I am eagerly awaiting my partner Tyson Namow's talk on Thursday night as part of a film course he has coordinated at Long Play in North Fitzroy for the Melbourne Free University (MFU). The course is Controversies on Film and will run each Thursday evening from 6.30-8.30pm. It's set to be as controversial as the title suggests.
On Thursday 16 February, Tyson will present on an area and filmmaker he is very familiar with - Werner Herzog (he's just researched his non-fiction films for his PhD for 5 years!). The lecture is titled The Moving Image and the Murmur of Existence: Cinema’s ‘Physical Reality’, after which he will screen Werner Herzog’s The Wild Blue Yonder (2005).
The course is free and addresses a range of issues regarding the theme of 'controversy' in cinema: controversial films, filmmakers and film topics; controversial film theories; and controversies regarding film financing and production.
Speakers include Tyson Namow, Con Verevis, John Hughes, Rjurik Davidson, Jack Sargeant, Louise Sheedy and in week 3 the controversial MUFF founder Richard Wolstencroft in conversation with Tyson. A different speaker will present for 45 minutes each night and then screen a film or excerpt, concluding with an open discussion.
One of the great things about the venue this course is held at, is that you can have a pre-drink and appetiser in the funky, retro bar Long Play, then take your delicious drink into the theatre for the film course. Love it.
ABOUT THE MFU: Founded by Dr. Gerhard Hoffstaedter, social anthropologist, Aurelien Mondon, researcher in politics and Jasmine-Kim Westendorf, Ph.D candidate in politics The Melbourne Free University "provides a platform for learning, discussion and debate which is open to everyone. The MFU was established in 2010 in response to Australia’s increasingly outcome oriented education system, and aims to offer space for independent engagement with important contemporary ideas and issues."