Widescreen

Wednesday 8 August 2007

Surprise Screenings – Bergman and Antonioni

MIFF tips its hat to two of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century who both passed away last week – Ingmar Bergman and Michaelangelo Antonioni. What better way to recognise their legacy than by screening two of their masterworks. On Sunday, Bergman’s The Silence (1963) will screen at 9.30pm at The Forum, while Antonioni’s The Passenger (new 35mm print of this 1975 classic) screens at ACMI at the same time. Tickets via the MIFF Box Office or phone 03 9662 3722. Normal prices apply.

Schedule Changes

After last night's cancellation of Still Life , we are pleased to announce that it will screen this Friday 7pm at the Regent Theatre (replacing Out of the Blue) . Out of the Blue will now screen on Sunday, 9.30pm at Greater Union.
Call the MIFF Box Office on 9662 3722 if you have any questions regarding these changes.

Highlights of today’s screening schedule include

  • Experimental and Conceptual Shorts Programme (5pm at ACMI)
  • Legendary filmmaker Béla Tarr’s moody and claustrophobic homage to film noir based on a Georges Simenon novel, Man from London (9.10pm @ Regent)
  • A highly regarded, multiple award-winner about the tug of war of family relationships from Korea’s Kim Tae-yong, Family Ties (7pm @ Greater Union)
  • The kookiest and most inventive music clips from Japan, very rarely seen by Western audiences, Mirrorball: Made in Japan (7pm @ ACMI)
  • Winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for its stand-out performance by Nina Hoss, Christian Petzold’s metaphysical thriller, Yella (9.15pm @ Greater Union)

The Phantom of the Opera

Following a successful first performance last Saturday of the 1925 version of The Phantom of the Opera, organist David Johnston is ready to wrangle the Regent Theatre’s magnificent 36-rank, Wurlitzer organ again for a unique cinematic offering. Gaston Leroux’s silent classic is very rarely seen in 35 mm film, let alone with a live soundtrack, as it would have originally screened. Step back in time this Saturday at 1pm for a ‘once upon a time’ experience.

best BigPond MIFF shorts

Put a red circle around this Friday in your diary for the short film event to end all short film events, best BigPond MIFF shorts Screening and Awards Night. We’ll be proving that the short is just as mighty as the feature as we hand out the gongs to the best films from our impressive programme of 100 short films. Hosted by Adam Zwar, best MIFF shorts promises to be a night to be remembered, and it all happens in the glamorous surrounds of the Regent Theatre at 9.00pm.

hardtoswallow.jpg
Hard to Swallow

 

Come to Cannes

We can’t promise the sun but we can promise a bit of glitz and glamour at the Regent and Forum theatres for MIFF’s inaugural Come to Cannes day, taking place all day this Sunday. Cannes-direct features – like You, The Living , Mister Lonely , Alexandra , Savage Grace, (SOLD OUT) 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (SOLD OUT) and Man from London – have been packaged together in back-to-back sessions to give you a taste of the Croisette without leaving Melbourne. Many sessions are selling out already, so make sure you book now.

Q&A with Geoffrey Rush and Shekhar Kapur

Acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and Academy Award winner and MIFF patron Geoffrey Rush will be guests of the Festival this coming Saturday. MIFF and X|Media|Lab will present an exclusive opportunity to hear the director of Elizabeth and The Golden Age, Shekhar Kapur, and actor Geoffrey Rush talk for the first time about their experiences over the past few years leading up to their ‘Golden Age’. Tom Ryan will be hosting the session.

It’s all happening this Saturday, 6pm at Coopers Festival Lounge (Forum Theatre).
Tickets $16 via the MIFF Box Office at Forum Theatre or phone 03 9662 3722.

Filmmakers present…

Coming up this week, filmmakers Steve Thomas, Sue Brooks and Kim Anning will present their story of Amal, one of the seven survivors of an Indonesian people-smuggling boat that pitched 400 asylum seekers into the sea, in Hope (this Friday 9pm @ ACMI); Accelerator alumnus Ben Hackworth joins us to introduce his enigmatic feature debut, Corroboree (this Saturday 3pm @ Greater Union); filmmakers Rhys Graham, Natasha Gadd and Pip Campey present their local hip hop doco, Words from the City (this Saturday 7.20pm @ ACMI); and producer Patricia Lovell and actress Noni Hazelhurst introduce their Aussie classic from 1982, Monkey Grip (this Sunday 3pm @ ACMI).

Coopers Festival Lounge @ Forum

It’s with a tear in our eye that we remind you the Coopers Festival Lounge will be packing up shop this coming Sunday. For anyone that has lazed in one of our beanbags, heard some fine tunes and scored a booth for the evening, you’ll know that this temporary space is the only place where MIFF-goers and friends should be seen outside of the cinema. Admission is free and it’s open every day of the Festival.

Tonight at 6pm, Josh Aitken bears his acoustic country heart, previewing songs from his debut album, Dark Clouds. Then at 8pm, DJ Monsieur Rene plays some music back when Hip was getting to know Hop and Prince was listening to Hendrix.

Talking Pictures @ ACMI

Join industry specialists, Festival guests, filmmakers and actors as they discuss everything ‘film’. Get up close and personal, and come armed with your best questions. Admission is free.

Tomorrow at 6.15pm, Experimental Futures – Worldwide Alive and Well brings together visiting female guests from Canada and Brazil, as well as local filmmakers, to flesh out the international landscape in experimental filmmaking. Stepping up for a vibrant discussion, and also screening their films, are Carole ‘Aubriand’ O’Brien (Time Away ), Cristina Miranda (Silver Poem ) and Bridget Walker (One Verse No Chorus ), hosted by experimental filmmaker and Deakin University animation lecturer Dirk de Bruyn.

Sold Out and Selling Fast


Ticket sales are running hot at this year’s Festival and, with only five days to go, there’s no time to dilly dally… start booking right now.

The following sessions are sold out:

  • I Served the King of England – tonight 7pm @ Forum (tickets still available for this tomorrow 7.15pm @ RMIT Capitol)
  • Spicks & Specks Trivia Night @ Coopers Festival Lounge – tomorrow 7pm
  • Inland Empire – tomorrow 9.15pm @ Forum
  • Azur and Asmar – this Friday 1pm @ ACMI
  • Once – this Friday 7pm @ ACMI
  • Hope – this Friday 9pm @ ACMI
  • The Holy Mountain – this Friday 11pm @ RMIT Capitol
  • Black Sheep – this Saturday 7.15pm @ RMIT Capitol
  • Control – this Saturday 9.20pm @ Forum
  • Savage Grace – this Sunday 3pm @ Forum
  • 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days – this Sunday 5.10pm @ Regent
  • Scott Walker – 30 Century Man – this Sunday 7.30pm @ Greater Union
  • Manufacturing Dissent: Michael Moore and the Media – this Sunday 7.30pm @ ACMI
  • This is England (Closing Night feature) – this Sunday 7.30pm @ Regent

The following sessions are selling fast:

  • Little Red Flowers – tomorrow 1pm @ ACMI
  • Paprika – tomorrow 7.30pm @ Forum

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