1. Citizen Jane: battle for the city
Wednesday 7 June, 6.30pm (USA, 2016, 92 mins)
When I walked into this screening at the Berlin Film Festival this year, I had no idea who Jane Jacobs was and why she's become a legend in the world of architecture and urban planning. This story tells of the fight Jacobs led against the ruthless redevelopment of New York in the 1960s by "master-builder" Robert Moses, and of Jacobs' belief that cities are about people rather than high-rise buildings and expressways.
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She knew that clearing the so-called "slums" of Greenwich Village and Lower Manhattan would destroy the relationships people naturally forged with their streetscapes and their neighbours and thousands agreed with her. It's both a great David v Goliath yarn and a profound insight – still relevant today - into Jacobs' views on how to make our cities work. After the screening at NGA there's a Q&A with Michael Jasper – architect, educator and scholar – who's directed some urban scale projects himself, and written extensively on the topic.
2. China's Van Goghs
Wednesday 14 June, 6.30pm (China/Netherlands, 2016, 80 mins)
This is a special film for me, for a rather strange reason. I actually chased it for last year's Winter Film Series but the filmmakers decided to re-edit the film, and it was withdrawn from distribution. It was worth the wait: what had been a fascinating account of a self-made oil painter (Zhao Xiaoyong), who had found a way out of poverty mastering the art Van Gogh, became an intimate and startling story of obsession and self-discovery.
We've all seen documentaries that focus on China's development and the subsequent impact on the environment, but here's a glimpse at what the forces of change mean for one man, highlighted when Xiaoyong is invited to travel to Europe to see Van Gogh's world for himself – a trip that forces him to question the meaning of art and his role as an artist. After the screening there's a Q&A session with Jinghong Zhang, Visiting Research Fellow at Australian Centre on China in the World, at the ANU.
3. Hieronymus Bosch: Touched by the Devil
Wednesday 21 June, 6.30pm (Netherlands, 2016, 86 mins)
Since I was a child, I've been a fan of Hieronymus Bosch – all those cheeky devils, quirky creatures and the bizarre antics that humans seem to get up to in the garden! Inspired by the 500th anniversary of the death of Bosch, this film does two things at once: it gets you up as close as you could ever get to Bosch's work - lush with sinister, surreal and beautiful imagery of heaven and hell - and, using special camera technology, reveals what's below the surface of the paintings. You'll be amazed.
But secondly, sometimes comically, the film explores the politics of art institutions and the challenges of trying to borrow works of art. It's about a group of curators, art historians and technical experts travelling the world, battling egos and red-tape, to bring together the ultimate – and authentic – collection of the medieval master painter. Join us after the screening for more insights from NGA Director Gerard Vaughan.
4. Dries
Wednesday 28 June, 6.30pm (Belgium, Germany 2017, 90 mins)
One of the hits of the Winter Film Series over the past few years was the documentary Iris, about fashion icon, Iris Apfel. Who doesn't like a peak into the irresistible world of sumptuous fabric, design and Paris fashion week? In this documentary we get up close to Dries Van Noten, the independent fashion designer who dresses Cate Blanchett and Queen Matilde of Belgium and who is renowned for his prints, colours, original fabrics and layering. Dries opens the doors on his creative process, his rich home life and the preparation for a year's worth of collections. And Iris Apfel makes an appearance!
5. Beuys: art as a weapon
Wednesday 5 July, 6.30pm (Germany, 2017, 86 mins)
This was one of my favourite documentaries at the Berlin Film Festival – a detailed look at Joseph Beuys, one of the most influential artists of the last century. What really captured my imagination in this film was the strange mythology that Beuys created about himself: using his rescue by Tartar tribesmen from a terrible aircraft crash at the end of World War II as subtle defining force. The man who said that art "is the science of freedom", Beuys was not only a painter and sculpture, but an extraordinary teacher and orator at the vanguard of artistic, social and political change. The film uses extensive unpublished audio and video footage - including his almost unbelievable 1974 tour of America – to give you a feel for the man who, 30 years after his death, still feels ahead of the times.
National Gallery of Australia's Winter Film Series 2017, Wednesdays until July 5, 2017, 6.30pm, James O Fairfax Theatre, National Gallery of Australia. Tickets and further information at nga.gov.au
