State Library of Queensland to Bin Popular Cult Film Program

SLiQ Flicks has been given the boot, with the State Library of Queensland’s popular free film program finishing up for good after its current schedule comes to an end. The last screening takes place on August 31, showing the winner of the final audience vote — either Fellini’s 8½, Dead Man or Berberian Sound Studio.

For four years under curator Lance Sinclair, SLiQ Flicks has screened classics and cult flicks alongside the underseen and underappreciated — as well as offering a second chance to view newer favourites on the big screen. Programmed by theme each month, Sinclair’s choices have proven interesting and eclectic, ranging from The Holy Mountain to Haxan, Zoolander to The Man Who Fell to Earth, Sorcerer to Kill List, Upstream Color to Samson and Delilah.

After the demise of Tribal Theatre as a cinema in 2012, SLiQ Flicks has provided Brisbane’s only consistent weekly program of retrospective screenings.

The State Library of Queensland has also hosted a number of externally-organised film festivals as part of the program, such as the Brisbane Refugee Film Festival and the forthcoming Australian International Animation Festival. Hopefully, these type of events may continue on a space-for-hire basis.

Regular film screenings have long been a feature of the State Library of Queensland’s calendar of activities, including involvement in the early years of the Brisbane International Film Festival — which has now become the Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival. The loss of SLiQ Flicks adds to the growing list of recent changes to the Brisbane cinema scene.