Australian Centre for the Moving Image

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) is a state-of-the-art facility purpose-built for the preservation, exhibition and promotion of Victorian, Australian and International screen content in all forms. It is located in Federation Square, in Melbourne, Australia. During the 2013-14 financial year, 1.3 million people visited the ACMI, the second-highest attendance of any gallery or museum in Australia, with only the nearby National Gallery of Victoria attracting more, but with two sites.

History

The ACMI started life as the State Film Centre of Victoria in 1946.

In the 1950s, the State Film Centre was involved in producing a number of projects for television, then a new medium in Australia. It also played a role as an archive of Australian films, such as The Sentimental Bloke (1919) and On Our Selection (1920).

During the 1960s, the Centre provided advice on film treatments, production, scripts and distribution outlets to local filmmakers. In 1969, the State Film Centre assumed management of the newly constructed State Film Theatre, providing the a facility for exhibiting material not screened in commercial cinemas.

In the 1970s, the State Film Centre began acquiring examples of student films, as well as those made by the newly vibrant Australian film industry, such as Homesdale (1971) by Peter Weir, Stork (1971) and Alvin Purple (1973) by Tim Burstall, and The Devil's Playground (1976) by Fred Schepisi.

In 1988, the State Film Centre Education Program was set up. The program provided screenings for VCE students, based on core texts, and in-service days for their teachers.

In 1993, a Victorian State Government report reaffirmed the viability of a proposal for an Australian Centre for the Moving Image. In July 1997, following an open, international, two-stage design competition, Lab Architecture Studio (based in London at the time), in association with their joint venture partners Bates Smart architects, was announced as the winner. Federation Square was to be a new civic space, built above the Jolimont railyards, to mark the celebration of Australia's Centenary of Federation.

On 1 January 2002, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image was officially established by the Film Act 2001 (Victoria). The first stage was opened in October, with two exhibitions, Deep Space: Sensation & Immersion and Ngarinyin Pathways Dulwan, running in ACMI's Screen Gallery. A few weeks later, the ACMI Cinemas officially opened.

In September 2009, Mediatheque and the Screen Worlds gallery opened. The Screen Worlds exhibition was opened by Cate Blanchett, who loaned her Oscar for best supporting actress for her part as Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator. Screen Worlds: The Story of Film, Television and Digital Culture is a free and permanent exhibition space constructed to educate the public about the moving image, a museum about moving pictures. Mediatheque is an architecturally designed space with 12 viewing booths, like mini-lounge rooms, where people can drop in and watch films, television clips, and new media and artworks from ACMI's collection.

Directors

From 1992, John J. Smithies was Director of the State Film Centre of Victoria, until its merger with Film Victoria in 1997 formed Cinemedia. At Cinemedia, Smithies was Deputy Director, with prime responsibility for developing the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. He became the first director and CEO of ACMI in March 2002. He was responsible for opening the new public facilities in October 2002. After a period of turmoil, with the organisation over budget, Smithies left ACMI in 2004, and later said the facility had been forced to open while "under-funded" by the Victorian Government.

Tony Sweeney was appointed director and CEO of the ACMI in 2005. Before his move to Australia, he had been the Deputy Director of the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television (UK), and focused on developing the Museum's brand profile and content strategies. He directed the Museum's Imaging Frontiers masterplan re-development, which generated record visitor numbers and international critical acclaim. The Museum is now seen as one of the leading international centres for culture and learning of its kind in the world. At the ACMI he oversaw record organisational growth, performance and visitation, and a prolonged period of sustained success and achievement. Having spent ten years in the role, Sweeney resigned in order to return to his family in Britain.

Katrina Sedgwick took up the position in February 2015.

Attractions

Cinemas

ACMI has two main cinemas that are equipped to play every film, video and digital video format, with the most extensive projection facilities in the southern hemisphere. THX certified sound systems allow high quality attention to acoustics. Cinema 1 seats 168, and Cinema 2 seats 390.

Programs

ACMI's weekly and monthly film programs include:

  • Australian Perspectives - Contemporary Australian filmmaking with archival classics and special guest presentations.
  • Seniors’ Cinema - Ongoing program of quality films.
  • Kids' Flicks - Regular screenings and school holiday programs of budget movies for kids.
  • Cinémathèque - Double feature every Wednesday night of rare and imported prints.

ACMI also regularly profiles actors, directors, writers, cinematographers, and film genres through its retrospective seasons and screenings. Highlights have included seasons on Serge Gainsbourg, Dario Argento, William Klein, John Cassavetes, Claudia Cardinale and Jim Henson. Genres have included Ozploitation, East German Cinema, Monsters, Ghouls and Melancholy Misfits in conjunction with the Tim Burton exhibition.

ACMI undertakes partnerships with a variety of Film Festivals; Melbourne International Film Festival, Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Korean Film Festival, the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, Little Big Shots, the Melbourne International Animation Festival and more.

In ACMI's Studios, Live Events take place, such as A Moon Safari by Steam Bicycle and Kaleidoscope! Kids Animation

Screen Worlds

Open from 18 September 2009, Screen Worlds is an evolving permanent exhibition exploring all aspects of the moving image using objects, footage and artistic installations. Screen Worlds explores the story of the moving image through a number of different sections - Emergence, Voices, Sensation, Games Lab and Kids Space.

The Screen Worlds exhibition hosts a number of 'Immersive Experiences'(interactive displays), including Timeslice (inspired by The Matrix), Ty the Tasmanian Tiger Zoetrope, The Faulty Fandangle (created by Oscar®-nominated Anthony Lucas), an installation by Anthony McCall, and many more.

Gallery 1

The screen gallery, renamed Gallery 1 when Gallery 2 was introduced in 2009, was built along the entire length of what was previously Princes Bridge railway station. It is a subterranean gallery for experimentation with the moving image. Video art, installations, interactives, sound art, net art and screen related objects are all regularly exhibited in this space.

Gallery 1 Exhibitions

With the exception of a dance work that formed part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival, Gallery 1 is usually either hosting an exhibition, or installing the next one. The exhibitions alternate between in-house and touring, and between free and ticketed.

Exhibition Opened Closed Origin Content Partner
Deep Space: Sensation & Immersion 26 October 2002 27 January 2003 Art Gallery of New South Wales as Space Odysseys: Sensation & Immersion
Ngarinyin Pathways Dulwan 26 October 2002 31 August 2003 ACMI Pathway Project of the Ngarinyin elders
Transfigure 8 December 2003 9 May 2004 ACMI
2004 Australian Culture Now 8 June 2004 12 September 2004 ACMI & National Gallery of Victoria
Proof 9 December 2004 13 February 2005 ACMI
World Without End 14 April 2005 17 July 2005 ACMI
TV50 22 June 2006 1 October 2006 ACMI
Eyes, Lies and Illusions 2 November 2006 11 February 2007 Hayward Gallery Werner Nekes Collection
Centre Pompidou Video Art 1965-2005 22 March 2007 27 May 2007 Centre Pompidou
Pixar: 20 Years of Animation 28 June 2007 14 October 2007 Museum of Modern Art Barbican Gallery
Correspondences: Victor Erice and Abbas Kiarostami 21 August 2008 2 November 2008 Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona
Setting the Scene: Film Design from Metropolis to Australia 4 December 2008 19 April 2009 Deutsche Kinemathek as Moving Spaces
Len Lye 16 July 2009 11 October 2009 ACMI Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
Dennis Hopper & The New Hollywood 12 November 2009 25 April 2010 Cinematheque francaise
Tim Burton: The Exhibition 24 June 2010 10 October 2010 Museum of Modern Art
Dreams Come True: The Art of Disney's Classic Fairy Tales 18 November 2010 26 April 2011 New Orleans Museum of Art Walt Disney Animation Research Library
Shaun Gladwell: Stereo Sequences 1 June 2011 14 August 2011 ACMI
Star Voyager: Exploring Space on Screen 22 September 2011 29 January 2012 ACMI
William Kentridge: Five Themes 8 March 2012 27 May 2012 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Norton Museum of Art
Game Masters 28 June 2012 28 October 2012 ACMI
Candice Breitz: The Character 6 Dec 2012 11 March 2013 ACMI
Hollywood Costume 24 April 2013 18 August 2013 Victoria and Albert Museum
Spectacle: The Music Video Exhibition 26 September 2013 23 February 2014 Contemporary Arts Center
DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition 10 April 2014 5 October 2014 ACMI DreamWorks Animation
David Bowie is 16 July 2015 1 November 2015 Victoria and Albert Museum

Gallery 2

Open from 18 September 2009, Gallery 2 is a smaller, more flexible gallery than Gallery 1.

Exhibition Opened Closed Origin Content Partner
Best of the Independent Games Festival 2009 8 December 2009 14 February 2010 ACMI Independent Games Festival
Mary and Max: The Exhibition 2 March 2010 6 June 2010 ACMI Adam Elliot
Bill Viola: The Raft 7 October 2010 20 February 2011 ACMI Kaldor Public Arts Projects & Melbourne International Arts Festival
Arthur and Corinne Cantrill: Light Years 8 March 2011 5 June 2011 ACMI
Julian Rosefeldt: American Night 21 June 2011 31 July 2011 Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea, Florence
Margaret and David: 25 Years Talking Movies 17 August 2011 4 December 2011 ACMI A collaboration with ABC. Supported by SBS.
Best of the Independent Games Festival 2011 20 December 2011 25 March 2012 ACMI Independent Games Festival
Best of the Independent Games Festival 2012 27 March 2012 8 July 2012 ACMI Independent Games Festival
Ian Burns: In the Telling 24 July 2012 20 January 2013 ACMI Experimenta
Warwick Thornton: Mother Courage 5 February 2013 23 June 2013 dOCUMENTA (13)
Shaun Tan's The Lost Thing: From book to film 16 July 2013 19 January 2014 ACMI Shaun Tan, Passion Pictures Australia & Books Illustrated
Angelica Mesiti: The Calling 4 February 2014 13 July 2014 ACMI A collaboration with The Ian Potter Cultural Trust
David Rosetzky: Gaps 5 August 2014 8 February 2015 ACMI Carriageworks
War Pictures: Australians at the Cinema 1914-1918 10 March 2015 26 July 2015 ACMI National Film and Sound Archive

Australian Mediatheque

Australian Mediatheque has multiple screening stations with access to works from ACMI and the National Film and Sound Archive. Admission is free.

Studio 1

Studio 1 is a production and educational amphitheatre which can accommodate everything from multimedia performances to television broadcasts, and is equipped with video projection, video conferencing, web casting and online facilities.

Studio 2

ACMI also houses a digital studio for hands-on workshops and production programs. Participants can access the technology, and develop the skills, to produce their own moving image work.

ACMI Shop

The ACMI Shop, located on the entry level next to the Tickets & Information Desk, stocks exhibition catalogues, books, DVDs, toys, cards and gifts.

Former attractions

Video Garden

The Video Garden was an outdoor gallery that led people from the Flinders Street side of the building to the main entrance. Exhibitions included Random Encounters, Gooey by the Lycette Bros, and Blast Off.

Memory Grid

The Memory Grid was a display allowing access to over 100 hours of film that were recorded by ordinary Australians, independent filmmakers, students, community-based practitioners and participants in ACMI hands-on production workshops. Much of the content in the Memory Grid had either never been displayed outside, or had been displayed only once on community television. Further, the Memory Grid contained a large collection of animated and interactive works, and actively accepted work from the public for display.

Games Lab

The Games Lab was ACMI's display area for interactive video games. It celebrated the past, present and future of games and promoted this popular form of the moving image as a reflection of Australian culture.

In 2003, ACMI commissioned an interactive game-based, site specific installation called AcmiPark, which was exhibited in the Games Lab. AcmiPark replicates and abstracts the real world architecture of Federation Square. It also houses highly innovative mechanisms for interactive, multiplayer sound and musical composition.

The Games Lab exhibited the Best of the Independent Games Festival for 2005, 2006 and 2007. In early 2007, Hits of the 80s profiled Melbourne's Beam Software and the secret history of Australia's place in the rise and rise of the video game. In 2005 an exhibition was dedicated to Sonic the Hedgehog called Sonic the Hedgehog: Icon of our Times.

The Games Lab has now been incorporated into the Screen Worlds exhibition space.

Online

ACMI has a strong online presence, with regular updates being made to the ACMI website and a dedicated ACMI Channel for blogs, podcasts, videos and news. ACMI also has a number of Online Projects which encourage user-generated content. These sites include 15 Second Place, Generator and the Educators Lounge.

Touring

ACMI have increased their touring program over the past few years. Beginning with Mary and Max, which toured regional Victoria, ACMI then followed by showing the 2011 Best of the Independent Games Festival in Sydney and Brisbane. ACMI's first original exhibition in the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series, Game Masters, was seen in New Zealand (2013) and Sydney (2014) after its ACMI season. Further tours have been announced for The Lost Thing (2015–17) and DreamWorks Animation (2015–20), which included over 400 works of art, including original hand-drawn character sketches, 3D marquettes of locations and characters, storyboards, interactive displays that allow you to play with DreamWorks' animation technology, and a 180 degree film display that takes viewers on a journey from script pages and drawings through to a fully rendered 3D world.

References

Шаблон:Reflist

External links

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Just Journeys
14 July 2015
An incredible place with an amazing exposition. it tells the movie history of the world through its special effects. a lot of interactive elements for the customers to enjoy
pin lee
27 July 2016
Must see. V good history of film in Australia. Free screen worlds exhibition. Entrance at federation sq. watch free movies at 2nd floor (12 pm onwards). Recommended. Free tour at 230 pm.
Tomfoolery
27 October 2014
Truly one of Melbourne's best cultural institutions. The permanent exhibit 'screen worlds' is excellent, so many film festivals, and lets not forget the Cinematheque on Wednesday nights
Josh Carey
28 April 2018
Great variety of things to do and a very fun, interactive experience. Great for family’s or couples or pretty much anyone who feels like going
Candice Glossat
14 April 2015
The interactive nature of the ACMI is great for a range of ages. I return here every trip to Melbourne with friends we are all mid 20s and enjoy it.
Naoki Ferrio
12 August 2023
Free adminission. It has a few of interactive exhibition. Add ACMI to your bucket list of 1 day tour in Melbourne if u're a movie buff.
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2 Swanston Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia Get directions
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