DUNEDIN FILM SOCIETY
WELCOME TO OUR NEXT SCREENING
Laura Poitras'
ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED
(USA | 2022 | 122 mins | M nudity, strong sexual imagery & content may disturb)
Wednesday 26 March, 7.30PM, University of Otago’s Castle 1 Lecture Theatre**
The life of famed photographer Nan Goldin and her activism against the disgraced pharmaceutical billionaire Sackler family, especially their patronage of the art world.
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| "In her essential, urgent, and arrestingly structured documentary Oscar-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras (Citizenfour) weaves two narratives: the fabled life and career of era-defining artist Nan Goldin and the downfall of the Sackler family, the pharmaceutical dynasty Goldin personally took on in her fight to hold accountable those responsible for the deadly opioid epidemic. Following her own personal struggle with opioid addiction, Goldin, who rose from the New York No Wave underground to become one of the great photographers of the late 20th century, put herself at the forefront of the battle against the Sacklers, both as an activist at art institutions around the world that had accepted millions from the family and as an advocate for the destigmatisation of drug addiction... Poitras’s film is an enthralling, empowering work that stirringly connects personal tragedy, political awareness, and artistic expression” (New York Film Festival 2022).
FURTHER REVIEW
"The Sacklers, in effect, became narcotic drug lords with the cover of medical legality. Half a million people in the U.S. have died of opioids addiction, but it wasn’t until Goldin herself became addicted to OxyContin, in 2017, that she grasped the danger... But what she also learned is that the Sacklers were among the last half century’s most venerated art-world donors, giving millions and millions of dollars to the world’s most famous museums, in no small part to distract from their business practices by cultivating and polishing their image as philanthropists. Many of these institutions, like New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, had a Sackler Wing... Goldin’s goal was to have the Sacklers’ name removed from museum galleries. And by the end of the documentary, the Met, setting a seismic precedent, does just that. It’s a moment of triumph, even as the true subject of All the Beauty and the Bloodshed — and, in a way, of Goldin’s art — remains the lacerating cost of trauma" (Owen Gleiberman, Variety).
Finally, watch this interview at the Lincoln Center with Nan Goldin and Laura Poitras!
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Please Note:
The 2025 Annual General Meeting of the Dunedin Film Society will be held in Castle One lecture theatre on Wednesday 9 April at 7.30pm. (That evening's scheduled screening of Petite Maman will commence at approximately 7.45pm.)
Nominations for President and Committee Member positions should be received at or before the screening of Polyester on 2 April.
And a reminder: the NZ Federation of Film Societies has cancelled the screenings of How Far Is Heaven (ours was 23 July) because one of the subjects of the film now objects to it being shown. The Society's Committee is now in negotiation with the Federation to secure a suitable replacement title – we will advise members of this soon as possible.––––––––––––––––
ABOUT THE DUNEDIN FILM SOCIETY
ADMISSION
Free to members.
TO JOIN
To purchase a Full Season membership:- complete a membership form from our website and pay by online bank transfer (06-0942-0696013-00);
- or join at the door before any screening (cash only).
- you can also join at the OUSA office reception at the University of Otago (cash only).
Alternatively, you can purchase a Three-Film sampler ($25), which can be also be shared to bring two friends to one screening. The sampler does not expire and can be used over multiple years.
Membership includes generous discounts at Rialto Cinemas (from Monday to Friday) and the 2025 Dunedin Whānau Marama New Zealand International Film Festival; and FREE entry to the 2025 screenings of all other affiliated New Zealand Film Societies. Each member is entitled to ONE FREE GUEST ADMISSION to a single screening.
**To get to the Castle 1 Theatre: walk up between the University of Otago’s Arts building (Burns) and Information Services building (Central Library), on Albany Street.
WE WELCOME YOUR FEEDBACK!... on this screening, or any other Dunedin Film Society showing, on dunedinfi...@gmail.com –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– |
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Dunedin Film SocietyPO BOX 6139 Dunedin North Dunedin, Otago 9059New Zealand |
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