What began in March 2022 as a screening of Catherine Hardwicke’s TWILIGHT (2008) – featuring a panel of experts dissecting the cult phenomenon – has fast become a cinematic sensation for Melbourne’s Cinema Nova.
Dubbed ‘The Twilight Renaissance’, after months of popular interactive double and triple features Cinema Nova announced an overnight Twilight Marathon in early June before quickly selling out its four largest theatres in under 24 hours. Last Saturday, July 30, the highly anticipated event saw over six hundred ‘Twi-hards’ flock to the Carlton cinema, thirsty for their fix of Bella (Oscar nominee Kristen Stewart) and Edward (The Batman star Robert Pattinson). Screening all five films and including a ‘Breaking Dawn Breakfast’ between the final two aptly named instalments, the eleven-hour Twilight Saga extravaganza saw fans sing along to the soundtrack, quote iconic lines and talk back to the screen before emerging into the early morning sunlight.
“We’ve been absolutely dazzled by the response to our Twilight events and can’t believe the outpouring of interest and support from fans not only in Melbourne, but from around the world,” says Cinema Nova’s Lucy Fenwick Elliott. Fenwick Elliott has just completed her thesis on feminism, postmodernism, and the reinvention of older cultural texts in movies for teenage girls and has enjoyed programming the events in collaboration with Cinema Nova CEO Kristian Connelly. “It’s such a welcome change to see media for teenage girls being embraced not only by those loyal long-time fans but also by a wider audience,” says Fenwick Elliott, “These screenings celebrate ironic and genuine enjoyment in equal measure.”
Cinema Nova’s Overnight Twilight Marathon will return this October 15 by enormous popular demand. Tickets are on sale now at cinemanova.com.au.
