Tuesday 26 September 2017

Vale Robert Herbert - A special celebration of Robert's life at the Antenna Documentary Film festival

Film-maker Martha Ansara has been in touch to draw attention to this open-to-all celebration

Robert Herbert: Special Gathering at Antenna Film Festival
Ozdox invites filmmakers, film-lovers and friends to a special gathering on Friday, October 13th at 5:30pm at the Antenna Documentary Film Festival where we will raise a glass to the memory of Robert Herbert (1961-2017). This get-together will be followed by a presentation in Chauvel Cinema Two which will include two films by and about Robert. The drinks and screening will be complimentary as we celebrate the life of this extraordinary member of the film community.

Paul Matereke (filmmaker, The Celluloid Domain) and Assoc. Professor Gillian Leahy (filmmaker, UTS Deputy Head, School of Communication) will introduce the films and speak about Robert. No bookings are required.

Robert Herbert died on 28th June this year at 56 years old, way too young. He was special, gentle and wise -- an aesthete, a polymath, multi-talented craftsman, filmmaker, popular DJ, Ikebana master and the consummate and much-loved curator of film at the Art Gallery of NSW for 18 years.

Robert had an abiding respect for Australian filmmakers and over the years tirelessly promoted the work of too many to list, faithfully screening their films as part of his inspired international programming.  Within the AGNSW, he was able to create a highly popular cinemathèque, attracting large audiences to an extraordinary range of films which he was determined to source in their original formats of 16/35mm prints.  

This devotion to celluloid in a digital age was not borne of nostalgia but of a deep desire to offer the best possible cinematic experiences to new generations of Sydneysiders. For almost two decades, this labour of love was a rare flicker of light for film lovers in Sydney. The city, and Australian film itself, are much diminished without Robert Herbert in his Domain.”  -- Ruby Arrowsmith-Todd, AGNSW Film Program Producer

The event will be facilitated by noted documentarist Pat Fiske and the following two films will be screened:
The Celluloid Domain (22 min)  –  Directed by Sydney based Zimbabwean-Australian filmmaker, Paul Matereke, The Celluloid Domain, centres around Robert Herbert as the Art Gallery of New South Wales' exceptionally talented curator of uniquely all-35mm film programs. As a budding young artist, Paul explores Robert's long cinema career as a means of informing and inspiring his own ambitions.

One Episode of Homemade History (5 min) – Using the vast and often forgotten heritage of 8 mm home movies, Homemade History was conceived and directed by Robert Herbert as a project to salvage home movies from the mouldering attic of history.  It is a private record of Australia told in 13 parts. Each five-minute episode uses the home movie footage of a family or individual to tell the small stories that fill in the gaps of our formal history. Colourful, intimate and occasionally out of focus, the series celebrates amateur filmmakers.
For those who knew Robert, this Ozdox event will be a chance to get together, celebrate and exchange memories, but those who did not know him are especially welcome also.  This evening is a unique opportunity to discover a great cinephile who transmitted the transcendent values of films on a truly significant scale.

Robert Herbert’s tribute is a very special gathering within the 7th Antenna Documentary Film Festival (10-15 October, 2017) where Antenna will also present a selection of 50 creative and thought-provoking documentaries from Australia and 20 other countries, along with “DocTalks”, filmmaker Q&As and Gala events.  It is not to be missed!

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