CINEMA REBORN - David Noakes and Rose Murray to present HOW THE WEST WAS LOST

Cinema Reborn 2025 will feature a number of restored Australian documentaries each of them presented by the film-makers or by people closely associated with the film and it’s restoration. HOW THE WEST WAS LOST is one of those films. It was made in 1987 a collaborative film Directed and Co-Produced by David Noakes and in iits day screened theatrically across Australia, at festivals around the world and included a sale to Channel 4, in the UK, and eventually screened on the ABC but only in a cut down form.  David has now supervised the restoration of this important film along with film restoration expert, Ray Argall, and the new version will be introduced by David at its Sydney and Melbourne Premiere at Cinema Reborn 2025. The film screens at Cinema Reborn in Sydney on Tuesday 6 May and in Melbourne on Friday 8 May.   Accompanying David in the presentation of the film will be Rose Murray. Rose is a Nyangumarta woman whose family were part of the 1946 Pilbara Strike. Growing up in Melbourne, Rose became active in Koori community politics. In 1978 Rose returned her stolen generation Mum back to her family. Rose has had a wide career in health, research, art and community development.   Rose’s thoughts on the film and its place in history are now published as a program note on the Cinema Reborn website. Here is a part of her text. “This is a loved and valued film. We have always encouraged newcomers to the Pilbara to track it down. Having the strikers tell the story in their own way may not happen again. We’ve shown the film at a couple of big venues with David’s permission and it’s been just lovely. Pilbara  mob have gotten up and told the story of their family being on strike. It’s really powerful. Perth people always say, ‘How come we weren’t told?’ ”I’m part of a group helping to share the story of the 1946 Strike in WA schools this year. The Strike and the How the West was Lost film will become better known in schools. I’m going to go to Cinema Reborn and support the Marrngu and other film makers who made it happen. All Australians need to know how important the strike is for today, not just yesterday.”   To read Rose Murray's text click here: David Noakes and Rose Murray are available for interview and a screener copy of the film can be made available for those interested in the film and the people who made it and are now re-presenting it. THE STORY On 1 May 1946, 800 Aboriginal station workers walked off sheep stations in the north-west of Western Australia, marking the beginning of a carefully organised strike that was to last for at least three years, but never officially ended.   The strike was more than a demand for better wages and conditions. It was, in the words of Keith Connolly in the Melbourne Herald, 'a well-considered statement by a grievously exploited people, standing up for their rights and dignity'.   How The West Was Lost tells the story of a shameful yet still largely unknown piece of Australia’s tangled history…   Session times and links  to bookings Click Here

Streaming - Michael Campi draws attention to a new streaming service established by the Polish Film Institute to bring subtitled Polish classics to the world.

A Woman's Decision,
Krysztof Zanussi,Poland, 1975 

Greetings.

You may not need several dozen Polish films to watch before the end of the year but just in case here are details of a new streaming service which seems a model of its kind and, after the establishment of a similar service by the Cinematheque Francaise called HENRI (click to check out the offering) indicates the enormous progress being made by a number of European countries to bring the national cinema heritage to the people.  The Polish links are at the bottom of this note. 

There are several films by Zanussi, Has, Kawalerowicz, Falk, Glinski that I haven't seen.

I saw Has' CODES tonight which was really worth the quite short viewing time. Glowing restoration. 

So far I haven't played with this much.  Using the first of the links below, the Has film played without further intervention apart from choosing subtitles. The link played flawlessly and looked magnificent which is becoming less common with all the invisible watermarks attached to some of these streams lately.  One virtual festival could only be viewed on my iPad in the end with an image so tiny that it was ridiculous to have paid for it. Chrome had been blocked so that the image couldn't be sent to a TV etc. etc. Attaching the MacBook to a television resulted in spluttering images that looked like tiles flying in the wind. 

I believe some of the Polish titles may need an account created which is free till the end of the month. Haha. I've shortlisted about forty titles of interest.  Even if I parted all the waves and watched nothing else for the rest of December, this is an impossible quest. 

There are the usual ways of extending some of the titles on each line and about four pages to be clicked through at the bottom. 

For much of 2021, there has been a steady succession of East European films restored on line.   There were some surprises from Estonia and Latvia and of course Poland has such a rich tradition.  It's interesting how many films by name directors never made our festivals or subsequent national events. 

Happy hunting and all the best for the end of year festivities.  Moreover be safe, well and distanced. 

M

They are available free until the end of the year. 

IF YOU CLICK HERE

Somebody has also posted  a set of Polish film posters with all the titles available on the Letterboxd site. The titles are compiled here.

YOU CAN STUDY THEM IF YOU CLICK HERE

The announcement by the Polish Film Institute is as follows. Sorry about the white on black

In the years 2018-2021, the Polish Film Institute, the Documentary and Feature Film Studios and Studio Filmow Rysunkowych implemented a Project (number POPC.02.03.02-00-0007 / 17), named:

‘Digital restoration and digitization of Polish feature films, documentaries and animated films in order to ensure access in all fields of distribution (cinema, television, Internet, mobile devices) and to preserve Polish film heritage for future generations’, under Sub-measure 2.3.2 ‘Digital sharing of resources of culture’ for Measure 2.3 ‘Digital accessibility and usefulness of public sector information’, under the Operational Programme Digital Poland for 2014-2020.

160 feature films, 71 documentaries, 474 animated films, including 10 full-length animated films have been restored as part of the project. The restoration has covered:

•  feature classics by outstanding Polish filmmakers, i.e. Wojciech Jerzy Has, Jerzy Skolimowski, Andrzej Munk, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, Janusz Morgenstern, Stanisław Różewicz, Kazimierz Kutz, Andrzej Kondratiuk, Lech Majewski, Krzysztof Zanussi, Feliks Falk, Filip Bajon, and many others ,
• films present in pop culture, including the ones directed by: Stanisław Bareja, Marek Koterski, Juliusz Machulski,
• films of the Polish documentary school (including Andrzej Munk, Kazimierz Karabasz, Marcel Łoziński, Andrzej Titkow),
• animated films of high artistic value (e.g. by Witold Giersz, Jerzy Kalina, Mirosław Kijowicz, Andrzej Czeczot),
• animated series for children (including the multigenerational series ‘Rex’, ‘Bolek and Lolek’ or a cartoon series for children titled 2 cats + 1 dog).

The project also included the digitization of 3108 unique episodes of the Polish Film Chronicle from 1945-1994.

All the above-mentioned film materials (nearly 4,000 film items) are available on the 35mm.online streaming platform, the final product of the Project. It implements the main goal of the project, which is online sharing and dissemination of restored and digitized film resources as part of the Project.

The 35mm.online platform presents the wealth of Polish cinematography. It offers artistic, educational and historical achievements of Polish cinematography to its users. They can also watch films present in pop-culture.

All film materials presented on the 35mm.online platform meet the requirements of WCAG 2.0 - they have audio descriptions, transcriptions, subtitles in Polish and English, as well as comprehensive descriptions. For foreigners, the entire film library of the Platform is available in English.

The 35mm.online platform has been prepared in accordance with the latest design standards. In addition to the version for web browsers, the platform will be also available as an application for mobile devices (Android and iOS systems) and as an application for smart TVs (Android, Tizen).

As part of the Project, the Distribution Center (a modern digital film distribution center) has been established at the Documentary and Feature Film Studios. The building, which is the seat of the Center (Chelmska Street 21/21) has been modernized and adapted to modern standards and safety requirements.

The Distribution Center has been equipped with specialized hardware, software, systems and technology platforms related to the launch of the digital repository. It creates a system of various environments that enable:

- professional trading of digital copies in all distribution fields (cinema, TV, streaming platforms),

- creating digital film copies in all formats, versions, parameters (according to the order, for the selected field of use),

- automation of the ordering process - generation of a digital file of the appropriate format and online transmission to the recipient (distributor, licensee).

The operator of the 35mm.online platform and the Distribution Center is the Documentary and Feature Film Studios.

The project was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. The total value of the project is PLN 109,969,779.89, the value of the European Union funding is PLN 78,336,345.68. The project was also co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage in the amount of PLN 14,226,983.73. 

CLASSICS RESTORED AT THE SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL - FLOATING LIFE (Clara Law, Australia, 1996), MANDABI (Ousmane Sembene, Senegal, 1968), RADIANCE (Rachel Perkins, Australia, 1998)

The Classics Restored program returns to the Sydney Film Festival with 
Mandabi, the first feature in an African language,
Clara Law’s 
Floating Life
 (winner of the 1996 
Silver Leopard
 Award at Locarno Film 
Festival) and Rachel Perkins’s 
powerful, authentic and vital
 Australian film Radiance.


Floating Life

FLOATING LIFE


Clara Law’s comic drama follows the fortunes of a Hong Kong family that immigrates to sunburnt 
Aussie suburbia. Australia’s 
first
-
ever submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.


“
A potent portrayal of a family cut adrift from its roots... graced with an original and invigorating 
approach that’s a credit to all concerned. 4.5 stars.
” 
–
David Stratton, 
The Movie Show


BOOK Tickets Here

Presented by the National Film and Sound Archive's digital restoration program 
NFSA Restores


Mandabi

MANDABI


The ‘father of African cinema’ Ousmane Sembène’s
scathing social satire about the effect of post
-
colonialism on Senegalese living is given new life in this meticulous restoration.













BOOK Tickets Here

Radiance

 

RADIANCE


The 
award-winning first feature by Rachel Perkins (Bran Nue Dae) tells the touching and humorous
 story of estranged sisters reuniting for their mother’s funeral.
“Sparks fly as the three contrasting sisters face off against one another and the drama’s payoff 
produces real emotional fireworks.” 
–
David Rooney, 
Variety


BOOK Tickets Here 

Presented by the National Film and Sound Archive's digital restoration program
 NFSA Restores

CINEMA REBORN MARCH NEWSLETTER #3 – The final four titles to complete the 2021 Program

Bjork, The Juniper Tree

Cinema Reborn has announced the final films in its 2021 program screening at the Ritz Cinemas Randwick from 29 April to 2 May.  

 

Full details of all ten programs for the 2021 season can be found  IF YOU CLICK HERE 

 

In the meantime we are proud to present three remarkable feature films and an additional award-winning Australian experimental film to complete our selection

Friday 30 April at 6.30 pm

LE AMICHE/THE GIRLFRIENDS (Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy, 1955, 105 minutes)

A DEVASTATING TAKE ON THE LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP OF FOUR MODERN WOMEN

 

 “what makes [Le amiche] so bracing -- so sad and, sometimes, so funny -- is that its heroines are fallible, flawed, vain and powerful, each in her own way. They often make one another miserable, but their company is always a pleasure.  (A. O. Scott, The New York Times)

Four women friends try to make sense of the suicide attempt by a fifth. Perhaps Michelangelo Antonioni’s greatest early work before he shook the world with the trilogy begun with L’Avventura.It bears the first signs of the director’s cinema-changing style.  As the friends try to make sense of their world, they find themselves examining their own troubled romantic lives. A brilliantly observed depiction of Italian modern bourgeois life. (Source Intrafilm)  

 

Introduced by Jane Mills

 

Screening supported by the Italian Cultural Institute, Sydney

 

CAST  Eleonaro Rossi Drago, Gabriele Ferzetti, Franco Fabrizi, Yvonne Furneaux, Valentina Cortese

 

Le amiche was restored by the Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata. Restoration funding provided by Gucci and The Film Foundation.

 

BOOK TICKETS  JUST CLICK HERE

***************************************

Saturday 1 May at 3.30 pm

LE CORBEAU/ THE RAVEN (Henri-Georges Clouzot, France, 1943, 92 minutes)

 

THE MOST VIVID AND CORROSIVE PICTURE OF NAZI-CONTROLLED FRANCE

Pierre Fresnay, Le Corbeau

The Nazi German-controlled Continental Films sought to hire the best of the Occupied France film industry. Among those who accepted the offer was the young director, Henri-Georges Clouzot who went on to make the The Wages of Fear. Of the thirty films made by the company, Le Corbeau is regarded as the finest, and also as Clouzot’s first, very controversial masterpiece. The film gives full vent to the dark misanthropy  of the times as it studies the effect of betrayal, suspicion and guilt on a village community living under the German Occupation. Source: StudioCanal

Introduced by John McDonald

 

CAST  Pierre Fresnay, Ginette Leclerc, Pierre Larquey, Micheline Francey

 

WATCH THE TRAILER JUST CLICK HERE

BOOK TICKETS  JUST CLICK HERE

****************************************************

Sunday 2 May at 11.00 am

 

THE JUNIPER TREE (Nietzchka Keene, USA, 1990, 78 minutes)

+

SHADOW PANIC (Margot Nash, Australia, 1989, 25 minutes)

 

BJORK’S FILM DEBUT IN A STARTLING REWRITE OF A BROTHERS GRIMM TALE plus A NEWLY RESTORED AWARD-WINNING AUSTRALIAN EXPERIMENTAL FILM

 

The Juniper Tree

A hit on its premiere at Sundance, Nietzchka Keene’s debut feature is also the first film for Icelandic singer Björk (billed here by her full name, Björk Guðmundsdóttir). Adapted from a tale by the Brothers Grimm — one of the gnarly unexpurgated ones, it’s a feminist retelling of the story of two sisters, Katla (Bryndis Petra Bragadóttir) and the younger Margit (Björk), find themselves homeless after their mother is burned as a witch…

 

Preceded by

 

SHADOW PANIC  

Margot Nash’s award-winning short experimental film about internal and external states of emergency, about personal and collective shadows, about resistance and spirit.

 

Kaarin Fairfax, Shadow Panic

CASTS:  (The Juniper Tree) Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Bryndis Petra Bragadóttir, Guðrún Gísladóttir Valdimar Örn Flygenring

(Shadow Panic) Robin Laurie, Rose Wanganeen, Kaarin Fairfax, Elizabeth and Sandra Cook 

 

The program will be introduced by Margot Nash

 

WATCH THE TRAILER FOR THE JUNIPER TREE JUST CLICK HERE

TO BOOK TICKETS JUST CLICK HERE

 

TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS TO SUPPORT CINEMA REBORN

 

CINEMA REBORN is managed and presented entirely an enthusiastic group of volunteers and supporters, presenters and writers. You can assist their work by making a tax-deductible donation OF ANY AMOUNT LARGE OR SMALL via the Australian Cultural Fund. For more information or to make a donation CLICK HERE