This holiday season, Canberrans are invited to slip from the plush seats of Arc Cinema into the sun-bleached haze of a Summer of Love. Photo: NFSA.
Warm nights, long sunsets and a hint of rebellion in the air … midsummer in Canberra is already a mood, but the National Film and Sound Archive is ready to turn things up a notch.
Running in the NFSA’s Arc Cinema until late February, Summer of Love is a bold cinematic journey that stretches across decades and genres to showcase peace, love and revolution in many different forms.
Get ready to soak up stories of free spirits, beatniks, cyberpunks and psychedelic flower children alongside golden-age Hollywood stars and modern muses.
NFSA creative producer and program coordinator Alice Taylor says the ethos of 1960s counterculture continues to influence art, film, music and politics to this day.
“We draw inspiration from this era, as well as the powerful reverberations of civil rights and liberation movements,” she says.
Summer of Love also pays tribute to cinema’s great visionaries, with spotlights on some of the most influential and boundary-pushing filmmakers of the 20th century.
Alice highlights a few of her favourite curations on the bill, starting with the oh-so-steamy Hot Summer Nights.
Running from 9 January to 14 February, Hot Summer Nights will present a range of hand-selected films in a single-ticket experience.
Visitors can gather in the NFSA’s stunning 1930s courtyard before each screening for live music, local wines and pre-movie snacks courtesy of Dom’s deli and bar.
“You can expect incredible performances by Al Pacino, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and many, many more,” Alice says.
“I’m especially excited for our Valentine’s Day event. We’ll have Latin music and dancing in the courtyard from 6 pm, before settling in for an 8 pm screening of Strictly Ballroom.”
The team at NFSA have even arranged a ballroom dancing instructor to be on site on the night to show everyone some steps so they can join in the fun.
Spanning the French and Czech New Waves through to Cinéma du look, the European Avant-Garde program offers a bold celebration of film as an art form that connects all comers.
NFSA has a striking line-up planned, including the surrealistic Daisies (1966), French thriller-romance Pierrot le Fou (1965) and visual spectacle Diva (1981).
More into gritty, world-driven films? Check out the Cyberpunk series with a four-film pass, running from 8 to 29 January.
This program delves into the depths of dystopia, kicking off with the director’s cut of Robocop (1987), followed by The Matrix (1999), Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982) and Katsuhiro Otomo’s genre-defying anime Akira (1988).
The team hasn’t forgotten about school holidays, either – from 13 to 29 January, kids big and small can enjoy a feel-good selection of animal tales packed with charm.
Ratatouille (2007), Whale Rider (2002) and Ponyo (2008) are just a few on the bill, all screening at family-friendly 1 pm matinees.
If there’s one film to catch during the NFSA’s Summer of Love season, it would be Woodstock (1970).
Screening on 22 February, Woodstock showcases the legendary festival of 1969 in all its sun-drenched glory, with live performances from Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker and more.
Behind-the-scenes footage distils the era’s aesthetic, reeking of free love, acid trips and peaceful revolution.
Alice’s final note is on the Australian premiere of Heaven’s Gate, a spectacular free installation by Marco Brambilla now on show at the NFSA.
“Heaven’s Gate is an incredible dreamscape, a kaleidoscope of iconography that blurs the line between celebration and critique for all things pop culture,” she says.
“Layered with references to gaming, news, cinema, celebrity, and reality television, it explores collective storytelling by immersing viewers in a hyper-saturated parallel universe of glamour and glare.”
The National Film and Sound Archive is on McCoy Circuit, Acton, between Lake Burley Griffin and the ANU. To view the event calendar or purchase tickets for this year’s Summer of Love film series, visit NFSA: Arc Cinema.
