“Revisiting the live performances, recorded almost 40 years previously, was an incredible experience. The intervening years had diminished none of the raw power and sheer exaltation of a Birthday Party show and it was this extraordinary energy which both informed and fuelled the film. The Birthday Party’s career was spectacular, incendiary and chaotic but it is the incredible music, towering over all else which, in my mind at least, preserves the band’s epic legacy.” (Ian White)
Mutiny in Heaven: The Birthday Party Mutiny in Heaven: The Birthday Party
From humble beginnings in suburban Australia, The Birthday Party grew to become one of the most influential acts of their time – commanding a level of respect which remains undiminished to this day. Singer Nick Cave’s incendiary vocals and guitarist Rowland S. Howard’s groundbreaking sonics stunned audiences across the globe. By the time of their inevitable disintegration they’d been labelled the most dangerous band in the world.
What's On
New on the programme
Islands Islands
Jan-Ole Gerster
Sunday, 21. 12. 2025 / 21:15 / Main Hall
A sun-drenched neo-noir directed by German filmmaker Jan Ole Gerster, co-written with the recently deceased Slovenian screenwriter and director Blaž Kutin, who also co-wrote Gerster’s previous feature Lara. The film had its gala premiere in the Berlinale Special Gala section.
Hamnet Hamnet
Chloé Zhao
Monday, 22. 12. 2025 / 16:00 / Main Hall
Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) imagines how a tragedy from Shakespeare’s real life might have inspired the creation of his timeless masterpiece Hamlet. Starring the exceptional Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, the film is a moving story about love, loss, and the healing power of art.
Fiume o morte! Fiume o morte!
Igor Bezinović
Monday, 22. 12. 2025 / 17:30 / Small Hall
On 12 September 1919, a troop of some three hundred soldiers under the leadership of the flamboyant war-loving Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio swooped into the Northern-Adriatic port town of Fiume, now Rijeka, wanting to annex the city to Italy. Over the course of the next 16 months, during what is regarded as one of the most bizarre militant sieges of all time his official photography team captured over 10,000 images. A century later, Igor Bezinović orchestrates a direct-action history lesson focused on the siege and its modern-day implications.