TFA Cinema Festival

The TFA Cinema Festival is a selection of the most interesting proposals of new Italian cinematography, presented to Australian audiences.

The whole project works around themes related to the Anthropocene, asking what will be the tools to deal with the future, and presenting works that start from the scenarios derived from the transformations of the Anthropocene.

Three days of themed programming across three weekends:

Sunday October 1: FICTION with specifically cinematographic works

Sunday October 8: SCIENCE, with purely scientific works

Sunday October 15: ART, which presents themed documentaries

Our Social Worlds Family Fun Day: Kids and Tweens

Settle in with popcorn and ice-cream and enjoy a feast of classic screen treats!

We start with beloved Australian classic Round The Twist (1990) and a new hit show Crazy Fun Park (2023) which has just won a Logie for Outstanding Kids’ Show. We then turn to the stop-motion animated film Coraline (2009), acclaimed for its quirky, spooky, moving exploration of how young people experience change. This combo, never before seen on the big screen, is as fun as it is surreal, supernatural, and (maybe even a little) scary.

In the interval, join Crazy Fun Park director Nick Verso and RMIT screen and social scientist experts Dr. Djoymi Baker and Dr. Sarah Polkinghorne for a conversation about what these shows tell us about struggles we all face and the power of screen stories to help us understand memory and change.

Our Social Worlds: (Re)Inventions is a highlight of RMIT’s events marking national Social Sciences Week, convened by the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. Supported by the RMIT Enabling Impact Platforms, College of Design and Social Context, College of Business and Law, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, and RMIT Culture.

 

The Best Films You’ve Never Seen: Tokyo Story (1955)

Now regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, Tokyo Story took years to be appreciated for the masterpiece it is. Set in post-WWII Japan, the film explores the implications of Western capitalist values, the breakdown of traditional Japanese family structures, and the place of children in a changed social and political world. Film Critic David Thompson once asked if has ever been a film more moving than Tokyo Story, and the film continues to emotionally impact new audiences.   

In Sight and Sound’s 2022 Greatest Films of All Time list, Tokyo Story made the #4 spot, a ranking that it has never procured before. It will be screened at The Capitol with Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbour Totoro, making this Japanese double feature night one to remember. Both films have been lauded by critics worldwide as classics, yet neither are household names. Hear from RMIT’s animation research expert Dr Ruth Richards and co-curator of the Melbourne Cinematheque Associate Professor Adrian Danks, as they introduce these films and give context to first time viewers and fans alike.

Films will be screened in Japanese, with English subtitles.

Please note, tickets for the films may be purchased separately, or as a two-film package.

6.00pm: My Neighbour Totoro

Language: Japanese | English subtitles

Japan | 1988| 86 mins

 

8.00pm: Tokyo Story

Language: Japanese | English subtitles

Japan | 1953| 136 mins

 

These screening are presented in partnership with RMIT Culture and RMIT Cinema Studies.

 

Everyday Oceans: Surfing, Swimming and Gardening

To mark World Ocean Day join ORCA members, Rebecca Olive and Fiona Hillary, for an immersive festival of short films highlighting the ordinary and profound impacts that everyday interactions with the ocean can have on our lives, and the responsibility we feel in safeguarding itss future.

The program includes exclusive screenings from the team at Great Southern Reef, as well as breath taking short films from artists and researchers from Australia, Ireland, the UK and USA. Over the course of the evening hear from the filmmakers and immerse yourselves in films that ask you to consider relationships of human-ocean health and wellbeing and how our ocean interactions alert us to pressing issues affecting our marine ecosystems. 

A portion of profits from tickets will go to The Great Southern Reef Foundation.

Image Credit: Mick Sowry

Sea Country (2022)

Sea Country is a Great Southern Reef Film directed by Stefan Andrews and co-produced by Scott Bennett. Featuring the stories of Dean Vicki, Rob and Maddie Anders who have a deep connection to the coast and ocean. Their cultural practices connect them to the past, enrich the present and inspire their futures. This is their connection to sea country.

Language: English | 15.17mins | AU

Lunar Cycle (2018)

Directed by Andrew Kaineder, and written by and starring surfer, Easkey Britton, this film explores the importance of cycles – of bodies, seasons, tides, and the moon – on how we connect to ourselves and to the places we live. Take an emotive journey through the places in-between, where instability reigns supreme. Embracing the imperfections as we connect with ourselves and the environment around us.

Language: English | 5.15mins | IRE

Polluted Leisure (2019)

An award-winning film by Clifton Evers and James Davoll, based on research with men who surf in the cold waters of North-East England. Polluted Leisure explores the less romantic experiences of a life lived for surfing in the ocean. Surfing is understood as healthy, but how does immersion in pollution and industrialisation impact this relationship.

Language: English | 6.07mins | UK

The Water Holds Me / The Water Binds Us (2021)

Representing research by Charlotte Bates and Kate Moles, watercolour animations by Lily Mae Kroese and field recordings of human and non-human voices bring the story of wild swimming in the UK to life. Soft and gentle, this film reflects the quiet of being in water, and sharing that experience with the people and animals we come across.

Language: English | 2.19min | UK

The Surf Magazines Don’t Talk About Lapsed Catholics (2008)

Directed by Todd Stewart with footage captured by cinematographer Antonio Sanchez, Lapsed Catholics is a short memoirumentary about the rigors of what is perhaps the silent surfing majority. Claiming to be a surfer is a big part of so many of our lives, but a busy life in the city means you visit the ocean less and less often, at what point do we concede we are we lying to ourselves about who we have become?

Language: French| 5.31min | USA

Gardening Marine Forests (2023)

Join two marine scientists as they explore how a hands-on approach to marine restoration is working to revive marine kelp forests in South Korea. During their trip, they witness how a deep connection with the ocean is inspiring change. In Korea, this connection runs across society, from a hundreds of years-old guild of female free divers to the Korea Fisheries Agency using the latest techniques to manage their kelp forests. Directed by Stefan Andrews and the Great Southern Reef team, this breath-taking documentary showcases the work being done in Korea to restore the kelp forests that have been decimated by urchin barrens and environmental pollution. 

Language: Korean and English| 19min | AU

Ferguson Rises

A special screening of the award-winning film Ferguson Rises – with Director Mobolaji Olambiwonnu and Michael Brown Snr in attendance.

In 2014, Michael Brown Sr’s son was killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, an event that fuelled the global Black Lives Matter movement. But his personal story seeking justice and healing, and the story of the community, have not been told until now.

A panel of special guests will come together after the screening to discuss the film and the Black Lives Matter movement here in Australia and America.

Film, Fashion, Franchise & Ms Fisher

How do you build a brand like Miss Fisher? As part of Melbourne Fashion Week, The Capitol, RMIT School of Media and Communication and Every Cloud Productions will host this special event-screening and in-conversation about how the Miss Fisher universe was created and how you develop a franchise as successfully as the phenomenal spin-off series, Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries.

The evening will commence with a screening of Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries Season 2, Episode 1 and an exclusive “Making of” featurette with the show’s heads of departments covering costume design, hair and make-up and production design.

Hosted by Lisa French, Dean, School of Media and Communication, RMIT, the post-screening conversation invites Ms Fisher’s co-creator and executive producer and RMIT Adjunct Professor, Fiona Eagger; producer Beth Frey; accomplished actress Catherine McClements, who plays Birdie Birnside in the series; costume designer Penny Dickinson; hair and make-up designer Lynn Wheeler; and co-executive producer Peter Mattessi, who has written for TV in the UK and Australia. Additional heads of department guests to be announced closer to the event.

The conversation will explore what goes on below-the-line and behind-the-scenes and dissect how various areas of expertise – such as costume design, hair and make-up, location scouting, producing and licensing and more – work collaboratively to create the world of Ms Fisher. We’ll also look at how the authenticity of the series was enriched and inspired by Melbourne’s period architecture.

Students and aspiring film and TV professionals will be inspired and exposed to a broader understanding of the many career pathways available to them across different disciplines in the screen industry.

A capsule showcase of striking costumes from the production will also be on display in The Capitol’s spectacular Salon. The capsule compliments a fuller exhibition of the extraordinary Ms Fisher costumes at Collins Place during Melbourne Fashion Week.

Presented with RMIT School of Media and Communication and Every Cloud Productions.