Mid-August Lunch "Pranzo di Ferragosto"

Reels' Christmas party and final screening for 2011

Thursday 1st December 2011
6.30pm drinks and nibbles
7.15pm film screens

8 wins and 6 nominations in worldwide film festivals

This charmer follows Gianni, a 60-something Roman who lives with his tyrannical 93-year-old mother, Valeria, and suddenly finds himself forced to look after three other elderly ladies. As the late summer holiday of Ferragosto approaches, Gianni (director di Gregorio) is blackmailed by his building manager Luigi into looking after Luigi’s mother for two nights in exchange for forgiving certain tenant debts. But when Luigi comes to the apartment, he’s brought not only his mother Marina, but his aunt Maria as well. Soon after, Gianni’s doctor-friend Marcello pays a call, asking if he can leave his mother, Grazia for just one night. The aging women, each with her own strong personality, prove a handful while grudging host Gianni attempts to monitor their pill intake and pacify them with food. Debuting director di Gregorio’s combination of artistry and humanity avoids platitudes and exaggeration as he spins this warm-hearted, humorous tale.

Watch trailer http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s2820920.htm

Filming locations Rome, Lazio, Italy

Classification: PG
Duration: 72 mins
Director: Gianni Di Gregorio
Language: Italian with English subtitles
Country: Italy

Next Screening "TropFest 2011" Thursday 8th September 2011

Thursday 8th September 2011
6.30pm wine and nibbles
7.00 pm film screens

TROPFEST

the world's largest short film festival

A DESPERATE DEED
Director: Matt Bird
Producers: Matt Bird & John Marsh

Living on the brink and struggling to provide for his young family, a father arms himself and sets off into the night to commit a crime. Back at home, his wife waits anxiously for his safe return.


ANIMAL BEATBOX  -  WINNER
Director/Producer: Damon Gameau

An animated call of nature. We journey down a jungle river and are introduced to different animals who all lend their names to be a part of a collective song. It is a light, fun look at our unique animal planet.


DEN SISTA GALAXONAUT
Director/Producers: Alexander George & Tyrone Lindqvist

The film is about Sven Larsson – who was the first man on the moon. It will educate on Sven’s early life and the Swedish Space Program of the 1960’s.


FLIGHT
Director/Producer: Nicholas Verso

Jonah dreams of being able to fly away from his life in the housing commission. But after an encounter at the local skate park, he finds his wings in an unexpected way.


FOCUSDirector/Producer: Ari Kruger

Boy meets girl. They fall in love. Things have never felt better. But one day, he notices something about her he hadn’t noticed before. Her pinky finger is blurred. Out of focus. He hopes that it’ll go away, but when it comes back, it’s worse than before...


MISSING HER
Director/Producer: Michael Weisler
When the one thing that means anything to you vanishes, is there still hope? For six-year-old Henry, this question burns brightly as he is thrust into a new life, in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by strangers.


MONKEYS
Director: Joel Edgerton
Producers: Louise Smith & Joel Edgerton

Friendship is tested when a guy realised his mate has gone and copied his haircut. Will he confront his true emotions?

SILENCER
Director/Producers: David Collins & Doug Bayne

You never hear the shot that gets you. David Collins is the most dangerous assassin on the face of the planet, because nobody ever hears his shots.They are very, very quiet indeed.

THE APPLICANT
Director: Tim Dean
Producers: Chris Corbett & Tim Dean

An Applicant. An Interviewer. An office. But what exactly is the Applicant applying for?

THE MAESTRO
Director: Adam Anthony
Producers: Adam Anthony & Edward Copestick

On unkind city streets an off-key derelict liberates a device empowering him to create a symphony out of the world around him.  When the orchestra becomes as big as the city itself, will The Maestro still be able to control his world of sound?

THE UNSPOKEN
Director/Producer: Jason van Genderen

A confronting look at a film maker's personal journey to reach out to his dying father. 'The Unspoken' sheds light on a lifetime of affirmations never spoken between a father and his son. As the film maker's father prepares to take his last stand with terminal lung cancer, Jason prepared this film as his last chance to reach out before he slips away.

THINGS TO DO
Directors: Daniel Jameison & Ana Maria Belo
Producer: Ana Maria Belo

One night and day in Tim and Sara’s life. How far do you go for the one you love? How much can you sacrifice? How much can you ask? What do you really need to be happy?

TRANSPARENCY
Director: Melissa Cowan
Producers: Emely Nott

Behind every photograph is a story.  How does the photographer judge whether it is his story to tell?  Is Tom willing to risk everything he ever had with Julie to tell her story?  Will Tom ever learn to live life outside the frame?

Y2GAY
Director: Dan Ilic & James Pender
Producers: Peter Slee

We all remember how bad Y2K was. Well reinforce your doors and stock up your bunker, because it's happening all over again. The gays are getting married, and Mick is convinced that everything will change for the worse. There’s always something to be scared of and this year it’s Y2GAY.

A FAMILY AFFAIR
Director/Producers: Stevo Petkovic, Melinda Cklamovska, Craig Anderson

From the outside Helen and Malcolm appear to be like any other brother and sister, but these two have a controversial secret... they are in love! Since going public, their family have disowned them and the courts want them behind bars, so Helen and Malcolm are dealing with the stress the only way they know how... by having as much sex as possible!

Next screening   |  Thursday 28th July 2011

5.30pm AGM

6.30pm pre-screening drinks and nibbles

7.00pm film screens

Agora

**** Margaret ****.5 David  ******* IMDB

4th century A.D. Egypt under the Roman Empire… Violent religious upheaval in the streets of Alexandria spills over into the city’s famous Library. Trapped inside its walls, the brilliant astronomer Hypatia and her disciples fight to save the wisdom of the Ancient World… Among them, the two men competing for her heart: the witty, privileged Orestes and Davus, Hypatia’s young slave, who is torn between his secret love for her and the freedom he knows can be his if he chooses to join the unstoppable surge of the Christians.

After his Oscar for The Sea Inside, Alejandro Amenábar now invites the audience to “experience the reality of a remote civilisation.” AGORA is a singular journey to the Egypt of two thousand years ago, to the mythical city of Alexandria and to the dramatic destruction of its Library. The film is inspired by real events which have never before been brought to the screen. It is the director’s fifth film, a huge scale production fraught with remarkable energy.

map of ancient Agora, Alexandria

Shot in English, AGORA boasts an international cast. Rachel Weisz, (Oscar for The Constant Gardener), plays Hypatia of Alexandria. Young actor Max Minghella (Syriana) plays Davus, the slave. Around them, a very solid cast: Oscar Isaac (Body of Lies), Rupert Evans (Hellboy), Ashraf Barhom (The Kingdom), Sammy Samir (Nativity) and the veteran French actor Michael Lonsdale (Munich).

“One of the things that surprised us most during our research was discovering that there were two libraries in Alexandria. The first was burnt down when Julius Cesar arrived. The film is about the second library, and Hypatia was one of the leading figures in the story of its destruction. It is a period that has not been dealt with in cinema and we thought it could fascinate the audience,” says Alejandro Amenábar.

“Alexandria was the hub of all intellectual learning at the time. People came from all corners of the earth to discuss theatre and philosophy and Maths and astronomy and it was a time of incredible learning and a passion for learning. And then towards the end of her life Alexandria became part of the Holy Roman Empire and it went under Christian rule and it was essentially the beginning of the Dark Ages. So she really straddled a very interesting moment in history, from the most enlightened time to perhaps one of the least enlightened times,” says Rachel Weisz.

 “From the beginning of the project, my goal, formally-speaking, was to make the audience feel like they’re following a CNN team documenting something that happened in the 4th century. That sense of urgency, like breaking news, was the basis of my approach. I wanted to break with some of the established norms of period films; not just shoot the larger format, wide angle shots and grandiose music. AGORA is a blend of rigour and spectacle.”

HYPATIA OF ALEXANDRIA

Daughter of Theon, the last director of the legendary Library of Alexandria, Hypatia lived in the 4th century A.D., when the decadence of the Roman Empire set in and the world began its change towards a new order. Astronomer, mathematician and philosopher, Hypatia was a noted scientist and a symbol of tolerance in her native Alexandria. Although her scientific works have been lost, the image of her that lingers in history is that of a strong woman who devoted her life to the search for truth.

Director: Alejandro Amenabar
Lead actor: Rachel Weisz
Cast: Max Minghella, Oscar Isaac, Rupert Evans, Ashraf Barhom, Michael Lonsdale, Sammy Samir
Producer: Alvaro Augustin, Fernando Bovaira
Screenplay: Alejandro Amenabar, Mateo Gil

Official website including interviews with Director and film production noteshttp://www.transmissionfilms.com.au/index.php/agora/

ABC 'At The Movies' Reivew

http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s3044689.htm

More info, goofs, Jay Leno show
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186830/

Rated MA

Language = English
Country = Spain

Next Screening "Father of my Children"

Thursday 30th June 2011

6.30pm pre-screening drinks and nibbles

7.00pm film screens

Father of my Children

**** Margaret ***.5 David
ABC's At the Movies 

Grégoire Canvel (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) has it all – a wife and three delightful daughters he adores and a stimulating job that he's devoted to; he's a film producer. Discovering new talent and developing projects is what drives and fulfills him.

On the surface Grégoire seems invincible, maintaining humour and charm as he juggles the never-ending demands of his company with his domestic responsibilities. But passion can also lead to obstinacy, and when Grégoire's reserves - financial and emotional - reach a dramatic tipping point, his beautiful wife Sylvia (Chiara Caselli) and children share in the repercussions...

Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, director Mia Hanson-Løve's compassionate drama reaffirms her status as one of the most exciting young talents to emerge from France in recent memory. Engaging, restrained and profoundly moving, Father Of My Children offers a rare insight into the joys and challenges of family life, yet is also a must-see experience for anyone with an interest in - or love for - the world of cinema.

Trailer
http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s2970923.htm


Classification: M
Duration: 110 mins
Genre: Drama, Family
Director: Mia Hansen-Love
Lead actor: Louis-Do de Lencquesaing
Cast: Chiara Caselli, Alice de Lencqueasaing, Alice Gautier, Manelle Driss, Eric Elmosnino, Sandrine Dumas
Producer: Oliver Damian, Philippe Martin, David Thion
Screenplay: Mia Hansen-Love
Music: Pascal Auffray
Distributor: Palace Films
Language: French
Country: France

Next screening the classic "Last Tango in Paris"

Thursday 19th May 2011

6.30pm pre-screening drinks and nibbles

7.00pm film screens

Last Tango in Paris

the cinema classic starring Marlon Brando & Maria Schneider

In recognition of the recent passing of Maria Schneider we are screening the 1972 cinemal classic "Last Tango in Paris".

Nominated for two Academy Awards - Best Director (Bernado Bertolucci) and Best Actor (Marlon Brando) - and exuding a sexual energy unlike any film before or after, this is the scintillating classic that shocked a nation... and "altered the face of an are form" (Pauline Kael).

He (Brando) is a 45 year old American living in Paris, haunted by his wife's suicide. She (Maria Schneider) is a 20 year old Parisian beauty engaged to a young filmmaker. Though nameless to each other, these tortured souls come together to satisfy their sexual cravings in an apartment as bare as their dark, tragic lives. Caught up in the frenzied beat of a carnal dance they cannot seem to stop, these unlikely lovers take their passion to erotic heights - and depths - beyond anything they could ever have imagined.

Next screening "Animal Kingdom"

Thursday 7th April 2011

6.30pm pre-screening drinks and nibbles

7.00pm film screens

Animal Kingdom

****.5 stars Australian film

Celebrating the recent Oscars and the nomination of Australian film industry stalwart,  Jacki Weaver, Reels at Wehl, is screening 'Animal Kingdom'.

ANIMAL KINGDOM is a powerful psychological crime drama that tells the story of a tense battle between a dangerous criminal family and the police.

Armed robber Pope Cody (BEN MENDELSOHN) is in hiding, on the run from a gang of renegade detectives who want him dead. His business partner and best friend, Barry 'Baz' Brown (JOEL EDGERTON), wants out of the game, recognising that their days of old-school banditry are all but over. Pope's younger brother, the speed-addicted and volatile Craig Cody (SULLIVAN STAPLETON), is making a fortune in the illicit substances trade - the true cash cow of the modern criminal fraternity - whilst the youngest Cody brother, Darren (LUKE FORD), naively navigates his way through this criminal world - the only world his family has ever known.

Awards

World Cinema Jury prize at Sundance

Oscar nomination best actress

Reviews

****.5 stars. The revelation here is JACKI WEAVER, always a fine actor but seldom revealing the depths of character she does here. All the performances are superb, down to the small parts. ABC's David & Margaret  'At the Movies'

Most countries do not define themselves by their criminals, but most countries were not established as dumping grounds for the poor and criminal classes either. The hatreds go back a long way. In a sense, there's a direct line between the shootout at Glenrowan in 1880 – when the Kelly gang and the cops attempted to settle things their own way – and the events of Animal Kingdom, an extraordinarily tense, menacing film set in a Melbourne crime family in the recent past.

Animal Kingdom is cinema, not television. The difference is subtle but significant. There is more unsaid, more told by the camera rather than dialogue and more time to develop ideas in the script.

No one will accuse this film of romanticising criminals but nor does it allow us to see them simply as beasts.

The title carries a second inference: we all live in the same jungle. The Age

http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/animal-kingdom-20100604-xipy.html

Classification: MA
Duration: 113 mins
Genre: Drama
Director: David Michod
Cast: Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, Luke Ford, Jacki Weaver, Sullivan Stapleton, James Frecheville
Producer: Liz Watts
Screenplay: David Michod
Distributor: Madman
Language: English
Country: Australia

Trailer http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s2899467.htm

Next screening "Departures"

Thursday 24 February 2011

6.30pm pre-screening drinks & nibbles  |  7.00pm film screens

"Departures" is a story of love, of discovery, of revelation and of the transcending human spirit, "Departures" will linger in your heart and mind long after viewing.

Academy Award® Winner for Best Foreign Language Film of the year, "Departures" is a delightful and sensitive journey into the heartland of Japan and an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan's cultural heritage.

A premiere symphony orchestra in Tokyo disbands, leaving Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) suddenly unemployed.  Suffering from an innate sense that he is a mediocre musician, he faces up to the fact that not everyone who has devoted their life to music can become a top artist. With wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue) in tow, he moves back to his home town in the northeastern prefecture of Yamagata.  They move into the crumbling remains of his mother’s house, which doubled as the local pub. 

Spotting a Help Wanted ad featuring the word “departures,” he is excited about the prospect of trying a new career in the travel industry.  He arrives for the interview, curiously eyeing the coffins lining the back wall of the office.  The company owner, Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki), hires him on the spot, with only a cursory glance at his resume. Daigo finally ventures to ask what is involved, exactly, and is stunned to learn what he has gotten himself into: the ceremonial “encoffination” of corpses prior to cremation.  Sasaki urges him to take the job, proffering large amounts of cash.  He’s getting older, and needs someone to carry on the tradition.

In desperate straits, Daigo overcomes his initial trepidation and begins to travel around Hirano with Sasaki. Sasaki is comically matter-of-fact but firm in his directives and the contention that they are providing an important service to their community.   Some cases are markedly traditional, featuring beatific family members in time-honored transition.  Others highlight family dramas fraught with inevitable collisions, eased into unexpected conclusion.  True to Sasaki’s expectations, Daigo develops a deep respect for life in all its variations, and a profound empathy for people trying to make peace with the finality of death.

Too embarrassed to tell his wife about his conversation-stopping profession and admit that he has fallen in love with the townsfolk, Daigo vainly tries to keep his new life secret. As their relationship hangs in the balance, the big question is how he’s going to react to surprising news she brings, as an encoffineer, as a husband, as a son and as a human being.   It is Daigo’s turn to deal with life and death among the people who are dearest to him.

Trailer and more information

http://www.departures-themovie.com/

Rated M

Japanese language English subtitles

I am Love (lo sono l'amore)

Special Valentine's Day screening, Monday 14th February 2011

6.30pm pre-screening champagne & chocolates to celebrate Valentine's Day

7.00pm film screens

A film festival favourite, winning numerous international awards "I am Love" is a film not to be missed on the big screen.

“A cinematic tour de force.” New York Times

****1/2  Margaret Pomeranz ****  David Stratton, ABC's At the Movies

I Am Love tells the story of the wealthy Recchi family, whose lives are undergoing sweeping changes. Eduardo Sr., the family patriarch, has decided to name a successor to the reins of his massive industrial company, and in so doing, surprises everyone by splitting power between his son Tancredi and grandson Edo. However, Edo dreams of opening a restaurant with his friend Antonio, a talented chef. At the heart of Tancredi’s family is his wife, Emma (Tilda Swinton), a Russian immigrant who has adopted the culture of Milan. An adoring and attentive mother, Emma’s existence is shocked to the core when she falls deeply in love with Antonio and pursues a passionate love affair that will change his family forever.

Trailers and extra information: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBrWVvn9xA

http://www.iamlovemovie.com/

Italian with English subtitles

Rated M15+

 

Next screening "Le Concert"

"Le Concert (The Concert")

Thursday 13 January 2011

6.30pm pre-screening drinks & nibbles

7.00pm film screens

Opening at #1 at the French cinema box-office, The Concert is pure entertainment - a warm-hearted, joyous story filled with great wit and humanity. The stirring finale set against Tchaikovsky's Concerto is simply magnificent. You'll walk out of this film feeling great.

A celebrated conductor of the Bolshoi Orchestra, was fired 20 years ago for hiring Jewish musicians but reforms his orchestra to play in Paris ...

During the Brezhnev era, Andrei Filipov was a prodigy - the greatest conductor in the Soviet Union and he directed the famous Bolshoi Orchestra. But after refusing to expel his Jewish musicians, including his best friend Sacha, he was fired at the height of his glory. Thirty years later, he is still working at the Bolshoi, but... as a cleaner.When Andrei intercepts a fax from the Theatre du Chatelet inviting the Bolshoi Orchestra to Paris, he comes up with a crazy idea: he'll gather up his old musician friends (now working rag-tag jobs), head to Paris and pretend to be the famed orchestra to play Tchaikovsky's "Violin Concerto." The long-awaited dream to deliver one final performance!



Thursday 13 January 6.30pm



"An intelligent, perfectly mixed blend of comedy and drama that is emotionally satisfying on every level: the music, top-notch performances from a stellar cast and a sharp, incisive script."

Rated M

119 minutes

Language – French

Country of Origin – France/Russia