Long weekend

Long weekend / a mini retrospective of Australian Cinema. 1st-  2nd of June 2019

Between 4 April and 4 June 2019 Austrian Film Museum in Vienna is running a major retrospective of Australian cinema entitled Film Continent Australia. It attempts to answer not an easy question what exactly Australian cinema is with screenings of more than 50 Australian films made between 1919 and 2015. As the introductory text on the Vienna retrospective states, its common denominators are contradictions and dichotomy: freedom and slavery, system and outlaws, city and country, civilization and wilderness, black and white, the familiar and the foreign... Within a Filmotheque we have decided to run an offshoot of the retrospective, named Long Weekend (an homage to an Australian eco-horror of the same name directed by Colin Eggleston in 1978). For our mini-programme we have selected four films which point out dichotomy of freedom and absence thereof. Protagonists of the selected films want to live their lives of freedom, however, in their worlds the only way to do so is to live outside the law. We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to Jurij Meden (Austrian Film Museum), Tara Marynowsky (National Film & Sound Archive of Australia), James Brennan (Umbrella Entertainment) and Rolf de Heer.

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Mad Dog Morgan

Mad Dog Morgan; Philippe Mora, 1976, versions: OR : eng

Daniel Morgan came to Australia with the same goal as many others – to find a fortune. Routine life in a golddigger’s camp is disrupted by a massacre in its Chinese quarters. He makes a narrow escape from certain death. He becomes a bushranger. However, it doesn’t take long until the law comes crashing down on him and he ends up in prison, tortured and raped. After six years he is released on parole and returns to the outback. He befriends an aboriginal boy named Billy and together they set off on a path of robberies and revenge. Show more

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'Breaker' Morant

'Breaker' Morant; Bruce Beresford, 1980, versions: OR : afr, eng

Pretoria, South Africa 1902. Thee Second Anglo-Boer War is coming to an end. Three Australian soldiers serving in the British Army - Harry Morant, Peter Handcock and George Witton are court-martialed, accused of murdering prisoners of war – enemy fighters and an unarmed civilian. In order to facilitate a peace treaty with the Boers that will also satisfy the British and Australian governments, political expediency demands sacrifices. Show more

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The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith; Fred Schepisi, 1978, versions: OR : eng

Jimmie Blacksmith is a young man, a half-caste raised by reverend Neville and his wife Martha in a belief that their „white upbringing“ shall make him a civilized man. The man for whom await greater opportunities at the end of 19. century Australia. Questioning, insults and discrimination push Jimmie over the edge of his „civilized manners“. He is no longer willing to put up with constant humiliation. The only way out is revenge. Raging, bloody revenge on white society. Show more

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The Tracker

The Tracker; Rolf de Heer, 2002, versions: OR : eng, mri

1922, somewhere deep inside Australian outback. The Fugitive – an aboriginal man accused of murdering a white woman is on the run. Three white man – Thee Fanatic, The Follower and The Veteran are on a mission to capture him. They are helped by an aboriginal Tracker. During a trek through inhospitable outback, they are confronted with racist practices of The Fanatic, who will stop at nothing to bring The Fugitive to justice. However, The Tracker’s motives remain veiled in mystery. Show more

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