Canberra International Film Festival

01/12/2024

Our thanks to everyone who attended the special CIFF screening on 30 November of THE COOLBAROO CLUB and GREEN BUSH, and especially thank you for your warm response to both films. They looked superb on the big screen in their restored precision and brightness. The technical presentation was flawless, and we thank the NFSA staff for their co-operation and professionalism in all areas – admin, front of house, as well as in the projection room. After the films, the Q&A with Steve Kinnane and Elfie Shiosaki was brilliant as they both delved into the history of the Coolbaroo Club and discussed ways of telling First Nations' stories. We are very grateful to Steve, Elfie and our third speaker, Elena Guest from the NFSA, for their participation and contribution to a very happy event.

Please keep in mind that you can make a tax-deductible donation to help CIFF return in 2025: go to our page on the Australian Cultural Fund platform: https://artists.australianculturalfund.org.au/s/project/a2E9q0000008pY5EAI/canberra-international-film-festival-2024 Or contact CIFF directly: [email protected]

The Canberra International Film Festival is one of Australia’s few retrospective film festivals. Our focus is on cinema heritage, Australian and international. We show archival 35mm film prints where possible as well as new digital restorations.

24/11/2024

TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE for a special screening of two restored classics, presented by the Canberra International Film Festival on Saturday 30 November at 2.30pm at the Arc Cinema, National Film and Sound Archive in Acton.

BOOK NOW via the CIFF website: https://ciff.com.au/ or from NFSA Reception between 10am and 4pm daily.

Screening first is the short drama, GREEN BUSH, directed by Warwick Thornton – a major prize-winner at the Berlin Film Festival in 2005. The film kick-started Thornton’s feature film career. It is followed by THE COOLBAROO CLUB (1996), directed by the late Roger Scholes. Superbly restored by the National Film and Sound Archive, this film is the story of an Aboriginal-run dance club which operated in Perth from 1946 – 1960, in the face of police harassment and bureaucratic obstruction. The club had hundreds of followers and attracted Black celebrities from across Australia and occasionally from overseas - among them Nat "King" Cole, Harold Blair and the Harlem Globetrotters.

With special guest at the screening – First Nations historian, Steve Kinnane (co-producer, co-writer and researcher of THE COOLBAROO CLUB).

13/11/2024

BOOK NOW! CIFF presents a Special Event Screening of the newly restored Australian classic THE COOLBAROO CLUB (1996), at the National Film and Sound Archive’s Arc Cinema in Acton on Saturday 30 November at 2.30. TICKETS ON SALE NOW: VISIT THE CIFF WEBSITE FOR INFORMATION AND BOOKINGS: https://ciff.com.au/

With special guest at the screening – First Nations historian, Steve Kinnane (co-producer, co-writer and researcher of the film).

The story of an Aboriginal-run dance club which operated in Perth from 1946 to 1960, in the face of police harassment and bureaucratic obstruction. The club had hundreds of followers and attracted Black celebrities from across Australia and occasionally from overseas - among them Nat "King" Cole, Harold Blair and the Harlem Globetrotters.

Superbly restored from the original film negatives, by the NFSA RESTORES program of the NATIONAL FILM AND SOUND ARCHIVE.