The first Film Club of 2025 will be screening The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).

Wes Anderson brings his dry wit and visual inventiveness to this exquisite caper set amid the old-world splendour of Europe between the world wars. At the opulent Grand Budapest Hotel, the concierge M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) and his young protégé Zero (Tony Revolori) forge a steadfast bond as they are swept up in a scheme involving the theft of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune—while around them, political upheaval consumes the continent. Also starring F. Murray Abraham, Adrien Brody, Saoirse Ronan, Willem Dafoe, Jude Law, Harvey Keitel, Jeff Goldblum, Mathieu Amalric, Tilda Swinton, and Bill Murray.

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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.