The power of music in film

Music and cinema go hand-in-hand. Taking place at the Australian Cinémathèque at GOMA (2 September to 2 October 2016) Get What You Want: Music Cinema is a carefully curated selection of documentary and fiction films concerned with different genres. It will display the importance and impact of music in cinema, and attempt to communicate the power it has to deeply affect the listener and musician alike.

QAGOMA curator Peter McKay put the program together, and answered some questions for scenestr about what to expect at ‘Get What You Want: Music Cinema’.

Amy 2015 MA15+

Amy is a detailed and sympathetic study of the charisma, controversy and talent that drove the late superstar Amy Winehouse. Filled with archival footage that reveals the brutal scrutiny that celebrities are subject to nowadays, the film is layered with Winehouse’s own feelings on her success and struggles.

Scenestr | What is the purpose of an event like ‘Get What You Want: Music Cinema’?

Peter McKay | What I wanted to do with this program was to give an opportunity for audiences to introduce themselves to different kinds of music, and also their contextual cultures, looking to cinema to provide de facto ‘scene’ studies. I’m interested in the way music lowers inhibitions and I think that makes for compelling viewing. But I am also interested in the contradiction that music draws crowds together to share an aesthetic experience, but often the crowds that go to different concerts are divided along lines of genre or culture.

Scenestr | As the curator for this program, what was the most difficult part of the selection?

Peter McKay | The process was to spend a lot of time clicking through IMDB and other specific cinema databases and then watch as many films as I could over four to five months. I am pretty sure I gained a couple of kilos. Looking at all these films took me to some really unusual and experimental practices which aren’t necessarily in ‘Get What You Want’, but hopefully some of that knowledge will come out in future programming. Cutting it down to 28 films was hard, but it has kept the group tight.

Maestro 2003 M

Maestro describes the authentic and generous club scene of 1970s New York that was the precursor to today’s thriving international dance music culture. Crafted from lo-fi archival material and new interviews, this insightful documentary honours the work of the most innovative DJs of the era and their remarkably community oriented clubs.

Scenestr | What was the easiest?

Peter McKay | Including Maestro. It’s a really low budget film with sketchy handycam footage that I had been intending to watch for years. When I finally watched it for this program, I was blown away by the innovation and generosity that was integral to the 1970s club scene.

Scenestr | The films underline the idea that music ‘can enrich our identities and transform the listener into somebody they want to be’… How is this idea represented in the program?

Peter McKay | That line speaks to the notion that the music we love can become the soundtrack to certain moments in our lives – and that by listening to certain songs later on we can be transported back to these moments and reminded of who we have been at different times. Of course listeners also gravitate to the music that somehow stirs or strengthens their sense of identity – of who they are as an individual, and as a part of a group too.

Scenestr | What are you hoping people gain or learn from this program?

Peter McKay | If ‘Get What You Want’ kindles a new interest in music from even just a handful of people I’ll be happy. I might be setting the target low, but at the end of the day cultural appreciation and participation is what all my work is about.

DO YOU HAVE A SOUNDTRACK THAT TRANSPORTS YOU BACK IN TIME?

Get What You Want is presented in partnership with Brisbane Festival at the
Australian Cinémathèque, GOMA
2 September to 2 October 2016
Cinema tickets: adults $10.50, concession $8.50 and Gallery members $7.50. 
A five-film discount is available at the Cinémathèque Box Office.

The Decline of Western Civilisation 1981
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains 1982
Purple Rain 1984
The Decline of Western Civilisation Part II: The Metal Years 1988  
In Bed with Madonna 1991
Buried Country: The Story of Aboriginal Country Music 2000 
Wave Twisters 2001
Maestro 2003 
DIG! 2004
Awesome; I… Shot That! 2006
Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing 2006
Rock the Bells 2006 
Anvil: The Story of Anvil 2008
The Carter 2009
Nine Muses of Star Empire 2012
Charles Bradley: Soul of America 2012
Death Metal Angola 2012 
Marley 2012
All Ears: A Glimpse into the Los Angeles Beat Community 2013 
The Punk Singer 2013
Inside Llewyn Davis 2013
Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton: This Is Stones Throw Records 2013 
20,000 Days on Earth 2014
Shake the Dust 2014 
Cobain: Montage of Heck 2015
Amy 2015
Strike a Pose 2016
Miles Ahead 2016

ALSO SCREENING
As part of the Brisbane Festival see two fairy tale adaptations of Snow White. Join acclaimed pianist Mauro Colombis as he accompanies the silent film Snow White 1916 followed by the screening of Disney’s iconic feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937.

Australian Cinémathèque
GOMA is the only Australian art gallery with purpose-built facilities dedicated to film and the moving image and offers a rare opportunity to see films presented on the big screen as they were intended, and features many 35mm prints sourced from film archives around the world and screened in one of Australia’s last 35mm film venues.

Want to know what’s on at QAGOMA?
or
Sign up to QAGOMA Enews