ACMI MW

Megan Weintraub

Going to ACMI was a great experience because it connected what we learned in our pre departure course to what we were seeing in the museum directly. We got to see most of the films watched in class explained in some way in an exhibit, as all of them contributed to the development of Australian film. One of my favorite exhibit was The Piano exhibit, where the real piano from the movie was placed. It was great to see the beauty of the piano come to life right before my eyes. I learned about the rivalry between Australia and New Zealand for claiming this film, as both nations take pride in its production. The film was shot in New Zealand but has Australian influences in the production, making it unclear which country to say it belongs to. I loved being able to compare the movie to what I learned at ACMI that day.

Another exhibit I saw was about the Aboriginal people. One quote I found from an aboriginal man was about how if the dominant culture describes an indigenous culture in specific ways that are negative, that culture will start viewing themselves as that. The culture itself will start believing these accusations, making them look down on themselves in society after seeing how they are depicted in films. The dominant culture will spread these accusations further to get the majority of the people in Australia to view them in a worse way. This causes for segregation within the country. I saw this in Rabbit Proof Fence and Australia, as the Aboriginal people were viewed as outsiders even though they lived there for thousands of years prior. This injustice was very interesting to see highlighted at the ACMI.

Another exhibit I found interesting was Mad Max interceptor where you were able to take apocalyptic selfies. Such a use of technology made visitors excited about the movie and inspired by the use of technology. With such incredible movies coming out with this ability, more and more action films will seem realistic. Mad Max was shot in Australia, making this exhibit cool to see while there after seeing the film locations in our tour in Sydney.

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