Screen Australia presents In Search of Stories Worth Telling: Robert Rosen Lecture Series

Tuesday 6 July 2010

Screen Australia, in association with MIFF 37°South Market, presents educator and critic Robert Rosen speaking on narrative storytelling and its significance both on and off the screen.

“We are thrilled to introduce Robert Rosen to a MIFF audience and to screen industry practitioners. Bob is one of the world’s most inspiring speakers and his lectures are informed, witty and downright entertaining. This is an extraordinary opportunity to see a revered Hollywood insider remind us why we do what we do: to tell great stories,” said Martha Coleman, Head of Development at Screen Australia.

Rosen has spoken on film criticism, media history and curatorship in more than 20 nations. He was Founding Director of the American Film Institute’s National Centre for Film and Video Preservation, a member of the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress and, with Martin Scorsese, organiser of the Film Foundation on which he currently serves as the Founding Chair of the Archivists Council. Until recently Rosen was Dean of the UCLA School of Theatre, Film and TV. Rosen was the film critic for KCRW National Public Radio for a decade and is an active member of the LA Film Critics Association. He received the John Huston Award for Artists’ Rights from the DGA and currently serves as Director of the Narrative Literacy Lab.
 
The series features one General Admission Lecture and five Industry Lectures aimed at film and TV professionals (such as writers, producers, directors, film critics, academics, executives and post-graduate students). All lectures conclude with a Q&A session moderated by Sue Maslin, screen producer and RMIT School of Media and Communication Adjunct Professor.

Sue Maslin said, “Bob is the most wonderful raconteur and teacher. His life’s work and deep appreciation of narrative have culminated in him creating this highly engaging lecture series supported by extensive clips. He invites us to engage with narrative in a completely refreshing way and to open our minds, to imagine, dream and engage with new narrative possibilities based on a thorough understanding of its long history.”

GENERAL ADMISSION LECTURE: Navigating a Narrative World
Thursday 29 July, ACMI Cinema 1, 9.45–11.15am, $10
Booking Code: see MIFF program for details
A ‘must’ for everyone – audiences and filmmakers alike – this lecture demonstrates that stories are the way we make sense of our world. Narrative is the evolutionary advantage that has empowered human beings from our beginning. Understanding and employing their magic is the elixir that turns opportunity into success in every field.

FIVE INDUSTRY LECTURES
Screen industry professionals and advanced media students need to apply to attend part or all of the series. Go to www.melbournefilmfestival.com.au/2010_program/robertrosen for application information. Applications close 16 July 2010. Lectures cost $10 each or $40 for all five.

Lecture 1: Narratives
Monday 2 August, ACMI Cinema 1, 9.45–11.15am
Exploring the origins, purposes, forms and dynamics of narrative; the perils and possibilities of narrative empowerment; narrative as a core human need; story stories, personal narrative and embedded narrative; narrative as event.

Lecture 2: Movies and the Human Condition
Tuesday 3 August, ACMI Cinema 1, 9.45–11.15am
The western, horror films and food movies as case studies; six paths in the quest for narrative.

Lecture 3: Story and Style: A Method for Filmmakers
Wednesday 4 August, ACMI Cinema 1, 9.45–11.15am
How to strategise the use of style to tell stories on screen; the marriage of form and content; a dialogue with past directors; individual creativity in a collaborative art form. Based on Rosen’s course taught to all MFA directors at UCLA.
 
Lecture 4: Acts of Historical Remembering
Wednesday 4 August, ACMI Cinema 1, 12.30–2.00pm
How narratives of the past are used in the present; archiving as storytelling. Drawing on Rosen’s work as founder and Director of the UCLA Film and TV Archive, Board Member of the Film Foundation and recipient of the DGA Artist Rights Award for his work in preservation.

Lecture 5: Where It’s At: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Thursday 5 August, ACMI Cinema 1, 9.45–11.15am
Exploring how to navigate the possibilities and perils of Art as Commerce and reflections on where independent-minded filmmakers are today and the future making risk-taking films amidst dramatically changing markets and technologies. This final lecture concludes with a cross-cultural dialogue on the future of the personal vision.
 
 

Victoria Buchan, The Lantern Group, victoria@lanterngroup.com.au
T: (02) 9383 4033  M: 0408 114 864