‘TOON TIME! AT THE CHAUVEL CINEMATHEQUE

BY AMELIA GROOM

One of few surviving cinematheques in Sydney, Brett Garten’s weekly program at the Chauvel Cinema in Paddington has been giving local movie enthusiasts a weekly hit of rare filmic gems for the last two and a half years. ‘I started the cinematheque when the Chauvel reopened in 2006,’ Brett recalls. ‘I felt there was a real need to put something different on the big screen. When I was growing up there were a lot of interesting spaces for seeing cult and classic cinema, and I thought it was something that was lacking.’

For the next few weeks at the cinematheque Brett will be presenting a unique season celebrating cartoons and animation from around the world. ‘Toon Time! will commence with film historian Barrie Patterson’s selection of archival excerpts from a dozen films he thinks are significant in the history of animation. Then there’ll be a week of rare copies from UPA, an American company who tried to raise cartoons to a more sophisticated level in the 40s and 50s, and a program of the legendary Tex Avery’s MGM cartoons in glorious 35mm technicolour.

After that is a few weeks dedicated to the history of Japanese anime, including Yugo Serikawa’s The Little Prince and The Eight Headed Dragon (which has been little seen since its 1963 release), and Unico, one of the peak achievements of the prolific Ozamu Tezuka, ‘the Japanese Walt Disney’, best known for his Astro Boy series.

‘These are early examples from before the more famous anime films,’ says Brett, ‘and they’re really hard to see as they’re not available on DVD at all. We’re able to show them courtesy of the Japan Foundation and they’re beautiful prints with original sound and English subtitles.’

‘I’m limited in what I can show by what films are out there. It’s a dying medium so it depends on what 35 and 16mm prints I can find to screen. I have always thought that we should only show films at the cinematheque because the movie buff types who come along expect to see films, even though the general public are slowly accepting watching movies digitally.’

With recent programs having included films from the 1950s – 80s about parenting, a few weeks dedicated to old Hollywood gothic films, and a night of films about burlesque and the striptease, I asked Brett what was in the pipeline after the ‘toons series…

‘I’m planning a retrospective of Australian surf movies, more silent films with live music accompaniment, and more lectures and talks on films, cinema history and cinema technology,’ he said. ‘I think one of the reasons people are going out to the cinema less these days is that there’s so much extra filmic information on DVDs, and people want that. So I’ve tried to take that approach, and every screening at the cinematheque has an introduction from someone who puts it in social context or offers some sort of extra dimension.’

The Chauvel Cinematheque is on twice weekly ‘ Saturdays at noon and Mondays at 6:30pm. Screenings are open to members and their guests and membership is super cheap: an annual is $75/$85 (with 12 guest passes); a 3-month membership is $32/$36 (with 3 guest passes), and a 4-week membership is $15/$18 (with 1 guest pass).

‘Toon Time! at Chauvel Cinematheque
September 27 ‘ October 13
Chauvel Cinema, Cnr Oxford St & Oatley Rd, Paddington
9361 5398, www.chauvelcinema.net.au or www.brettgarten.blogspot.com