Overview
Looking for a way to make hump day a little bit more bearable? The team at the Melbourne Cinematheque have got you covered. With weekly Wednesday night screenings at ACMI, this longstanding film collective are serious about their cinema, showing obscure and exotic movies from all around the world.
The 2015 program is split into numerous thematic seasons, each of which highlights the work of a director, actor or movement. February is earmarked for Michelangelo Antonioni, whose movies La Notte, Zabriskie Point and Identification of a Woman are among the most important in Italian film history.
March, meanwhile, belongs to American Paul Thomas Anderson, with screenings of Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia and There Will Be Blood lining up nicely with the release of his latest movie, stoner detective story Inherent Vice.
Other standouts in the seriously comprehensive lineup include a Mikio Naruse retrospective in July and an Ingrid Bergman showcase in October. There will also be team-ups with a number of specialty film festivals, including the Human Rights and Arts Film Festival in May and the Czech and Slovak Film Festival in September.
Entry into Melbourne Cinematheque events is reserved for members only. You can pick up a mini-membership for $28, which gains you access to three consecutive screenings. True film buffs will get better value out of the restriction-free yearly membership, which comes in at $150.