Spring 2013 Long Plays

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) proudly presents renowned French Documentarian Nicolas Philibert's latest film La Maison de la Radio and Jan-Ole Gerster's award winning Oh Boy. After sell out sessions at the Sydney Film Festival, both films will screen at ACMI from Thursday 12 September through to Monday 7 October, 2013 as part of its Spring Long Play programme.

LA MAISON DE LA RADIO
La Maison de la Radio is Nicolas Philibert's behind-the-scenes look at the French national broadcaster, France Inter. 'Naturally the strength of radio is linked to its absence of images and that's what attracted me to the subject. It's a paradox: a film about radio" says Philibert. Like his previously acclaimed documentary of rural school life, To Be and To Have, Philibert  allows us to see the machinations and the passion of what it takes to make radio.

OH BOY
Winning a raft of Lola's at the German Film Awards, including Best Film (Gold), Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor for protagonist Niko (Tom Shilling), Oh Boy is the feature film directorial debut from Jan-Ole Gerster.

Set against a backdrop of Berlin, the story of Niko unfolds in a series of awkward moments. From the breakup with his girlfriend, to the loss of his license to his inability to access a cup of coffee, the film follows Niko through the city over one day and night. Notified of financial independence when his bank card is swallowed by the ATM, Niko reacquaints himself with his father in order to facilitate his lifestyle as a law-school dropout. Past paths continue to cross as he runs into an old classmate who is now a beautiful avant-garde actress, but once a recipient of school yard taunts. As Indiewire states 'OH BOY is a charmingly self-ironic portrait of a young man and the city he lives in. Shot in vivid black and white, the film alternates between melancholy and humour, and shows the protagonist's search for his place in a world where everything yet nothing seems possible."