The Story of Film: A New Generation
From Wednesday 22 June 8.30pm
Filmmaker Mark Cousins examines the most powerful movie images from 2010 to 2021. An epic and hopeful tale of cinematic innovation, uncovering new ways of seeing and being in our eclectic and voluminous digital age.
Examining the most powerful movie images of the last decade, filmmaker Mark Cousins updates his classic The Story of Film with A New Generation. Spanning from 2010 to 2021, including the recent pandemic, Cousins spins an epic and hopeful tale of cinematic innovation from around the globe as he helps to uncover new ways of seeing and being in our eclectic and voluminous digital age.
PART ONE: EXTENDING THE LANGUAGE OF FILM
What are the most powerful movie images of our times? Director and writer Mark Cousins examines the cinema of the last decade, showing us the best movies from around the world that pushed the conventions, and innovated. He begins with an arresting comparison between Frozen and The Joker, then works through films by genre: comedies, music and dance films, bodies in cinema, horror, slow films and the surreal. A rich, surprising introduction to the best cinema of modern times, from Booksmart to Hard to be a God.
Compass - We Come to Take You Home
Sunday 3 July 7.30pm
Kamilaroi elder Bob Weatherall has spent a lifetime working tirelessly to bring home sacred Indigenous ancestral remains that are stored in museums and universities all over the world.
Kamilaroi elder Bob Weatherall has spent a lifetime working tirelessly to bring home sacred Indigenous ancestral remains that are stored in museums and universities all over the world.We Come to Take You Home weaves musical performance and spoken word to tell the story of the long hard battle he and other Aboriginal warriors have fought to bring home their ancestors.
We join Bob and his family on a road trip back to visit the burial ground where the sacred remains of his people were repatriated a decade ago. But for Bob, returning to the resting place is bittersweet, knowing there is still so much more to do.
Production credit: Producer: Tracey Spring. Series Producer: Kim Akhurst. Executive Producer: Amanda Collinge.
River
Wednesday 13 July 8.30pm
Throughout history, rivers have shaped our landscapes and our journeys; flowed through our cultures and dreams. RIVER, narrated by Willem Dafoe, takes its audience on a journey through space and time and spanning six continents.
Written and directed by Jennifer Peedom, the filmmaker of the acclaimed feature documentary ‘Mountain’ and narrated by Willem Dafoe, River is a profound cinematic and musical reflection on how rivers have shaped both the planet’s elaborate landscapes and all human existence.
Throughout history, rivers have shaped our landscapes and our journeys; flowed through our cultures and dreams. River takes its audience on a journey through space and time; spanning six continents, and drawing on extraordinary contemporary cinematography, including satellite filming, the film shows rivers on scales and from perspectives never seen before. Its union of image, music and sparse, poetic script create a film that is both dream-like and powerful, honouring the wildness of rivers but also recognising their vulnerability.
Production credit: Screen Australia and the Australian Chamber Orchestra in association with the ABC and the BBC present a Stranger Than Fiction production in assocation with Arrow Pictures. Written and directed by Jennifer Peedom, Co-written by Robert Macfarlane and Joshep Nizeti. Co-directed by Joseph Nizeti. Produced by Jo-anne McGowan, Jennifer Peedom and John Smithson. Artistic Director, Australian Chamber Orchestra, and composer Richard Tognetti.
