Journey through the complete history of cinema in this special season exclusive to ACMI Cinemas.
Spanning fifteen hours, six continents and countless cinema masters, Mark Cousins’ passionate ode to cinema is a wild ride from the silent era to the digital age. Screening exclusively at ACMI Cinemas, The Story of Film An Odyssey is epic in scale and defiantly individual in approach. It is a landmark event that will delight movie fans and hard-core cineastes alike.
The Story of Film An Odyssey is divided into 15 episodes. These can be viewed over a marathon weekend or at your own pace over a number of weeks.
Episodes 1 – 3: The new art-form of cinema gave rise to a myriad of inventive individuals who each imposed their own unique stamp. Stars were born and by the 1920s the new medium became a fully-fledged art that delighted audiences and entranced its makers such as D.W. Griffith, Alfred Hitchcock and Sergei Eisenstein.
Episodes 4-6: Sound came to the cinema and sent the medium into a spin, as old stars faded and new ones burned even brighter. Glamour reigned supreme, genre cinema was born and masterpieces of the medium emerged across the globe, as the devastation of war brought startling and daring approaches to cinema. The story of film became truly global.
Episodes 7-9: Cinema screens of the late fifites and sixties blazed with the shock of new cinema styles. In Europe, names like Bertolucci, Godard, Pasolini, Bergman, Polanski, Tarkovsky and Oshima gained familiarity. African and Indian cinema continued to rise and American films, such as Easy Rider, heralded a new dawn.
Episodes 10-12: National cinemas produced extraordinary talents, including Germany’s Wim Wenders, the Australian New Wave filmmakers and audacious new offerings from South America. The seventies also introduced the world to Bruce Lee and the new American cinema. In the late 1980s, brave filmmakers around the world challenged and protested social and political norms.
Episodes 13-15: A new decade brought with it a wealth of new discoveries as Quentin Tarantino blasted onto the landscape, Baz Luhrmann’s madcap frenetic film language sat alongside Iranian cinema and new Japanese horror terrified global audiences. In a post 9-11 world, the medium itself underwent massive industrial changes propelling films into a bold new direction.
“This is a truly global, stunning and richly rewarding magnum opus” – The Independent
The Story of Film An Odyssey (MA15+) screens from Saturday 29 September – Sunday 11 November 2012. Two marathon weekends have been programmed during the season: view all 15 episodes over two jam-packed days – Sat 29 Sep & Sun 30 Sep or Sat 10 Nov & Sun 11 Nov.
Tickets > Full $15, Concession $12, ACMI Members $11
5 Sessions Pass (can be used to view sessions over a marathon weekend or at your own pace) > Full $65, Concession $55, ACMI Members $50
Visit www.acmi.net.aufor sessions dates and times.
ACMI Cinemas, Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Federation Square, Melbourne
