Film series: Modern city 3 July – 6 October 2013

In the 20th century, cities grew more than ever before. Innovations in construction – such as the use of structural steel framework and the electric elevator – resulted in the evolution of the skyscraper. The rise of urban populations led to the construction of electric railways, bridges, department stores, cinemas and factories. Mass-production created cars and new house-hold appliances. But as the modern city rapidly transformed, inherent problems threatened the quality of urban life. The rapid increase in population led to ‘clean-sweep' planning, enormous pressure on surrounding environments, urban decay and social and economic troubles.

Screening at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 3 July to 16 October 2013, this series of documentaries, feature films, short films and newsreels traces the evolution, transformation and contradictions of the modern city – from classics that lampoon the mechanisation of life in the modern age, such as Charlie Chaplin’s Modern times (1936) to more recent portraits of the urban experience like Wim Wenders’ Tokyo-ga (1985). While the City Symphonies of the 1920s and 30s celebrate urbanism, the more sinister aspects of city life are explored in film noirs such as Robert Siodmak’s Cry of the city (1948) and in documentaries on the threat to Sydney’s heritage in the 1960s.

Some screenings in Modern city will be preceded by vintage Sydney newsreels, especially those reporting the construction of the Harbour Bridge; others by a short introduction by film historians.

Films

• 3, 7 July – Man with a movie camera (director Dziga Vertov, USSR, 1929, 35mm)

• 10, 14 July – Sydney’s harbour bridge (director Lyn Maplestone, Australia, 1932, 35mm) + Modern times (director Charlie Chaplin, US, 1936, 35mm)

• 17, 21 July – A propos de Nice (director Jean Vigo, France, 1930, 35mm) + Cine Gazette No 12: The elephant will never forget (director John Krish, UK, 1952, 35mm) + Nice time (director Alan Tanner and Claude Goretta, UK, 1957, 35mm) + Steady! (Houen zo!) (director Herman van der Horst, Netherlands, 1952, 35mm)

• 24, 28 July – Cry of the city (director Robert Siodmak, US, 1948, 35mm)

• 31 July, 4 August – The naked city (director Jules Dassin, US, 1948, 35mm)

• 7, 11 August – Double indemnity (director Billy Wilder, US, 1944, 35mm)

• 14, 18 August – Pick-up on South Street (director Samuel Fuller, US, 1953, 35mm)

• 21, 25 August – The sleeping city (director George Sherman, US, 1950, 35mm)

• 28 August, 1 September – Where the sidewalk ends (director Otto Preminger, US, 1950, 35mm)

• 4, 8 September – Terminus (director John Schlesinger, UK, 1961, 35mm) + Every day except Christmas (director Lindsay Anderson, UK, 1957, 16mm)

• 11, 15 September – London can take it (director Humphrey Jennings, Harry Watt, UK, 1940, 35mm) + London (director Patrick Keiller, UK, 1994, 16mm)

• 18, 22 September – Lift to the scaffold (director Louis Malle, France, 1958, 35mm)

• 21 September – Tokyo-ga (director Wim Wenders, Germany, 1985, 35mm)

• 25, 29 September – Heatwave (director Phil Noyce, Australia, 1981, 35mm)

• 2, 6 October – Rocking the foundations (director Pat Fiske, Australia, 1985, 35mm)