New Window On Hitchcock Classic At Festival Hub

New Window On Hitchcock Classic At Festival Hub

Sydneysiders can check out the view from Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, enjoy free films, a pop-up bar and bookstore and meet film directors when the Sydney Film Festival Hub returns to Sydney Town Hall.
 
The City of Sydney is a major sponsor of the festival which this year, like Rear Window, celebrates its 60th anniversary.
 
The festival hub runs alongside the main event from 6-14 June and film buffs can enjoy the Rear Window Loop video installation and other free daily entertainment, from comedy to trivia, panel discussions and screenings.
 
“After a successful run last year, we’re bringing the festival hub back to Lower Town Hall,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.
 
“The Sydney Film Festival is unique in showcasing the best of Australian and international film and documentary-making talent. The extraordinary range of screenings on offer, along with satellite events like the hub and a buzzing festival atmosphere, make this one of Sydney’s most exciting festivals.
 
The hub is open until midnight every day during the festival and all talks, screenings, workshops and other events are free.
 
Food and drink is available at the hub’s festival bar and there’s also a Kinokuniya Pop-Up Bookstore, featuring a collection of books and DVDs inspired by the festival program. Film Club will be held from 5pm-6pm daily, where critics will encourage people to share their reviews of festival films.
 
There will also be discount $10 tickets to selected festival screenings available at the Hub Ticketing Lounge until 8.30pm daily.
 
Rear Window Loop is a 20-minute panoramic three-channel video projection by artist Jeff Desom. The video reconstructs the view from James Stewart’s New York window in Hitchcock’s 1954 classic suspense thriller. The video will be screened twice daily from 5pm-6pm and 10pm-midnight.
 
In partnership with the festival, the City is co-presenting two screenings of Danish filmmaker Andreas Dalsgaard’s The Human Scale, which documents the international influence of urban-planning maestro Jan Gehl around the globe.
 
The Danish planner and architect’s vision to reclaim public spaces inspired Melbourne’s laneways culture, the City’s Sustainable Sydney 2030 plan and even a reimagining of New York’s Time Square.
 
The screenings on Thursday 6 June and Saturday 8 June at Event Cinemas will be followed by an audience discussion with the filmmaker, Gehl Architects’ David Sims and producer Signe Byrge Sorensen.
 
The City is also sponsoring a free hub screening of Mr Dalsgaard’s Cities on Speed: Bogota Change, a 2009 documentary that charts the transformation of Colombia’s largest city. The film shows how over a decade two mayors, Antanas Mockus and Enrique Penalosa, used unorthodox methods to turn one of the world’s most violent and corrupt cities into a peaceful and model city with more caring citizens.
 
The screening, from midday on Saturday 8 June, will be followed by a Q&A with Mr Dalsgaard and award-winning Sydney architect Stephen Collier, who will discuss how the documentary explores civic issues, sustainability and public transport.
 
The City will also host a free morning tea and seniors screening of William Yang: My Generation, at Dendy Opera Quays at 10.45am on Saturday 15 June.
 
The documentary from the veteran Sydney photographer explores his friendships with artists, writers and fashion designers including Brett Whiteley, Patrick White and Jenny Kee. This is a free event for seniors or Health Care Card holders. Bookings are essential on 02 9265 9973 and some transport is available. 
 
The City provided $15,000 in funding for the publication of a commemorative online publication, Sydney Film Festival 1954 to Now, which traces the history of Sydney Film Festival – the sixth-oldest in the world.
 
The free e-book, launched in March, gives an insight into Sydneysiders’ shifting film tastes and the changing face of the city since 1954 via 37 historical essays, and a searchable list of all 8,580 films that have screened in that time.

ENDS

© Scoop Media