Dedicated to screening rare & significant films in their original format.
Dedicated to screening rare & significant films in their original format.
The Melbourne Cinémathèque is a not-for-profit, volunteer-run film society.
The Melbourne Cinémathèque is a membership-based film society based in Melbourne, Australia.
We hold screenings at ACMI, Fed Square every Wednesday night for most of the year.
Admission is by membership, which can be obtained on a short-term or yearly basis.
We are a volunteer-run, not-for-profit organisation.
7:00pm ELEGIES
Ann Hui (2023) 101 mins – Unclassified 15+
An intimate documentary portrait of the poets and poetry, both literal and figurative, buried within the fabric of Hong Kong’s bustling topography. Although the Chinese title translates as “poetry”, the English title gives a more layered sense of this documentary’s investment in the overlooked wordsmiths that have found passion and nuance in the city’s sprawling diasporic identity. Drawing on interviews with contemporary poets and reflections about those who came before them, this is a clearly personal, place-centred project calling on core themes Hui has turned to throughout her career.
8:55pm VISIBLE SECRET
Ann Hui (2001) 98 mins – MA 15+
Marketed as “Hong Kong’s version of The Sixth Sense and creating a spellbinding atmosphere of ghostly hues and saturated colours facilitated by legendary cinematographer Arthur Wong (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin), spirits lurk everywhere in this playful and symptomatic reflection on both post-Handover and end of the millennium anxieties. In a return to the genre dexterity and hybridity of her early New Wave films, Hui cleverly blends comedy with horror, while respecting and exploring cultural specificities. With Shu Qi (The Assassin) and Anthony Wong.
35mm print.
The Melbourne Cinémathèque started out as the Melbourne University Film Society (MUFS) in 1948 and changed its name to Cinémathèque in 1984.
The Melbourne Cinémathèque aims to present films in the medium they were created and as closely as possible to screen films the way they would have originally screened (i.e. big screen, celluloid prints, not video or DVD).
Programmes include a diverse selection of classic and contemporary films showcasing director retrospectives, special guest appearances and thematic series including archival material and new or restored prints.
We have on occasion hosted numerous seminars featuring renowned film scholars such as David Bordwell, Adrian Martin and Ian Christie. We are also dedicated to providing new annotations on the films we screen via the CTEQ annotations, hosted as a part of the quarterly online film journal Senses of Cinema.
The Melbourne Cinémathèque is self-administered and membership-driven relying on support from individuals, foundations, corporations and government funding to maintain its high standard of excellence. If you would like to be involved, or to offer donations or sponsorship, please contact us.
Presented by The Melbourne Cinémathèque with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.
Curated by Michael Koller, Adrian Danks, Eloise Ross, Cerise Howard and Andréas Giannopoulos for the Melbourne Cinémathèque
Subtitling Logistics: Lorenzo Rosa
Music Synchronisation: Michael Koller
Supported by VicScreen & RMIT University.
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© The Melbourne Cinémathèque
ABN 59 987 473 440
Supported by VicScreen, RMIT University & The City of Melbourne Arts Grants Program.