'Vital Viewing For Every Australian': Melb Music Week's Must-see Docos

“After the many disruptions of COVID, it’s a privilege to be able to celebrate great music once again,” Ghita Loebenstein, Head of Cinemas at ACMI, told The Music.

“I’m thrilled to be working with Melbourne Music Week to bring real-life cinema audiences to MIFF’s Music On Film program after COVID disrupted the 2021 Festival. 

“Together we’re presenting two premieres: we celebrate the legendary Archie Roach and the late Ruby Hunter in Philippa Bateman’s concert film Wash My Soul In The River’s Flow; and the beloved Courtney Barnett in a special preview of Danny Cohen’s intimate Anonymous Club.

"We’re lucky to have director Philippa Bateman introducing every screening of Wash My Soul, and Emma Donovan (musician, and executive producer on the film) will be joining us for our first session. Danny Cohen will introduce the special previews of Anonymous Club."

WASH MY SOUL IN THE RIVER’S FLOW

Dec 6 & 7 

Tickets

“Archie Roach is a national treasure – which is reason enough to see this special documentary. It takes a behind-the-scenes look at his legendary 2004 concert with Ruby Hunter (Kura Tungar: Songs From The River), recounting their lives, as members of the Stolen Generations who found each other, and unrelenting love of music. It's vital viewing for every Australian, and a testament to the transformative power of love, song and connection to country. We’re lucky to have director Philippa Bateman introducing every screening, and thrilled that Emma Donovan (musician, and executive producer on the film) will be joining us for our first session.”

-GL

ANONYMOUS CLUB

Dec 8

Tickets

“Courtney Barnett is a Melbourne legend and one of Australia’s biggest musical exports. Danny Cohen offers up a fascinating insight into her creative process in Anonymous Club, pulling back the curtain on her 2018 world tour. The audience hears the notoriously shy musician narrate her artistic and personal ups and downs via dictaphone, played over 16mm footage of life on the road. This documentary is a wonderful chance for fans and film-lovers to experience an intimate first-person exposition on creativity, vulnerability and artistic life on the road. These special preview screenings also feature introductions from Danny."

-GL

ROCK'N'ROLL

Dec 6

Tickets

"Music fans won't want to miss this rare Australian film that serves as a time capsule of 1950s rock'n'roll culture. Capturing a pivotal moment in the Australian music scene through live performances by Johnny O'Keefe, The Delltones, and Cole Joye, it was thought to be lost, then miraculously found, and now re-premieres more than 60 years later – holding the mantle as one of the world's oldest surviving concert films. Sharp eyes may recognise a short fragment of the feature-length film from the intro to ABC's Rage." 

-RG

A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS 

WITH LIVE SCORE BY CHIARA KICKDRUM

Dec 7

Tickets

"Combine Clint Eastwood with a live score by Melbourne-based DJ/composer/music producer Chiara Kickdrum, and you get an electric night at the movies. Eastwood made his leading role debut in this classic Spaghetti western, as a lone gunfighter squinting his way into town. Integrating classic orchestral sounds with electronic elements, Chiara Kickdrum's new score will be played live with Naomi Wileman on cello. Often considered one of the best ever made, the film is credited with reframing the American western genre." 

-RG

Also showing as part of the 2021 program: The Songs Of David McComb & The Triffids + Love In Bright Landscapes

For more details on Melbourne Music Week’s music doco screenings, click here.