Cinema in regional cities in Australia is a different kettle of fish from cinema in the big cities. Somewhere or other in big cities everything will be found. Not so in the regions.
For example, if the Rockhampton and Yeppoon regions are anything to go by, regions in the main did not screen what I regard as the best film of last year (2024), Poor Things. This film picked up almost enough Oscars to beat Oppenheimer. If it had only picked up Best Film and Best Director in addition to what it did pick up – awards which I believe it should have picked up – it would have pipped Oppenheimer.
But, to my knowledge and despite its accolades, Poor Things was not to be seen in the regions of this wide brown land. I’ll leave you to figure out the reason(s) behind this serious omission.
This year (2025), it is extremely doubtful if the near perfect and utterly adorable Iranian film, My Favorite Cake, will be screened in the regions by any of the major operators, e.g. by Birch Carrol and Coyle, or even by the so-called independents seeking to make a profit. It may be (and I hope will be) picked up by local film groups not seeking a profit.
I am a member of one such group, Rocky Flix and, by association, with another, Keppel Coast Flix. I intend to do my darnedest to make sure one or other of these groups picks up My Favorite Cake.
So, the saving grace for the regions could be these small struggling film groups. These groups make films available to the regions that would otherwise not be available to them.
Most years, I have managed to survey the film scene by visiting a capital city and frequenting the ‘art film’ venues there. The city I chose used to be Melbourne but, more recently, it has been Perth. Subsequent to my visits, I have given advice to Rocky Flix on what they might screen provided the film distributor does not want to charge an arm and a leg.
I love film that tells an uncontrived story. It all started in the 1950s when The Wages of Fear (not the remake!) amazed me with its lack of Hollywood contrivance. So, I became an aficionado of French cinema, until Hollywood eventually mended its ways by endorsing films by directors such as Kubrick and Frankenheimer.
The French films I came to love range from Les Infants du Paradis through The Umbrellas of Cherbourg to Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Furthermore, I discovered films I liked made in countries other than France, like The Exterminating Angel (Spain), Il Posto (Italy), The Third Man (UK), and Rashomon and Departures (both from Japan).
Very recently, when asked what I thought to be the best film of all time, I found myself replying spontaneously with my answer: The Manchurian Candidate (USA). B’Jesus, not the dreadful remake! In truth, my answer might have been any of the films from the above list or from the myriad of good films not listed above. What about, for instance, The Shop on Main Street (from the former Czechoslovakia), Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (from Turkiya) or Never Gonna Snow Again (from Poland)? The latter was screened recently by Keppel Coast Flix, and I loved it.
The fact that I nominated The Manchurian Candidate, shows how far Hollywood has come since it eschewed, to some extent, stale contrivance.
One day, perhaps, an Australian film will be made which ticks all the boxes for me. But then, will it be screened in the regions?