Celebrating women and film – QAGOMA Blog

The Australian Cinémathèque at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) intertwines three new cinema programs celebrating women filmmakers — ‘The Power and Passion of Jane Campion’, ‘Larisa Shepitko: The Poetry of Perseverance’, and ‘Women Make Film’.

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The Power and Passion of Jane Campion

‘The Power and Passion of Jane Campion’ surveys the works of acclaimed New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion. The most recent winner of the Academy Award for Best Director — the third woman ever to win this award — and the first woman to be awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Campion is one of the most celebrated filmmakers in modern cinema.

This program brings together a complete survey of her feature films to date — from her debut Two Friends 1986 to her iconic The Piano 1993 and her latest work The Power of the Dog 2021 — alongside a curated selection of her short films. It highlights the inimitable verve of his directorial style and the depth of her portraits of women rejecting the strictures of patriarchal societies. These screenings will be presented almost exclusively on archival 16mm and 35mm prints, provided by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.

1 – 30 July 2022 / Ticketed / View the program

Two Friends 1986
Sweetie 1989
An Angel at My Table 1990
The Piano 1993
The Portrait of a Lady 1996
Holy Smoke 1999
In the Cut 2003
Bright Star 2009
The Power of the Dog 2021

Larisa Shepitko: The Poetry of Perseverance

‘Larisa Shepitko: The Poetry of Perseverance’ is a rare retrospective of one of the greatest Ukrainian filmmakers. Born in Eastern Ukraine in 1938, Shepitko studied at the prestigious film school VGIK in Moscow. She quickly developed a unique cinematic voice, crafting rich characters and exploring the complex history of the Soviet Union with a poetic humanist approach. Shepitko’s life would be tragically cut short after the release of her most acclaimed film, The Ascent 1977, when she and four members of her crew died in a car accident while location scouting for her next production.

As part of this program, we will be screening her four feature films – Heat 1963, Wings 1966, You and Me 1971, and The Ascent — alongside the long-censored anthology film Beginnings of an Unknown Era 1967 to which Shepitko contributed a chapter, and her fantastical TV musical In the Thirteenth Hour of the Night 1969.

3 – 31 July 2022 / Free / View the program

Heat 1963
Wings 1966
Beginning of an Unknown Era 1967
Thirteenth Hour of the Night 1969
You and Me 1971
The Ascent 1977
Larisa 1980
Farewell 1983

Talk: Larisa Shepitko

Marko Pavlyshyn, Emeritus Professor of Ukrainian Studies at Monash University, offers insight into the legacy of Larisa Shepitko and the role of Ukrainian culture within the Soviet Union through his lecture ’Larisa Shepitko in the Shadow on a New War’.

Talk: Larisa Shepitko in the Shadow on a New War / Free, no bookings required / 2.15pm 10 July 2022

Women Make Film

‘Women Make Film’ presents a staggering alternative canon of cinema, explored across a multi-part 14 hour documentary. Narrated by actors Tilda Swinton, Jane Fonda, Adjoa Andoh, Sharmila Tagore, Kerry Fox, Thandie Newton, and Debra Winger, it delves into the oft-untold history of women filmmakers, the series brings together over 700 excerpts from films directed by more than 180 female filmmakers.

The program is organised similarly to a class, elucidating techniques of cinema and styles of filmmaking using only work by women creatives. Both Campion and Shepitko feature, along with other important filmmakers such as Agnès Varda, Joanna Hogg, Sarah Maldoror, Lynne Ramsay, Ann Hui, and Lizzie Borden.

With one part screening each Sunday morning throughout July, Women Make Film is a perfect entry point for audiences hoping to expand their conception of cinema history in an entertaining and engaging way.

3 July – 7 August 2022 / Free / View the program

Part One: 10.30am 3 July or 6.00pm 5 August
Part Two: 10.30am 10 July or 6 August
Part Three: 10.30am 17 July or 2.00pm 6 August
Part Four: 10.30am 24 July or 7 August
Part Five: 10.30am 31 July or 2.30pm 7 August

Dip into our Cinema blogs or view the ongoing Australian Cinémathèque program

QAGOMA’s Australian Cinémathèque presents curated programs, genre showcases and director retrospectives covering the world of film from crowd-pleasing fan favourites and cult classics to hard-to-find international cinema, rare 35mm prints and silent films with live musical accompaniment on the Gallery’s Wurlitzer organ originally installed in Brisbane’s Regent Theatre in November 1929.

Rob Hughes is Assistant Curator, Australian Cinémathèque, QAGOMA.

Featured image: Production still from The Piano 1993 / Director: Jane Campion / Image courtesy: Icon Films

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