ACMI Stories & Ideas

From the Marvel and DC cinematic universes to small screen caped-crusaders and vigilantes, superheroes are more popular than ever. But how do superheroes reflect our place and power within society? Whether it’s symbolic representations of asylum seekers and First Nations people on Cleverman, Jessica Jones battling PTSD or The Watchmen exploring the moral ambiguity of individuals with tremendous power, superheroes have the power (dare we say great responsibility?) to tell nuanced, reflective and universal stories. Join us to discuss how our heroic representations hold a mirror up to contemporary views on ethics, justice and equality. About the panel Martyn Pedler Martyn Pedler is a writer and academic who focuses on superhero stories. He's published chapters and presented internationally on subjects like how the Flash runs in a medium without movement and why Doctor Doom cried after 9/11. He's also been a longtime pop culture critic for Bookslut, Time Out Melbourne, Triple J Magazine and more. He is the writer of the 2012 feature film EXIT, and has several other screenplays in development. Dr Liam Burke Dr Liam Burke is the Cinema and Screen Studies coordinator at Swinburne University of Technology. He has written and edited a number of books on comic books and cinema including Superhero Movies, Fan Phenomena Batman, and The Comic Book Film Adaptation: Exploring Modern Hollywood’s Leading Genre. Liam is a chief investigator on the Superheroes & Me research project with ACMI. He recently directed the documentary short film @HOME, which was screened at a number of international film festivals and was broadcast on Irish television. Brooke Maggs Brooke Maggs is a freelance narrative designer and writer for games, VR and other creative industries. She one of the women featured in ACMI's Code Breaker's exhibition where you can play one of her latest projects, The Gardens Between, an adventure puzzle game.Recently, she received the 2017 MCV Pacific XBOX Women in Games Creative Impact award for her work in the games industry. Brooke is writing a science fiction novel for which she was shortlisted for the Ray Koppe Writer’s Residency and awarded a residency at the Varuna House. Her other writing includes academic research in creative writing practice. Copyright Acknowledgments: Title: The Avengers (2012) Copyright: Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Production Company Title: Spiderman (2002) Copyright: Marvel Enterprises / Columbia Pictures Title: Superman (1978) Copyright: Warner Bros Title: Man of Steel (2013) Copyright: DC Entertainment / Warner Bros Pictures Title: Daredevil Season 1 Episode 2 Copyright: Marvel Television / Netflix Title: Cleverman Season 1 Episode 2 Copyright: Sundance Studios / ABC TV Title: Superman Returns (2006) Copyright: Legendary Pictures / DC Comics / Warner Bros Pictures

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 does this recent trend in 80s retro nostalgia tell us about ourselves? Are we nostalgic for a simpler pre-Trump age? Join filmmaker Glendyn Ivin, academic Dr Lauren Rosewarne and critic Mel Campbell in a neon-coloured, synth-scored exploration of our yearning for 80s small town America. Copyright Acknowledgments Title: Stranger Things, Series One, Episode One Copyright: Netflix Title: Stranger Things, Series One, Episode Two Copyright: Netflix Title: Glow, Series One, Episode Seven Copyright: Netflix Title: Wet Hot American Summer Copyright: USA Films Title: E.T. Copyright: Universal Pictures Title: The Goonies Copyright: Warner Bros. Title: Stand By Me Copyright: Columbia Pictures Title: Puberty Blues, Season One, Episode One Copyright: Endemol Australia Title: Puberty Blues, Season One, Episode Three Copyright: Endemol Australia Title: Cracker Bag Copyright: Glendyn Ivin

This talk celebrated International Women’s Day with local filmmakers telling powerful and revealing stories. Filmmakers Sari Braithwaite, Chloe Brugale and Santilla Chingaipe were in conversation with Eloise Ross about their craft and processes, key collaborations and career pathways. About the speakers Santilla Chingaipe is an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker. She spent nearly a decade working for SBS World News which saw her report from across Africa and interview some of the continent's most prominent leaders. Her work explores cultural identities, contemporary migration and politics. Last year she presented a one-off documentary for SBS, Date My Race. Santilla is currently directing and writing documentary on the complexities of Australia’s South Sudanese community. Her latest film, Black As Me, is a short documentary exploring the perception of beauty and race in Australia. She writes regularly for The Saturday Paper. Chloe Brugale is a screen practitioner with more than fifteen years' experience working across drama and factual productions, distribution, events and festival programming. As the General Manager of Robert Connolly’s company, Arenamedia, Chloe has contributed to many culturally and artistically innovative features, including The Turning, Spear and the box office hit Paper Planes. She also oversaw the successful release campaign of the documentary Chasing Asylum. Chloe’s producer credits include [CENSORED], an experimental documentary by director Sari Braithwaite, and Black As Me, a short film by director Santilla Chingaipe. Prior to Arenamedia, Chloe held positions at the Melbourne International Film Festival as Next Gen and Short Films programmer, the education department of the Cannes Film Festival and the avant-garde Utopia Cinemas in Avignon, France. Sari Braithwaite is a filmmaker who works across the disciplines of history and film. Her documentary films have played at MIFF, SFF, Adelaide Film Festival, Canberra Film Festival, Antenna Film Festival, and BFI London. She was a recipient of the 2015 AFTRS Creative Fellowship to create an experimental work about Australian censorship. In addition to her own practice, Sari has also worked as a professional researcher on a wide variety of film and television documentaries, and continues to work in universities as a researcher. Eloise Ross (host) is a writer, critic, and lecturer with a range of experience working with Melbourne film culture, both in organisational roles and as a qualified speaker. She has a PhD in cinema studies from La Trobe University and her research specialises in sound studies, Hollywood history, and the phenomenological experience of the cinema. Eloise has been widely published as a film critic, cultural commentator, and academic. She is a co-curator of the Melbourne Cinémathèque, currently teaches in the film department at Swinburne University, is co-host of the Senses of Cinema podcast.

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 mother, just five-years old at the time. Director Douglas Watkin, VRTOV's VR director Oscar Raby, artist Vernon Ah Kee and lead 3D artist Kalonica Quigley shared behind-the-scenes footage and early drawings from their unique journey bringing oral storytelling to digital life through graphic and game design. See A Thin Black Line free from 3 March in the Untold Australia VR Showcase in our permanent exhibition Screen Worlds. About The Speakers Douglas Watkin Brisbane-based Indigenous filmmaker Douglas Watkin was born in Cairns, Far North Queensland. His broadcasting and filmmaking career began in television doing small news reports and producing various corporate videos, and has progressed to feature films, broadcast series and multimedia works for a range of clients and audiences. Douglas has been actively working in the film and television industry for over twenty years, including producing and directing multiple series for ABC and NiTV. Oscar Raby Oscar Raby is an award-winning multimedia artist and Creative Director of independent digital production studio VRTOV. His Virtual Reality documentary Assent (2013), about the Chilean dictatorship, has been exhibited world-wide including screening at Sundance New Frontier, IDFA DocLab and Sheffield Doc/Fest where it received the Audience Choice Award for Cross-platform. Kalonica Quigley Kalonica is a 3D Artist and Game Developer who has developed award-winning games with small teams and independently. She currently works as Lead 3D Artist at VRTOV, an independent studio that crafts virtual reality experiences at the borderline of film and games. Vernon Ah Kee Born in Far North Queensland and currently living in Brisbane, Vernon is a member of the Kuku Yalandji, Waanji, Yidinji and Gugu Yimithirr peoples. Vernon’s multi-faceted practice includes works that range from large-scale drawings of his ancestors to hard-hitting text-based works and installations. In his work Ah Kee fuses the history and language of colonisation with contemporary black/white political issues in an ongoing investigation of race, colour and politics. Through clever puns and plays on words and objects Ah Kee fuses the history and language of colonisation with contemporary black/white political issues to expose degrees of underlying racism in Australian society.

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 down how they created ABC’s first ‘true crime’ podcast; from distilling a 16 month investigation in to a story structure, creating a soundscape that would captivate listeners, maximising ABC’s cross platform reach to harness new leads, through to the team’s journalistic intent at the heart of the creative storytelling.

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 creative process, writing with images and crafting cinematic language in non-fiction films.

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 world into innovative, uncharted territory. The subjects of this year's program, Yves Saint Laurent and Manolo Blahnik, were both furious sketchers. Yves would create hundreds in preparation for each collection, and Manolo, who has created over 30,000 shoes in a career spanning close to five decades, has a pencil attached to his bed in case of somnolent inspiration. Joining James on the panel will be Melbourne-based fashion illustrator and educator Angie Réhe whose work has appeared in a host of high end mastheads including Vogue, Elle, Harper's BAZAAR, L’Officiel, as well as Jimmy Choo and illustrator Katie Geppert who (amongst many things) has been developing some unique works for one of the hottest designers/labels of the moment, Virgil Abloh's Off-White and rounding out the panel will be Danielle Whitfield, Curator of Fashion and Textiles at the National Gallery of Victoria.

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 delighted audiences and inspired artists across generations. In more than 40 cinematic odysseys, she has epitomised the best in animation, been an arthouse icon and a blockbuster success. Alongside her journey through pop culture, Wonderland explores how filmmaking, special effects and technology have reimagined one of the world’s most beloved characters. In this must-see event, take a trip through the looking glass into an immersive, enchanted world that draws together a remarkable selection of original behind-the-scenes material. The more curious you are, the more you’ll discover.

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 are delighted to have hosted Australian fashion legend Joe Saba, specialist retailers Thi Lam, Yahav Ron, Sebastian Supel and Octavius La Rosa and Yamamoto collector Dr Gene Sherman.

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, hope and heartbreak – felt by those forging a new life in a foreign land. The 4 x 1 hour series is set in the summer of 2017 in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine. The story follows Jacob Garang (Wally Elnour), a young, aspiring South Sudanese-Australian basketball player who is on the cusp of being picked up by scouts for the US College league. However, Jacob’s team is not up to his standard and so he angles to bring in a new coach to help with the team’s performance. His pick is Eddie Grattan (Anthony LaPaglia), a local who once played for a US college team, but has long since retired and operates a small sports store in Sunshine. Almost against his best instincts, Eddie accepts an approach by Jacob to coach his underperforming team, The Sunshine Kings. In the midst of his aspirations, Jacob finds himself answering to Sunshine-raised lawyer Zara Skelton (Melanie Lynskey) when he is caught up in a police investigation involving a young teenage girl who has been violently assaulted and is now in a coma fighting for her life.