Chauvel - Memories of early Australian cinema

It may surprise you, but I am not a 'multi-plex' sort of gal. No siree! I am an independent cinema consumer - an 'indie'. I don't do horror, nor sci-fi, nor budget-busters. Nor anything that relies on running and slamming of doors to convey either narrative or character.

There are two cinemas within walking distance, the Verona and the Chauvel. Both are on Oxford Street in Paddington and are operated by the Palace Cinema group. I feel blessed. They both show the best of world cinema from the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Americas. At the moment they are showing the Spanish Film Festival.


Charles & Elsa Chauvel were pioneering Australian film-makers from the 30s through to the end of the 50s when Charles died of heart failure. They were reknown in this country for films like 'Forty Thousand Horsemen', 'Rats of Tobruk', and 'Jedda' with this last, based on aboriginal displacement, being their main legacy.

The Chauvel Cinema has two screens and is housed in part of the Paddington Town Hall sharing office space with the Australian Film Institute (AFI).

Sat'day night - Use a little muscle to get what you need

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Flicking along the jaw, a bob defined her face and accompanied her brittle laugh, much as a mellow Shiraz accompanies a rare fillet. The winds of August were bleak, and gusty. A toxic mix of pollen and urban dust swirled across her Jimmy Choos. Elaiine could feel the train wreck coming.

Her mouth was dry and her mind more vacuous than empty. That she no longer cared might be putting too fine a point on it, rather, she no longer minded. Geese and ganders came to mind. Sod them – two can play this game.

She lengthened her stride and as they turned across the footpath to mount the stairs, out of the corner of her eye she saw the white parcel slip from fist to palm. Another deal was done, another train readies to leave the station. Her eyes glistened with possibility, as she lowered her gaze to feign oblivion.

A member of The Weekend in Black and White community.