DVDs & CDs
New in 2011
"Enthusiasts'
Passion"
and
"Grafton, the Notaras Family and
the Saraton Theatre"
All of the DVDs are created by Ross Thorne.
Most deal with architectural and social issues
of cinema and capture a
sense of "then" and "now" through
a combination of new video interviews, archival photos and
detailed studies of the buildings and towns as they now stand.
To order copies of thes DVDs, please see details on the
page orders and links.
"Going to the Pictures at Culcairn NSW
1924-1968" a community hall that doubles
as the only cinema in town is the focus of
this video. It uses recollections of local residents
and video material of the building as it now stands,
including a film rewinding room almost untouched from
the 1950's.
(DC-01)
"The Royal Victoria Theatre,
Sydney, 1836-1880" is an award
winning documentary series from 1992 using recreations of
19th century performance and staging techniques. The series
was originally produced by the University of Sydney and their
participation in this re release is greatly appreciated.
(DC-02)
"Ballarat Building Heritage" and "Her
Majesty's Theatre" explores
Ballarat's impressive Victorian streets and the interiors
and back stage areas of the restored Her
Majesty's Theatre.
(DC-03)
"Flicks in the Sticks" features
a number of community run cinemas in country towns across
NSW. The common thread is that each one is each run under
a different management model with varying degrees of community
involvement and diverse uses.
The video is an insight into the way community
groups have successfully established a community run cinema
in small towns where a commercially run cinema is no longer
viable. The featured locations are the Montreal in
Tumut; the Roxy in Bingara; The James in Dungog and the Roxy in Leeton.
Also on this disc is an introduction to the topic
of cinema heritage recorded at the 'Flicks in the Sticks'
seminar held at the Amusu theatre in
Manildra NSW in 2001.
(DC-04)
"Flicks in the Sticks 2" (2009) returns
to the original NSW Government Initiative on Country Cinema
and follows, through the different efforts at Nundle, Coonabarabran,
Gunnedah, Bowraville and Gulargambone, how cinema was revived
in those communities in NSW. It also includes the purchase
and conversion of an old cinema in Balranald for community,
social and performance use.
50 minutes.
(DC-05)
"Mudgee and its Regent Theatre" (2009) provides
a visual description of the town, and its cinematic history,
culminating in an exploration of the Regent
Theatre that
was closed and up for sale in 2009. The video was shot during
a special festival of films as a way of promoting the sale.
27 minutes.
(DC-06)
"Strand Theatre 1922-70 Canowindra,
NSW" (2002) is a social
history video based on interviews with elderly townsfolk,
plus a walk through the projection box that had been disused
for over thirty years.
(DC-07)
"The Sad Saga of Bombala" (2008) is
a social history of how a community group started a community
cinema in the old
Olympia Theatre, but was defeated by a combination
of the 2002 insurance crisis in Australia and petty local
bureaucracy. Extras include the full interviews at the old Olympia,
features of its functioning projection box, and in the former
historic Literary Institute hall, the planned site for the
community's second attempte to establish a permanent cinema.
14.5 minutes, plus extras.
(DC-08)
"Enthusiasts’ Passion
to own a picture theatre" (2010) traces
three enthusiasts who wanted to own a cinema.
Chris Gray
bought the former Plaza Theatre at Coonamble and has
been restoring it how he remembered it when a teenager.
John Mitchell bought the Royal Theatre, Quirindi, since
he loved projecting films. He and a friend restored it
and filled it with a unique collection of 35mm film projectors
before selling it to the Liverpool Plains Shire Council
to be run as a community venue.
Andrew Sharpe made an
80 seat-cinema/performance space wihtin the old billiard
room of decomissioned hotel in Barraba where he continues
to provide weekly film screenings and ocassional live
shows.
36 minutes,
PAL 16:9 ratio
(DC-09)
"Grafton
NSW, the Notaras Family and the Saraton Theatre" (2011) starts
with the Notaras family coming to Grafton in 1909, building
the Saraton Theatre in 1926, modernising it in 1940,
being heritage listed in 2000, and finally restoring
it with the addition of two new screens in 2010 (being
fully digital in projection). Interviews are with two
elderly members of the Notaras family who have been responsible
for the rehabilitation of the theatre.
26 minutes,
PAL 16:9 ratio
(DC-10)
To order copies of thes DVDs, please see details on the
page orders and links.
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