Trial Membership (1 month/4 screenings/1 guest) $18/$15
3 Month Membership (12 screenings/3 guests) $36/$32
Annual Membership (52 screenings/12 guests) $85/$75
Saturday screenings commence at 1pm.
Monday screenings commence at 7pm.
Mailing list and enquiries: brettgarten@iprimus.com.au
Sat 4/8 & Mon 6/8 THE COOL WORLD
The Cool World USA/1963/B&W/106mins/16mm Dir: Shirley Clarke. A 14 year old boy needs a gun so that he can become the leader of his gang in this study of black teenagers in Harlem.
Bridges Go Round USA/1958/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Shirley Clarke. A poetic close-up view, using multiple superimpositions, of a giant metropolitan bridge, first with a soundtrack of electronic music, second with a jazz soundtrack.
Sat 11/8 & Mon 13/8 A DIFFICULT DOUBLE FEATURE
Wavelength Canada/1967/Colour/45mins/16mm Dir: Michael Snow. Made with outdated and deteriorated film stock, 'Wavelength' is a continually changing experience of cinematic illusion and anti-illusion. One of the most acclaimed avant garde films of all time.
Vinyl USA/1965/B&W/66mins/16mm Dir: Andy Warhol. A minimalist adaptation of A Clockwork Orange that predates Kubrick by several years, Vinyl is a series of explorations of sexual taboos. Gerard Malanga dances and performs with chains while Edie Sedgwick assumes the position of the viewer.
Sat 18/8 & Mon 20/8 UNDERGROUND CAMP
Puce Moment USA/1949/B&W/8mins/16mm Dir: Kenneth Anger. A Hollywood star goes through the ritual of assuming an identity - from a planned feature on Hollywood in the twenties.
Flaming Creatures USA/1963/B&W/43mins/16mm Dir: Jack Smith. Ten scenes of uncertain polymorphously perverse sex accompanied by nostalgic and repetitive music filmed on often murky and over-exposed film stock, minimally edited with deliberately obscured boundaries between the scenes. Susan Sontag has rightly described Smith's film as 'too full of pathos and too ingenuous to be prurient'.
Kustom Kar Kommandos USA/1965/Colour/4mins/16mm Dir: Kenneth Anger. A ritual to the point of fetishism carried out by the builder of a 'dream buggy'.
Hold Me While I’m Naked USA/1966/Colour/15mins/16mm Dir: George Kuchar. A mix of lurid melodrama, personal reflections and overblown, or sad, music. Effective as both a melancholy diary of frustration and a powerful pastiche. Said to be a major influence on John Waters.
Blonde Cobra USA/1963/B&W & Colour/33mins/16mm Dir: Ken Jacobs, Bob Fleischner and Jack Smith. A reworking by Jacobs of film and sound tape abandoned by the filmmakers. The original intention was to make a 'light monster movie comedy' in two separate stories. Jacob's film is a fragmented weave of sound and image designed to undermine the viewer's expectations regarding sound/image relationships in a narrative.
Eclipse of the Sun Virgin USA/1967/Colour/12mins Dir: George Kuchar. A follow-up to Hold Me While I'm Naked described by Kuchar as 'a chilling montage of crimson repression'.
SAT 25/8 & MON 27/8 SEX & HYGIENE
Educational films that reflect the changing attitudes to sex education from the 40s to the 80s, including:
For Your Information Canada/1940/B&W/20mins/16mm. A Royal Canadian Air Force educational film for women discussing the effects of venereal disease.
Human Reproduction USA/1947/B&W/20mins/16mm. Though this sex education film concentrates on presenting the anatomy and physiology of human reproduction in sober medical terms, its release kicked off a controversy in many American cities and towns over the legitimacy of sex education in public schools. The film is narrated from the point of view of an adult who tries to decide how to answer his son's natural questions about sex and reproduction. With excellent diagrams of the reproductive process. “A very enlightening film.” www.archives.org
How Billy Keeps Clean USA/1951/B&W/11mins/16mm. Dir:
Shows young, active boys how to play hard yet keep clean by learning how to wash, when to wash, and how keeping clean helps to make a person better liked and healthier.
Dance, Little Children USA/1961/Colour/28mins/16mm Dir: Herk Harvey. From the Kansas Board of Health and the director of the cult classic Carnival of Souls comes this nightmarishly comic vision about how a craze for the Twist causes a syphilis epidemic in small town America. “Especially hilarious” Phil Bacharach, DVD Talk
Vasectomy USA/1972/Colour/17mins/16mm Dir: Several men who have had or will have vasectomies discuss their fears of and reasons for undergoing this operation. Animated diagrams are used to describe the procedures involved.
Condom Sense USA/1981/Colour/25mins/16mm Dir: Steve Faigenbaum. A series of comic vignettes dealing with myths about condoms is interwoven with a story about two young lovers and their conflicts over birth control. Produced before public attention was brought to the AIDS epidemic in the U.S.
Sat 1/9 & Mon 3/9 FILMS ABOUT SCIENCE
End of One USA/1970/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Paul Kocela. A camera records the last moments of a seagull on a polluted beach.
Primitive Man in a Modern World USA/1969/Colour/23mins/ 16mm Dir: Christian propaganda masquerading as anthropology from the Moody Institute of Science. “What were they thinking?” www.laughingsquid.com “Wholly undesirable for student viewing at any level.” American Anthropologist
Hippocampe (The Sea Horse) France/1934/B&W/14mins/16mm Dir: Jean Painleve. Painleve was a trained biologist who experimented with the photography of underwater life, bringing a surreal quality to the natural world.
Flatland USA/1965/12mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Eric Martin. An animated mathematical allegory based on Edwin Abbot’s great Victorian fantasy about a square who discovers the third dimension, but is imprisoned by the inhabitants of the two dimensional world when he tries to preach three dimensionality.
Our Friend the Atom USA/1958/Colour/50mins/16mm Dir: Hamilton Luske. Produced by Disney in cooperation with the U.S. Navy and General Dynamics, builders of the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus, Our Friend The Atom relates the history of atomic energy in a combination of live-action and animation.
Sat 8/9 & Mon 10/9 TOP 12 AMERICAN CARTOONS
A 1994 poll of animation professionals produced this top 12:
1. What's Opera Doc? USA/1957/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Chuck Jones. Parody of Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" with Elmer Fudd in the role of Siegfried and Bugs
Bunny in drag as Brunhilde.
2. Duck Amuck USA/1953/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Chuck Jones.
Daffy versus an off screen animator in this humorous essay by demonstration on the nature and conditions of the animated film and the mechanics of film in general.
3. The Band Concert USA/1935/Colour/10mins/16mm Dir: Wilfred Jackson. Despite interference from a persistent bee, a noisy Donald Duck playing Turkey in the Straw, and a full scale whirlwind, Mickey's band doggedly performs the William Tell Overture.
4. Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century USA/1953/Colour/7min/16mm Dir: Chuck Jones. Duck Dodgers (Daffy) is sent to Planet X to find a new source for the Earth's dwindling supply of the shaving cream atom, Aludium Q-36.
5. One Froggy Evening USA 1955 Colour; Sound; 7 minutes Director, Chuck Jones. A man discovers a singing frog and spends his savings promoting him as a theatrical show with disastrous consequences.
6. Gertie the Dinosaur USA/1909/B&W/9mins/16mm Dir: Winsor McCay. McCay bets a friend he can bring a museum's dinosaur to life by means of a series of drawings.
7. Red Hot Riding Hood USA/1943/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Tex Avery. A wolfish Hollywood hipster loses all control when he catches sight of Red Riding Hood, a shapely cabaret singer.
8. Porky In Wackyland USA/1938/B&W/7mins/16mm Dir: Robert Clampett. Porky pursues the Dodo bird through Wackyland. This is a Clampett classic with 'some of the screwiest gags, characters and concepts in animation history'.
9. Gerald McBoing Boing USA/1950/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Robert Cannon. An adaptation of a Dr. Seuss story about a young boy who makes sounds instead of words.
10. King Size Canary USA/1947/Colour/8mins/16mm Dir: Tex Avery. A scrawny alley cat's desperate search for food rapidly escalates, with the help of a bottle of Jumbo Gro.
11. Three Little Pigs USA/1933/Colour/9mins/16mm Dir: Burt Gillett. This retelling of the traditional story was a morale booster when it was released in the depths of the Depression.
12. The Old Mill USA/1937/Colour/9mins/16mm Dir: Wilfred Jackson. An early Disney colour animated cartoon about birds and animals living happily in a deserted old windmill. Their peace and comfort are disturbed by a violent storm. The Disney style is fully developed at this stage.
Sat 15/9 & Mon 17/9 CHARLIE IS MY DARLING
American Music from Folk to Jazz to Pop USA/1969/Colour/ 46mins/16mm Dir: Traces the roots of popular music in America today. Includes performances by The Dave Clark Five and The Supremes and commentary by Richard Rogers and Duke Ellington.
De Da de Dum Australia/1968/19mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Garry Shead. An experimental documentary about artist/poet/novelist/ singer Pip Proud who, at the time the film was made, was being feted as an Australian underground superstar.
Beatles clips Early music clips and TV appearances.
Charlie is My Darling UK/1966/B&W/46mins/16mm Dir: Peter Whitehead. The first Rolling Stones movie, Charlie… combines concert footage of the Rolling Stones tour of Ireland in 1965 with backstage interviews.
Sat 22/9 & Mon 1/10 FRENCH DOCOS & SHORTS
Nuit et Brouillard (Night and Fog) France/1952/Colour&B&W/
32mins/16mm Dir: Alain Resnais Black and white archival footage of German concentration camps in World War II is intercut with colour shots of the camps as they were in 1956 to create a moving counterpoint of present and past.
Le Maitre Fous (The Crazy Masters) France/1954/Colour/30mins/
16mm Dir: Jean Rouch. A disturbing documentary about the West African religious sect called Haouka. The rituals of the sect are parodies of the military and diplomatic ceremonies of British colonial rule, raising questions about the psychic effect of western civilization on African cultures.
Pacific 231 France/1949/B&W/9mins/16mm Dir: Jean Mitry. Mus: Arthur Honnegger. A visual interpretation of Honegger's musical impression of a fast train hauled by the powerful Pacific 231.
L’Opera Mouffe France/1960/B&W/14mins/16mm Dir: Agnes Varda. Personal and affectionate portrait by Agnes Varda of the market and slum area of Paris known as 'la Mouffe'.
La Premiere Nuit (The First Night) France/1958/B&W/20mins/ 16mm Dir: Georges Franju. A nocturnal reverie woven around a young boy's escape to the Paris Metro for a night.
La Belle Cerebrale (Beautiful Dreamer) France/1967/Colour/ 14mins/16mm Dir: Peter Foldes. A naked girl chews a pear and paints her toenails while two men argue in the background. As she daydreams, a wig emerges from a drawer to caress her, flowers bloom in her hair, and a box opens to decorate her with jewellery.
Sat 29/9 & Mon 1/10 A PYTHON IN THE BOARDROOM: THE CORPORATE TRAINING FILMS OF JOHN
CLEESE
John Cleese co-founded Video Arts in 1971 to create training films for business purposes. Rarely seen outside their workplace context, these films are a must for fans of comedy, Monty Python and middle management.
Who Sold You this Then? UK/1972/23mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Peter Robinson. John Cleese is Charlie Jenkins, the Service Engineer. Shows how he can destroy the reputation of his company and its products every time he talks to a customer. With John Cleese, Madge Ryan, Jonathan Lynn, Bernard McKenna.
Meeting of Minds UK/1973/Colour/14mins/16mm Dir: Peter Robinson. A lesson in how best to handle customers. Highlights the barriers put up by both the customer and the salesperson. With John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Connie Booth, Angharad Rees, June Whitfield, John Barron.
In Two Minds UK/1973/Colour/18mins/16mm Dir: Peter Robinson. A basic training course for all staff who deal face to face with customers in any service industry. With John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Connie Booth
It's All Right, It's Only a Customer UK/1973/Colour/29mins/ 16mm Dir: Peter Robinson. John Cleese plays four different Herberts - head office employees who have lost touch with the real world and are living in a world of their own. With Ronnie Barker.
Man Hunt UK/1974/Colour/32mins/16mm Dir: Peter Robinson. Outlines how and how not to conduct interviews. Shows where and how the three principal faults occur. John Cleese plays the three managerial types who exemplify these faults, Ethelred the Unready, Ivan the Terrible and William the Silent.
Sat 6/10 Only CZECH FANTASY RETROSPECTIVE: DAISIES
Daisies Czechoslovakia/1966/76mins/35mm Dir: Vera Chytilová. Two girls go on an anarchic rampage, joyously exploiting a string of hapless men that get in their way. Imported 35mm print.
Mon 8/10 Only CZECH FANTASY RETROSPECTIVE: VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS
Valerie and her Week of Wonders Czechoslovakia/1970/77mins/ 35mm Dir: Jaromil Jires. Magical earrings are the link to a fantasy world of vampires, priests, grandmothers & carnival parades. Imported 35mm print. “Virtually every shot is a knock-out.” Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader.
Sat 13/10 Only CZECH FANTASY RETROSPECTIVE: LATE AUGUST AT THE HOTEL OZONE & JOSEF KILIAN
Late August at the Hotel Ozone Czechoslovakia/1967/77mins/ 35mm Dir: Jan Schmidt. In a post-apocalyptic world where the male species has seemingly disappeared, nine Amazonian women try to survive, spending their time foraging for food and hunting animals, until one day they encounter a man the last man on earth in possession of a most interesting object.
Josef Kilian Czechoslovakia/1963/38mins/35mm Dir: Pavel Jurácek & Jan Schmidt. Regarded as one of the finest evocations of Kafka, this darkly comic film follows a young man who wanders the streets of old Prague and encounters a "cat rental" shop. Both imported 35mm prints.
Mon 15/10 SORRY, NO SCREENING
Sat 20/10 & Mon 22/10 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE KUNG FU FILM
Join Barrie Pattison, Australia’s leading film historian, in this special multimedia presentation on the development of the Chinese martial arts film from the silent era to the present day.
Mon 29/10 Only THE GURU
UK/1968/Colour/16mm Dir: James Ivory. A jaded British pop star visits India to learn the sitar in this thinly veiled satire of George Harrison’s Indian odyssey. Plus Sai Baba.
