Course Information

Film. Focus on cinema.

This unique and popular movie appreciation course is like having your own private movie club. In it's 20th year, Movies Now offers you ‘private movie premieres’ prior to their commercial release with each featured movie specially selected by the presenter and popular film critic, Andrew L Urban. The selected movies remain a secret until their screening to ensure that you approach each film on its own merits, uncompromised by outside opinions.

Following each screening, a filmmaking professional will join the group for a discussion designed to help explore the background of each film whilst analysing the themes and cinematic elements. Where possible, the special guests will include the filmmakers themselves. You will also be given access to the production notes of each film, providing background information about the film and the filmmakers.

Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• appreciate and discuss films with a broader cinematic vocabulary
• recognise the importance of the many elements that make up a film, from the screenplay (story, subtext, context) to casting and performances, the direction, cinematography, design and music.

Content

You will experience a range of cinematic styles and genres, including foreign language films, exploring the whole spectrum of the human condition as conveyed on screen. Each movie is chosen to engage and challenge, to stimulate discussion and to explore how different filmmakers tell their stories.

Some movies previously screened include:

The Conference (2022), Dir. Matti Geschonneck

On January 20, 1942, leading representatives of the German Nazi regime met in a villa in Berlin-Wannsee for a meeting that went down in history as the Wannsee Conference, at which the systematic murder of 11 million Jews was decided.

Asteroid City (2023), Dir. Wes Anderson

Follows a writer and his world-famous fictional play about a grieving father who travels with his tech-obsessed family to small rural Asteroid City to compete in a junior stargazing event, only to have his world view disrupted forever.

Godland (2023), Dir. Hlynur Palmason

At the end of the 19th century, a young Danish priest is sent to a remote part of Iceland. The deeper he travels into the Icelandic landscape, the more he loses a sense of his own reality, his mission and his sense of duty.

Thelma (2024), Dir. Josh Margolin

When 93-year-old Thelma Post gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a treacherous quest across the city to reclaim what was taken from her.

Prerequisites

You must be 18 years of age or over.

Delivery style

Face-to-face screenings delivered weekly, held at Dendy Cinemas Newtown.

Materials

Course notes are distributed electronically using Dropbox after each week.

Additional information

This six-week course includes a diverse range of English and subtitled foreign language films of various genres and subjects. Some may contain extreme violence and themes intended for adult audiences. CCE will endeavour to notify participants of this in advance, where possible.

Download course brochure Includes past featured movies