Tuesday July 13th 9pm George Cinemas.

John Cumming is a Melbourne based independent filmmaker. His work has screened internationally and is held by the National Library of Australia. John was an active member of the Independent Film Action Committee in the early 1980s. Since 1985 he has taught film and video at institutions including the UTS, La Trobe, and the VCA. He now lectures at both the University of Melbourne and at Deakin in Melbourne. John’s film work is marked by a strong interest in form, often resulting in films that are interesting hybrids of various elements. As a director, his hand is both (to quote Godard) “soft and hard”, as he effortlessly moves from narrative to essay to documentary, from analysis to poetry to emotion.

OBSESSION
1985 | 24 min | 16mm

A high performance film about the mechanics of desire and socialisation, stasis and motion. An insistent, speeded-up montage of car bodies and disassembled parts.

RECOGNITION
1986 | 21 min | 16mm

A displaced hero and a wandering group of people confront oblivion and are transformed by the landscapes they pass through.

SABOTAGE
1987 | 16 min | 16mm

What is Sabotage: dogma, action, inaction, deception, hypocrisy, incompetence, detachment, subversion?

John will also screen and discuss excerpts from some of his other works.