For its sixth edition, Cinema Reborn will screen 17 restored classics on the big screen at Ritz Cinemas in Randwick (1-7 May) and Lido Cinemas in Hawthorn (9-14 May). It will be the first time that Cinema Reborn’s program will be presented in Melbourne after five seasons in Sydney, where its audience has grown substantially each year.
Cinema Reborn Chair Geoff Gardner said: “Our 2024 program is our biggest ever and has been drawn from the world’s leading festivals in Cannes and Venice as well as Bologna’s Il Cinema Ritrovato. The support from major distributors like Universal, Roadshow and Park Circus is complemented by the efforts we have made to discover films from places like South Korea, Burkina Faso and India. The program represents a rounded portrait of new worldwide film restoration activity. The support we’ve received from the Lido and Ritz team is the glue that holds the program together.”
On behalf of Lido and Ritz Cinemas, Head of Marketing Jaymes Durante said: “It has been a privilege to help present Cinema Reborn at the Ritz over the years, and it brings us immense pride to deliver the festival in Melbourne for the first time in 2024. Through Cinema Reborn, our audiences will be treated to a world-class offering of important restorations and rarely screened cinema treasures which will enrich our city’s cultural offering and will surely become a milestone event in the annual film calendar.”
The vast majority of Cinema Reborn’s 2024 titles are restored in 4K, the current pinnacle for film restoration. This year’s selection comes from Italy, France, the United Kingdom, USA, Mali, India, Syria, South Korea, Belgium and Australia.
Each film will screen with an introduction from a prominent critic, filmmaker or academic, with guests including Bruce Beresford, Alena Lodkina, Philippa Hawker, Margot Nash, Philip Brophy, Jane Mills, Jake Wilson, Keva Yorke and Richard Brennan.
International classics include Le Samouraï (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967); The Golden Coach (Jean Renoir, 1952); La Captive (Chantel Akerman, 2000); I Know Where I’m Going! (Powell & Pressburger 1947) and Il Grido (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1957).
There are two World Premiere restorations at Cinema Reborn 2024: Midnight (Mitchell Leisen 1939), and Australia’s own Three To Go (Brian Hannant, Oliver Howes, Peter Weir, 1971).
From Hollywood, Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978); Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959); and The Suspect (Robert Siodmak, 1944).
Also from Australia, Body Melt (Philip Brophy, 1993); Journey to the End of Night (Peter Tammer, 1982) and Light Years (Kathryn Millard, 1991).
From South Korea, Sopyonje (Im Kwon-taek, 1993); from Syria, The Dupes (Tewfik Saleh, 1972); from Mali, Yeelen (Souleymane Cissé, 1987); and from India, Ishanou (Aribam Syam Sharma, 1991).
The screenings of Sopyonje will be supplemented by a webinar on Im Kwon-Taek and Korean Film Restoration, and will be followed by a short season of the films of Im Kwo-taek in Sydney only, taking place at the Ritz.
Full program and tickets at the Lido Cinemas website, or the Ritz Cinemas website.
