mount Lawley, to its former artdeco glory and re-opened it as a quality art-house cinema. The new cinema will continue in this tradi tion, offering patrons a mix of top-quality Englishand foreign-language films. The cinemas were designed by leading Perth architect Philip McAllister, who was responsible for the rejuvenation of both the Astor and the Piccadilly. The three cinemas have the capacity to seat 210, 230 and 320 respectively. Cinema Paradiso is perhaps the largest arthouse complex built in Perth. Another recent, and astonishing, move is Mel
CORRIGENDUM In Scott Murray’s review of Vincent Monton’s Fatal Bond (Cinema Papers, No. 91, January 1993, pp. 45-6), the director of Breaking Loose was incorrectly referred to as Rod Hardy,
FFC News David Noakes has been appointed Investment Manager (Documentaries) at the Australian Film Finance Corporation. Noakes is Chairman of the Film and Television Institute of W.A. and was a Senior Project Officer at the Australian Film Com mission. In 1989, Noakes was awarded an AFC-ABC Documentary Fellowship and returned to Western Australia in 1990 to begin production on Bigger than Texas, a documentary screened oh ABC television last December. His productions include How the West Was Löst, which won the Human Rights Award for Documentary Film in 1987. Noakes has also taught film and video for AFTRS, TAFE, Curtin University and Murdoch University in W.A. His appointment began on 1 February.
when it should have been Rod Hay. Cinema Papers apologizes to both for this error. BRI EFLY 2 • CINEMA
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