In December, Film Club will be screening The Stolen Painting, acclaimed writer/director Pascal Bonitzer’s sharp and hugely engrossing new dramedy. Inspired by true events, The Stolen Painting follows a self-assured auctioneer whose professional and personal integrity is challenged by the discovery of a long-lost masterpiece.

Paris, present day. Brash 40-something André Masson (César Award-winner Alex Lutz), a hotshot modern art appraiser at prestigious high-end auction house Scottie’s, receives word that a painting by Egon Schiele may have been found in a young factory worker’s home in the Alsatian city of Mulhouse.

Though highly sceptical, André travels to view the canvas with his ex-partner Bettina (Léa Drucker, Custody) who is also an expert valuator, only to be convinced of its authenticity as a masterwork long assumed destroyed by Nazi officials during WWII. For André, the ramifications of this once-in-a-lifetime find for his career and for his contentious relationship with his less-than-reliable intern Aurore (Louise Chevillotte), will prove both unexpected and transformative.

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Film Club runs at 7.30pm on the first Saturday of each month (excluding January) at Coledale Community Hall.

Regularly hosted by local film expert Graham Thorburn and open to anybody interested in seeing, thinking, and having fun talking about films; each Film Club session will start with some background information about the film – the times and context of its making, the people who made it, and something notable about the content or techniques of the film – perhaps even a bit of gossip. After the film screening, there will be a chance to discuss the film.

Attendance is $7 for SCWC & Screen Illawarra Members, and $10 for general admission. Entry fee includes tea & coffee.

Film Club is a community event. We encourage people to get involved by coming early to help us set up, or staying to helping pack chairs away.

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Graham Thorburn has had a very long career in film and television, as an actor, producer, writer and academic, but principally as a director. He mostly worked as a director for short-run TV drama (over 70 prime time hours), but he also produced and directed Countdown and created, produced and directed BeatBox. Graham was the third President of the Australian Screen Directors Association (now the Australian Directors Guild) and served in various other executive positions for ten years. He was Head of Directing, then Head of Teaching at AFTRS for 11 years. Before that he wrote and delivered course work in acting, writing and directing for the screen at UTS, NIDA and AFTRS, and has chaired international undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum and teaching assessment panels.

Contact the host of DECEMBER Film Club: The Stolen Painting