Ned Screening

Late last year I discussed the very first feature film ever made and how it was actually an Australian movie about Ned Kelly entitled The Story of the Kelly Gang.

I opened my email today to find a letter from AFI saying that the film has been painstakingly restored by the National Film and Sound Archive and there will be a screening of the restored footage next week at ACMI in Melbourne (unsure about the rest of the country).

The Story of the Kelly Gang opened in Melbourne on Boxing Day 1906 and went on to thrill audiences across the country. Thanks to meticulous restoration work by the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA), nearly a quarter of this extraordinary film has now been pieced together and digitally restored by Haghefilm for contemporary and future generations.

Considering it was made 100 years ago and barely any of it had survived over the century, it's pretty amazing that we will actually be able to see it at all.

The existing parts of the film are to be released on DVD along with an educational guide and book. If you're at all interested in the history of the film medium then I'd suggest seeking it out. There is a screening, as I said, next week on May 17 at 6.30pm at ACMI including an introduction by those involved with the restoration. I'm not gonna be going, but if you live in Melbourne maybe you should. It's a complementary screening, after all.

All the details about booking tickets (you must book, don't just show up) can be found at Metro Magazine.