Why Melbourne Needs The Astor Theatre

It’s safe to say many film lovers in Melbourne have their own personal connection to the Astor. The fact that it’s one of the last remaining theatres of its kind in the world gives it even more significance. “For people who are into movies and are into sort of the cultural scene of Australia, the Astor does have relevance to them,” agrees Hepburn. “A lot of cinemas can turn into kinda like an Anytown, USA sort of environment where there’s no personality. [The Astor is] almost like your local record store in many ways: you go in there and you go, what’s on, what do I wanna see? And you have a body of staff who are really knowledgeable about film and can take the audience on a journey, and maybe refer them to stuff that they didn’t know they wanted to see or hadn’t heard of before. If the Astor had’ve closed, the cinema scene in Melbourne, and potentially Australia as well, really would have lost that unique flair that this location excels in providing.”

“Then I just was obsessed with coming back here as often as I could.”

Part of that ‘unique flair’ is the frequent projection of movies in 35mm and 70mm film. “If you kind of go back to the idea of a film screening being sort of a pure experience – so watching a film that was shot on film, projected on film – you can’t really replicate that in any other way. Watching repertory cinema on celluloid is really integral to touching on the director’s vision and the filmmaker’s vision and how they wanted people to engage with their work… It’s something that I think is really vital to be offered to audiences.”

As well as truly understanding the essence of the Astor and the things that people love about it, Hepburn has a background in repertory programming, getting his start in the film industry at Palace Westgarth Cinemas, where he curated repertory film programs and presented special event screenings showcasing rare 35mm prints. And just a glance at the new Astor calendar was enough to alleviate fears that the programming would change direction. “I’m really aware of the Astor canon… those films that appear on every calendar, and sometimes on every bi-calendar. We really want to maintain that; you’re going to see the return of stuff like the 70mm print of Hamlet, the 70mm print of Baraka… Metropolis is also gonna be in there, and stuff like 2001 of course will be screening again in the future. I’m really excited about some new content that we’ve been able to get in... I think there’s a real sort of harmonious level between digital content which has been restored in 4K digital restorations, looking very shmick, with really fantastic retrospectives of film prints and other sort of materials, so it’s a nice sort of balancing act.” Hepburn adds that the only other aspect of the Astor that will be slightly updated is the food and beverage selection; they’ll be incorporating Palace’s boutique wine list and coffee options, and Hepburn hopes to introduce drink specials and film-and-wine matching. 

The Astor reopens on 7 Jun for standard sessions, and on 25 Jun will have its gala event, featuring the Victorian premiere of Gillian Armstrong’s film Women He’s Undressed, about renowned Australian costume designer Orry-Kelly. “The opening party really is about reintroducing people to the venue. Perhaps you’re meeting it for the first time, or if you’re a great fan, you’re just kind of coming back and seeing an old friend, so it’s really about celebrating the legacy of the location and also raising a toast to the future of the location.”