Due to some unfortunate clashes with the ACT Government's upcoming Uncharted Territory Festival, we regret to inform you that we have been forced to cancel three of our upcoming screenings. The following films will no longer be screening as originally scheduled:
• LINOLEUM on Friday 7 July at 7:30 pm
• JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS on Saturday 8 July at 5 pm
• YOU HURT MY FEELINGS on Saturday 15 July at 5 pm
We apologise for any inconvenience and disappointment that these changes will cause, and are working hard to reschedule these films as part of our next season, which will commence on July 24. More on that to come next week.
Please also note that the 7:30 pm sessions on both Saturday 8 July (FAST X) and Saturday 15 July (THE INSPECTION) will be proceeding as normal. Only the 5 pm sessions on those days have been affected.
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WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK
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A terrific trio of homegrown Australian films feature at ANUFG this week: coming-of-age drama SWEET AS, Simon Baker's outback neo noir LIMBO, and the extraordinary story of environmental folk hero Bob Brown in THE GIANTS. Plus, scream queen Mia Goth in horror prequel PEARL for a bit of variety!
• THU 29 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: SWEET AS
In remote Western Australia, a troubled 16-year-old Indigenous girl is given the chance to join a group of at-risk teens on an unusual youth retreat where she discovers a passion for photography, in this uplifting coming-of-age drama. (M, 88 mins)
• FRI 30 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: LIMBO
Arriving in a remote Outback mining town to investigate the unsolved cold case of a missing Indigenous woman, a police detective (Simon Baker) uncovers uncomfortable truths about the injustices faced by Aboriginal Australians. (MA, 108 mins)
• SAT 1 JULY @ **5 PM**: THE GIANTS
The story of Australian environmental folk hero and queer icon Bob Brown is interwoven with the life cycle of the ancient eucalyptus trees he's spent decades fighting for, in this poetic exploration of the relationship between man and nature. (M, 113 mins)
• SAT 1 JULY @ 7:30 PM: PEARL
In 1918, a disturbed young woman (Mia Goth) tends to the needs of her parents on the family's isolated farm. She secretly longs for the glamorous life she's seen only in the movies, with her ambitions soon leading to deadly violence. (MA, 103 mins)
What do Russell Crowe, Celine Dion, Ennio Morricone and Slovenia all have in common? Why, they're all featured in films this week, of course! Catch the spellbinding Moja Vesna, the acclaimed documentary about the maestro that is Ennio, an unconventional rom-com with an added dose of Dion (Love Again) and Rusty fighting evil in the name of the Lord as The Pope's Exorcist.
• THU 22 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: BIGGER THAN US
After her mother's sudden death, a 10-year-old Australian-Slovenian girl becomes the unexpected grown-up of her increasingly fractured immigrant family, as she attempts to bring her pregnant older sister and distant father together. (M, 80 mins)
• FRI 23 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: ENNIO
An intimate look at the life and legacy of legendary Italian composer Ennio Morricone, who authored over 500 scores during his lengthy career and is widely considered one of the greatest and most prolific film composers of all time. (M, 156 mins)
• SAT 24 JUNE @ **5 PM**: LOVE AGAIN
Still struggling with the death of her fiancé, a woman sends a series of texts to his old phone number – not realising it has been re-assigned to a journalist, who enlists the help of music superstar Celine Dion to figure out how to win her heart. (M, 104 mins)
• SAT 24 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: THE POPE'S EXORCIST
Travelling to Spain to investigate the possession of a young boy, Father Gabriele Amorth (Russell Crowe), the Chief Exorcist for the Vatican, instead ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy with demonic consequences. (MA, 103 mins)
Begin the week with Bigger Than Us, an uplifting documentary followed by a panel featuring inspirational young speakers. Then go back to April 15, 2019, for a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat recreation of Notre-Dame on Fire. And end the week with a one-two punch of new British cinema: Jennifer Saunders and Judi Dench in the warm, moving Allelujah at 5 pm, followed by the highly original British-Pakistani action-comedy Polite Society at 7:30 pm.
• THU 15 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: BIGGER THAN US (M, 97 MINS)
After winning the lottery, a Texan single mother (Oscar nominee Andrea Riseborough) squanders her winnings on liquor and drugs, leaving behind a world of heartbreak. Years later, with nowhere to go, she fights to rebuild her life.
• FRI 16 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: NOTRE-DAME ON FIRE (M, 110 MINS)
On April 15, 2019, a fire broke out in the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. This intense French disaster film follows the rescue teams who must work against the clock, risking their lives to safeguard the famed monument and its religious treasures.
• SAT 17 JUNE @ **5 PM**: ALLELUJAH (M, 99 MINS)
When the geriatric ward of a small Yorkshire hospital is threatened with closure due to funding cuts, the ward’s staff and residents rally together to fight for its future and invite a news crew to document their efforts in this moving British drama.
• SAT 17 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: POLITE SOCIETY (M, 104 MINS)
A British-Pakistani schoolgirl who aspires to be a stuntwoman attempts to pull off an ambitious wedding heist to save her older sister from impending marriage, all in the name of independence, in this inventive British action-comedy.
Rebellion, revolution and some incredibly strong female leads tie together this week's screenings, comprising Andrea Riseborough's Oscar-nominated turn in To Leslie, yet another powerhouse performance from Olivia Colman in Empire of Light, Vicky Krieps rewriting history in Corsage, and a ground-level look at the Hong Kong democracy protests in Love in the Time of Revolution.
• THU 8 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: TO LESLIE (M, 119 MINS)
After winning the lottery, a Texan single mother (Oscar nominee Andrea Riseborough) squanders her winnings on liquor and drugs, leaving behind a world of heartbreak. Years later, with nowhere to go, she fights to rebuild her life.
• FRI 9 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: CORSAGE (M, 114 MINS)
As she approaches her 40th birthday, Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Vicky Krieps) finds herself increasingly suffocated by her royal duties and comes up with a plan to rebel against her public image, in this irreverent Austrian period biopic.
• SAT 10 JUNE @ **5 PM**: LOVE IN THE TIME OF REVOLUTION (107 MINS)
In 2019, in opposition to the city’s eroding freedoms, the people of Hong Kong took to the streets in unprecedented scale. This documentary follows the stories of ordinary citizens fighting on the front lines at a pivotal moment in history.
• SAT 11 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: EMPIRE OF LIGHT (MA, 115 MINS)
In the early 1980s, the duty manager (Olivia Colman) of a fading British cinema, who is struggling with mental health issues, forms a forbidden relationship with a new employee – but the turbulence of the times threaten to tear them apart.
National Reconciliation Week (May 27 to June 3) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.
This year's theme to "Be a Voice for Generations" encourages us to strive for reconciliation in our everyday lives to ensure that First Nations voices, both past and present, are heard and respected – not just this week, but every day.
Therefore, as part of our ongoing commitment to reconciliation, we will be taking the small but important step of having an Acknowledgement of Country appear on screen before all of our screenings from this week onwards: The ANU Film Group acknowledges and celebrates the First Nations Australians on whose traditional lands we meet, and pay our respects to the Elders of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, past and present.
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WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK
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We have a terrific line-up of films celebrating National Reconcilation Week and First Nations Voices this week: Peter Pecotić's fascinating exploration of identity (Countryman), director Rolf de Heer's acclaimed latest (The Survival of Kindness), Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter in concert (Wash My Soul in the River's Flow) and a spellbinding anthology film featuring interwoven tales by Indigenous Australian and Māori filmmakers (We Are Still Here).
• THU 1 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: COUNTRYMAN + Q&A (78 MINS)
Retracing his late father's footsteps, a traveller embarks on a 10,000km road trip across Northern Australia where he encounters a Warumungu artist whose father was also a migrant. Followed by Q&A with Peter Pecotić and Joseph Williams.
• FRI 2 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: THE SURVIVAL OF KINDNESS (M, 96 MINS)
In a future where people of colour are unaffected by apocalyptic events, an Indigenous woman is left to die in a cage in the desert. When she escapes, she embarks on an odyssey of evading persecution, in director Rolf de Heer's latest.
• SAT 3 JUNE @ **5 PM**: WASH MY SOUL IN THE RIVER'S FLOW (PG, 89 MINS)
Part documentary, part concert film, this is a celebration of the love, lives and voices of two of Australia’s greatest artists – Indigenous musicians Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter – as they perform a legendary concert in 2004.
• SAT 3 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: WE ARE STILL HERE (M, 90 MINS)
A sweeping anthology film which brings together eight interwoven tales from Indigenous Australian and Māori filmmakers, each exploring the impact of hundreds of years of settler colonialism on indigenous culture in their own unique way.
The latest films from acclaimed directors Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters, Like Father, Like Son) and Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar) make their way to the ANU Film Group this week with Broker and Beau Is Afraid, respectively. Plus, Michael B. Jordan makes his directorial debut with Creed III, while Sam Neill and Christoph Waltz make magic in the Queensland-shot fantasy family adventure, The Portable Door.
• THU 25 MAY @ 7:30 PM: CREED III (M, 116 MINS)
Now retired, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) finds his past returning to haunt him when a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy (Jonathan Majors) resurfaces after a long prison sentence, eager to claim his shot in the ring.
• FRI 26 MAY @ 7:30 PM: BEAU IS AFRAID (R, 179 MINS)
After his mother's sudden death, a troubled man (Joaquin Phoenix) embarks on a journey home, but a series of surreal and supernatural encounters along the way force him to confront his darkest fears and decades of generational trauma.
• SAT 27 MAY @ **5 PM**: THE PORTABLE DOOR (PG, 116 MINS)
Two young interns at a mysterious London firm are tasked by their unconventional employers with locating a missing magical door, only to eventually discover the institution's true, hidden agenda to disrupt the world of magic.
• SAT 27 MAY @ 7:30 PM: BROKER (M, 129 MINS)
Two Korean adoption brokers steal an abandoned child to sell him on the black market, but their scheme is discovered by the infant's mother who demands to be let in on the action, in this moving family drama from the director of Shoplifters.
Many thanks to Canberra CityNews for the lovely article about our little film society in last week’s edition of their magazine. We’re big believers in the big screen experience, as we have been for the past 57 years, and that’s never going to change – no matter how fancy home theatres or streaming services get!
We're commemorating the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia this week with Oscar-nominated Belgium drama CLOSE. Also screening is the latest film from Australian-Macedonia director Goran Stolevski (OF AN AGE), Ant-Man's adventures in the Quantum Realm (ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA) and an animated extravaganza with Oscar-nominated animated shorts and Makoto Shinkai's acclaimed SUZUME on Saturday.
• TUE 16 MAY @ 7:30 PM: CLOSE (M, 104 MINS)
Two 13-year-old boys with a seemingly unbreakable bond find their close friendship thrown into disarray when their schoolmates begin questioning their intimacy, causing a rift between them, in this Oscar-nominated Belgian drama.
Presented in partnership with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium
• THU 18 MAY @ 7:30 PM: OF AN AGE (MA, 99 MINS)
In Melbourne during the summer of 1999, a 17-year-old Serbian amateur ballroom dancer has an unexpected and intense – but brief – romance with the older brother of his dance partner, in this acclaimed Australian romantic drama
• FRI 19 MAY @ 7:30 PM: ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA (M, 124 MINS)
When Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and his family are accidentally transported to a sub-atomic dimension known as the Quantum Realm, they must find a way to return home – but not before facing off against an exiled intergalactic warlord.
• SAT 20 MAY @ **5 PM**: 2023 OSCAR NOMINATED ANIMATED SHORTS (MA, 94 MINS)
Catch all five of this year’s Oscar-nominated animated short films in one night! From Australia, Portugal, the UK and beyond, each of these extraordinary entries make their mark with wildly different animation styles and poignant stories.
• SAT 20 MAY @ 7:30 PM: SUZUME (PG, 121 MINS)
When she opens a mysterious door and sets off a chain reaction of disaster across Japan, a teenage girl with unknown abilities becomes the only person who can stop the destruction, in the latest film from the acclaimed director of Your Name. Presented in Japanese with English subtitles.
Presented in partnership with the ANU Anime and Gaming Society
Join us in celebrating National Reconciliation Week 2023 and First Nations voices with a series of film screenings between June 1–3.
Narrative features include the latest from acclaimed arthouse director Rolf de Heer (THE SURVIVAL OF KINDNESS), and a spellbinding anthology film featuring eight interwoven tales by Indigenous Australian and Māori filmmakers (WE ARE STILL HERE). And on the documentary side, we have a beautiful concert film featuring the late Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter (WASH MY SOUL IN THE RIVER'S FLOW), as well as the Canberra premiere of COUNTRYMAN, followed by a Q&A with the film's director and subject, Peter Pecotić and Joseph Williams.
Entry into screenings is free for all ANU Film Group members. Not yet a member? Memberships start at $15 for a week, up to $90 for a full year's worth of films, and can be purchased at the door or online at www.anufg.org.au/join. Please contact us at info@anufg.org.au should you have any questions.
1. THURSDAY 1 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: COUNTRYMAN (2022) + Q&A
Director: Peter Pecotić
Cast: Peter Pecotić, Joseph Williams
Retracing his late father's footsteps, a traveller embarks on a 10,000km road trip across Northern Australia where he encounters a Warumungu artist whose father was also a migrant. Followed by Q&A with Peter Pecotić and Joseph Williams. (78 mins)
2. FRIDAY 2 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: THE SURVIVAL OF KINDNESS (2022)
Director: Rolf de Heer
Cast: Mwajemi Hussein, Deepthi Sharma, Darsan Sharma, Gary Waddell
In a future where people of colour are unaffected by apocalyptic events, an Indigenous woman is left to die in a cage in the desert. When she escapes, she embarks on an odyssey to evade persecution, in director Rolf de Heer's latest. (M, 96 mins)
3. SATURDAY 3 JUNE @ 5 PM: WASH MY SOUL IN THE RIVER'S FLOW (2021)
Director: Philippa Bateman
Cast: Archie Roach, Ruby Hunter
Part documentary, part concert film, this is a celebration of the love, lives and voices of two of Australia’s greatest artists – Indigenous musicians Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter – as they prepare for and perform a legendary concert in 2004. (PG, 89 mins)
4. SATURDAY 3 JUNE @ 7:30 PM: WE ARE STILL HERE (2022)
Directors: Chantelle Burgoyne, Tirana Reweti, Beck Cole, Samuel Nuggin-Paynter, Richard Curtis, Tim Worrall, Dena Curtis, Mario Gaoa, Miki Magasiva, Danielle MacLean, Renae Miami, Tracey Rigney
Cast: Clarence Ryan, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Leonie Whyman, Calvin Tuteao
A sweeping anthology which brings together eight interwoven tales from Indigenous Australian and Māori filmmakers, each exploring the impact of settler colonialism on indigenous culture in their own unique way. (M, 90 mins)
We're proud to be hosting the Canberra premiere of the award-winning comedy EVICTED! A MODERN ROMANCE this Thursday at 7:30 pm. Presented in partnership with ACT Shelter and The Story Mill, the screening will be followed by a Q&A with writer-director Rowan Devereux and producer Sophie Saville.
Evicted! follows four millennial housemates who are soon to be evicted from their rental house in Sydney’s inner west and must embark on a desperate hunt for an affordable new home. Winner of the audience choice award at 2022 Sydney Film Festival, the film takes a satirical and all-too-timely look at today's housing and job market and has been described as ‘THE CASTLE for a new generation’ by the Sydney Morning Herald.
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WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK
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Wahoo! Put on your overalls and head down your nearest warp pipe to see the biggest film of the year – THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE – at the ANU Film Group. Plus, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Viola Davis in an acclaimed true story (AIR), Woody Harrelson and a neurodiverse cast in a sports comedy (CHAMPIONS), an Aussie satire on the housing crisis (EVICTED!) and an Oscar-nominated doco about the opioid epidemic (ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED).
Please also note that ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED is rated 'R' so only persons aged 18+ will be permitted entry into the screening. Proof of age may be required, but you can consider it a compliment if we ask!
• WED 10 MAY @ 7:30 PM: ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED (R, 122 MINS)
Following a near-fatal overdose on prescription painkillers, renowned photographer Nan Goldin puts her life and career on the line to hold the Sackler family accountable for the opioid epidemic, in this Oscar-nominated documentary.
• THU 11 MAY @ 7:30 PM: EVICTED! A MODERN ROMANCE (M, 113 MINS) + Q&A
With eviction hanging over their heads, four housemates embark on a desperate hunt for an affordable share house, in this indie satire on the Australian housing and rental crisis. Followed by post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers.
• FRI 12 MAY @ 7:30 PM: AIR (M, 112 MINS)
In 1984, an executive (Matt Damon) at fledging start-up Nike hatches a daring – and revolutionary – plan to build an entire line of basketball shoes around just one athlete: an up-and-coming player named Michael Jordan. Based on a true story.
• SAT 13 MAY @ **5 PM**: THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (PG, 92 MINS)
Two Italian-American plumbers are mysteriously transported to a magical world and drawn into a battle between a strong-willed princess and an evil tyrant, in this hit animated comedy based on Nintendo’s beloved video game franchise.
• SAT 13 MAY @ 7:30 PM: CHAMPIONS (M, 124 MINS)
Sentenced by a court to community service after a DUI, a hot-headed basketball coach (Woody Harrelson) is tasked with training a team of young players with intellectual disabilities who dream of becoming regional champions.