ACMI Stories & Ideas

In our uncertain era full of real life horror, what's driving our appetite for true crime and fascination with the macabre? From recent documentaries The Jinx, Making a Murderer and The Family to serial killer anti-heroes in film and TV, and the stark brutality of Scandi-noir, we examined our obsession with the dark side of human nature, the psychology of fear and how recent technological advances...

ACMI presents Changing the Game, where speakers Steph Convery, Clem Ford, Leena van Deventer and Rae Johnston talk survival strategies for being a woman with an opinion on the internet. Online games and social media have dramatically changed the way we interact, creating communities with common passions and interests that transcend geographical, socio/cultural and political boundaries. However, th...

The representation of gender diversity on screen has a complex history, from invisibility to stereotypical representations of otherness, including the sexually mischievous to the homicidal maniac. In this conversation our panel of filmmakers, critics, festival directors and artists to talked about the history and politics of gender diverse representation in films like Funeral Parade of Roses, Tomb...

Are the heroines of modern anime confronting the stereotyped female characters that preceded them? Or are they still designed merely to service the fantastical and unrealistic desires of male fans? In this traditionally male-dominated genre, the growing trend of empowered female protagonists is a welcome development. Still, there’s no shortage of anime productions that feature excessive ‘fan-servi...

In this talk we explore the creative, technical, cultural and collaborative practice of creating VR from personal histories for this moving new work. A Thin Black Line is an immersive VR experience that follows one family in the aftermath of the bombing of Darwin in 1942, when half the population fled believing a Japanese invasion was imminent. Among them was Indigenous filmmaker Douglas Watkin’s...

Is the recent trend in 80s retro films and TV symbolic of a nostalgia for a simpler era? The 80s was a decade renowned for its excess - think money, drugs, eyeshadow and lycra. From Stranger Things and Glow to Spielberg’s upcoming Ready Player One, we look at contemporary TV and films that transport us back to the decade defined by ET, The Goonies, big hair, pastels and 12-sided dice. But what doe...

Masterclass with the creative team behind podcast Trace Despite the global success of podcasts like Serial, the team behind Trace didn’t set out to emulate other popular true crime podcasts. Trace had a different ambition, chiefly to find justice and truth for the sons of Maria James, who was murdered nearly 38 years ago. In this masterclass, the journalist, producer and sound designer will break...

Editing Masterclass with Erin Casper In this exclusive masterclass, Erin will share her personal approach to editing by thinking about the construction of each film as a language of its own, spoken cinematically through an editor’s hands. Drawing on excerpts from her award-winning films such as Our School, American Promise, The Last Season and The New Black, this masterclass will explore her creat...

Fashion illustration is experiencing a renaissance. Fueled by the shareability on social media, talented illustrators can now catch the eye of both consumers and fashion houses on the look out for fresh ideas. Fashion on Film curator James Nolen will host a panel of local expert fashion illustrators about the sketches that happen before a stitch is sewn, and how illustration is leading the fashion...

In the lead up to the opening of Wonderland ACMI Curator Jess Bram spoke to Colleen Atwood about her work designing the costumes for the 2010 Tim Burton film: Alice in Wonderland. About Wonderland: Fall down the rabbit hole into Wonderland, a world premiere exhibition celebrating the timeless stories of Lewis Carroll and Alice’s adventures on screen. From first gracing the page in 1865, Alice has...

Yohji Yamamoto has been reinterpreting the rules of fashion for over four decades. In light of the Australian premiere season of Yohji Yamamoto: Dressmaker screening exclusively as part of Melbourne Fashion Week at ACMI, film programmer James Nolen will be joined by fashion experts, fashion historians and Yamamoto super fans, as they delve into the history of this celebrated Japanese designer. We...

This Q&A with Ian Collie, Wally Elnour, Ez Eldin Deng, Anna McLeish, Sarah Shaw, Matt Cameron and Elise McCredie follwed the screening of the first episode of Sunshine which was selected as Series Mania Melbourne's opening night screening, Sunshine is a vibrant, kinetic and compelling high stakes fictional crime drama that explores a world of contrasts - truth and reconstruction, past and present,...

In Cambodia's first Oscar-nominated film, director Rithy Panh uses clay animated figures, archival footage and voice-over narration to tell a deeply personal story. Starting with a photograph taken between 1975 and 1979 by the Khmer Rouge when they ruled over Cambodia, Panh uses the image as a source of contemplation, meditation and as a verbal and visual record of genocide. The only surviving rec...

“We need to raise it up, we need to fight and to shout, but we also need to bring it down, to talk and to listen in order to make change” Donald Betts Junior Following the screening of I Am Not Your Negro, former Kansas State Senator Donald Betts Jr and American history professor Michael Ondaatje entered into a lively conversation about race politics and resistance from the civil rights era to pre...

Having conquered the cutthroat world of satirical online cooking shows with The Katering Show (Australian TV's all-time most viewed digital series), the two Kates are ready to take their trademark sassy swipe at morning lifestyle television in Get Krack!n, a new series for Seeso and ABC. Each morning the Kates will shuffle through a roster of unsafe demonstrations, surly guests, unprepared experts...

To celebrate the opening of the groundbreaking exhibition Code Breakers, join us for a discussion with some of the top female critics, developers, designers and artists. Hosted by actor, director and author, Stephanie ‘Hex’ Bendixsen, Breaking the Code featured makers Nicole Stark and Brooke Maggs and leading games expert Dr Helen Stuckey as they dived into their artistic and technical processes a...

Join us for this animation industry masterclass with the founders of Aardman Studios Peter Lord and David Sproxton, and Academy Award-winning animator Adam Elliot (Mary & Max, Harvie Krumpet). Aardman Studios is renowned for their signature animation style and unique character creations, like the eccentric inventor and his loyal canine in Wallace & Gromit and the melancholy mountain lion of Creatu...

Spend a grand night out with the award-winning founders of Aardman Animations, Peter Lord and David Sproxton! In this exclusive talk the creators of beloved animations like Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep discussed their extraordinary careers, including the animations that have inspired and influenced their work. Australian director Darcy Prendergast hosted the event. Evolving from origins in...

One aspect of Wallace and Gromit's world that audiences find so endearing are the fabulous inventions' and contraptions. Their eccentricities are so funny and clever. All these contraptions are so idiosyncratic of the Aardman world. Hear about the wacky inventiveness behind the cracking contraptions.

Some puppets have complex wire structures like the wererabbit and some are simple like Morph who is pure plasticine and uses it to his advantage. He can literally morph into anything. The props and sets on Aardman films are based on real life objects. The perfection in the smallest of details such as a carrot in a grocery stall make the sets believable. Moulding plasticine into a world of wonderfu...

From little ideas big things grow. Drawing and sketching is where ideas are hatched. Hear the stories behind the drawings of Shaun the Sheep and Were Rabbit and get an insight into how the drawings come to life.

Peter Lord and David Sproxton started making films together when they were 12 years old and have been making films ever since. This year Aardman Studios turns 40. Hear how the studio grew and the diversity of work they have created.

Much to the joy of Twin Peaks fans, master of surrealist nightmares David Lynch has re-visited Twin Peaks after 25 years. Season three sees the return of many of the characters that touched our hearts and haunted our dreams. Join Andy Hazel, host of 'Twin Peaks: The Return, A Podcast' and a panel of writers and critics for some damn fine coffee and doughnuts as we venture back to the realm of the...

“Emotional connection is almost always my goal - whether it is using humour, nostalgia, euphoria, heartbreak or fear.” Warren Fu This was a rare opportunity to discuss music videos, art design and illustration with internationally acclaimed director Warren Fu. Warren lives to conjure the impossible and bring audiences into the extraordinary worlds of his imagination. These days he's known for his...

Simon Alty has been in the video game industry for over 25 years and is currently the Managing Director at Zenimax Australia (Bethesda). Starting with Ocean Software back in 1991, Simon has developed his career within several global gaming and software companies including Rising Star Games, Atari/Infogrames and The 3DO Company before running international marketing companies in both Sydney and the...