Alana Hunt recommends the choice of film at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, where you will find everything from Sophia Coppola to Victor Hugo.
One of my favourite things at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) is their free weekly film program. Curated by Sydney cinephile Robert Herbert, in conjunction with the gallery’s major exhibitions, the program brings a diverse collection of rare, unusual and compelling films, that you’d probably have a difficult time seeing anywhere else, together on the big screen.
The screenings generally take place every Wednesday and Sunday afternoon at 2pm and Wednesday evenings at 7.15pm, with the occasional Saturday screening scheduled in. I always imagine this film program as a kind of “specialist event for a select dedicated audience” – but every time I attend I’m blown away by the amount of people who pile in and fill the 320 seat theatre to its maximum capacity. The program has certainly gathered a mighty following, and while there are no bookings or charges, the AGNSW now recommend arriving an hour early for the Wednesday evening and Sunday afternoon sessions so as to pick up a ticket and ensure yourself a seat. That hour can easily be spent viewing the gallery’s exhibitions, in its library or having a tea or a bite to eat in the café.
Located just across from the Domain in the heart of Sydney – walking distance from Town Hall, Martin Place and Circular Quay – the AGNSW’s film program is a really lovely way to catch an afternoon or evening film in the heart of the city for both locals and visitors alike.
And if you’re keen for a bit of contemporary art, it might be nice to double things up and visit Artspace. Tucked just down behind the AGNSW in the historic Gunnery Buildings of Woolloomooloo Artspace is one of Australia’s leading international residency-based contemporary art centres. A regular venue for the Sydney Biennale, Artspace has an exciting public program that fosters the development of challenging new art practices and the exploration of critical contexts for contemporary art year round.
But what makes the AGNSW’s film program so special is the intimate detail attended to the program by its curator Robert Herbert, who also happens to be a filmmaker and writer. Herbert’s dedicated and passionate cinephilic character is evident in the fact that, whenever possible, the films are shown not from dvd but from actual 35mm, 16mm and super8mm film reels. With developments in digital technology making film projection an increasingly rare and old time practice, it continues to remain a visually evocative medium that adds a unique, full and somewhat nostalgic touch to the cinematic experience. Herbert’s respect for the film form is evident in his own made-for-television series Homemade History (2003), which drew upon amateur super8mm footage, sourced from the 1930’s up to the 1980’s, to produce 13 five-minute intimate tales of everyday Australian life. With a probing interest in both art and film Herbert brings together a range of eclectic films – linked to the gallery’s exhibitions through curious pieces of information and anecdotes about the artists, their works and inspiration, as well as the historical periods in question. The current program, David to Cézanne film series: romance and revolution presents a cinematic history of France through the late 18th and into the 19th centuries. Films span from Raymond Bernard’s ambitious 1933 cinematic adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables to Sophia Coppola’s more recent and interpretive retelling of Marie Antoinette’s life as a young queen in the years leading up to the French Revolution.
The AGNSW’s film program, while providing a fabulous outing in Sydney free of cost, at once unveils and helps to build an interesting dialogue about the subtle overlapping nature of our cultural forms.
http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/calendar/type/free/
http://www.artspace.org.au/index.php
