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