ACMI, formerly the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, is Australia's national museum of screen culture including film, television, videogames, digital culture and art. ACMI was established in 2002 and is based at Federation Square in Melbourne, Victoria. ACMI features a range of curated exhibitions as well as a permanent exhibition, The Story of the Moving Image. It also provides a regular program film screenings and events, a library and online collection of film and video and an education program.

History

Beginnings in the State Film Centre of Victoria

Prior to ACMI, Victoria's main film and screen organisation was the State Film Centre of Victoria, based at Treasury Theatre, which was established in 1946. In the 1950s, the State Film Centre was involved in producing a number of projects for television, then a new medium in Australia. It also played a role as an archive of Australian films, such as The Sentimental Bloke (1919) and On Our Selection (1920). During the 1960s, the State Film Centre provided advice on film treatments, production, scripts and distribution outlets to local filmmakers. In 1969, the centre assumed management of the newly constructed State Film Theatre, providing a facility for exhibiting material not screened in commercial cinemas. In the 1970s, the centre began acquiring examples of student films as well as those made by the newly vibrant Australian film industry, such as Homesdale (1971) by Peter Weir, Stork (1971) and Alvin Purple (1973) by Tim Burstall, and The Devil's Playground (1976) by Fred Schepisi. In 1988, the State Film Centre Education Program was set up. The program provided screenings for Victorian Certificate of Education students, based on core texts, and in-service days for their teachers.

Establishing ACMI at Federation Square

In 1993, a Victorian state government report reaffirmed the viability of a proposal for an Australian Centre for the Moving Image. In July 1997, following an open, international and two-stage design competition, Lab Architecture Studio (based in London at the time), in association with their joint venture partners, Bates Smart architects, was announced as the winner. Federation Square was to be a new civic space, built above the Jolimont railyards, to mark the celebration of Australia's Centenary of Federation. On 1 January 2002, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image was officially established by the Film Act 2001 (Victoria). The first stage was opened in October, with two exhibitions, Deep Space: Sensation & Immersion and Ngarinyin Pathways Dulwan, running in ACMI's Screen Gallery. A few weeks later, ACMI Cinemas officially opened. In September 2009, the Australian Mediatheque and the Screen Worlds gallery opened. The Screen Worlds exhibition was opened by Cate Blanchett, who loaned her Oscar for best supporting actress for her part as Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator. Screen Worlds: The Story of Film, Television and Digital Culture is a free and permanent exhibition space constructed to educate the public about the moving image, a museum about moving pictures. The Mediatheque is a partnership with the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA), which provides a space with 12 viewing booths where people can drop in and watch films, television clips, and new media and artworks from the NFSA and ACMI collections.

2021 Renewal

In May 2019, ACMI closed to the public to begin a $40 million redevelopment. It reopened to the public in February 2021 with a new permanent exhibition The Story of the Moving Image. ACMI partnered with Melbourne architectural firm BKK Architects, who redesigned the museum's functional layout and public spaces. Experience design firm Publicis Sapient/Second Story designed ACMI's centrepiece exhibition The Story of the Moving Image, the Gandel Digital Future Labs and the Blackmagic Design Media Preservation Lab. ACMI partnered with Melbourne chef, restaurateur, writer and television presenter Karen Martini and Michael Gebran of HospitalityM to launch its restaurant, bar and café Hero.

Directors

From 1992, John J. Smithies was Director of the State Film Centre of Victoria, until its merger with Film Victoria in 1997 formed Cinemedia. At Cinemedia, Smithies was deputy director, with prime responsibility for developing the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. He became the first director and CEO of ACMI in March 2002. He was responsible for opening the new public facilities in October 2002. After a period of turmoil, with the organisation over budget, Smithies left ACMI in 2004, and later said the facility had been forced to open while "under-funded" by the Victorian Government. Tony Sweeney was appointed director and CEO of ACMI in 2005. Before his move to Australia, he had been the deputy director of the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television (UK), and focused on developing the museum's brand profile and content strategies. He directed the museum's Imaging Frontiers masterplan re-development, which generated record visitor numbers and international critical acclaim. The museum is now seen as one of the leading international centres for culture and learning of its kind in the world. At ACMI he oversaw record organisational growth, performance and visitation, and a prolonged period of sustained success and achievement. Having spent ten years in the role, Sweeney resigned in order to return to his family in Britain. Katrina Sedgwick was ACMI Director and CEO from February 2015–22. She moved to the new Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation (MapCo) in March 2023. In August 2022, Seb Chan was appointed Director and CEO. Chan joined ACMI in 2015 as Chief Experience Officer. He is current President of the Australian Museums and Galleries Association.

The Story of the Moving Image

ACMI's 1,600sqm centrepiece exhibition explores the past, present and future of film, television, videogames and art, and features over 900 objects from around Australia and the world.

Exhibition sections

Moving Pictures

The Story of the Moving Image begins with objects and interactive experiences that showcase people, techniques and inventions that contributed to the development of motion pictures.

Moving Worlds

Costumes, characters, set and production design, storyboarding, visual effects and Foley are featured in the Moving Worlds section to illustrate the creative processes behind iconic films, TV shows and videogames.

Moving Australia

Featuring objects and installations from Australia's screen industry, including prominent works by First Nations artists.

Games Lab presented by Big Ant Studios

Games Lab features videogames from local and international independent developers and AAA publishers. The section contains twelve playable games, plus artworks and interpretive information about the history of videogames. Games Lab is presented in partnership with Melbourne-based game developer Big Ant Studios.

Moving Minds

Moving Minds encompasses factual media and information that traverses the history of newsreels, broadcast TV, documentary, war reporting and propaganda, citizen journalism and video art.

First Nations artworks

Artworks and installations by First Nations artists feature prominently throughout The Story of the Moving Image. Key works include Yanmeeyar, an art installation by Gunditjmara artist Vicki Couzens that is found at the beginning and the end of the exhibition; Canopy, a multi-screen installation by artist John Harvey; and the documentary My Survival as an Aboriginal by Muruwari filmmaker and activist Essie Coffey.

Interactive experiences

The Lens

The Lens is a handheld, take-home device that lets visitors collect artworks and objects throughout The Story of the Moving Image and other select exhibitions hosted at ACMI. Visitors can view their curated collections on the ACMI website and access additional content. The Lens was designed in collaboration with Second Story, Swinburne University’s Centre for Design Innovation and Lumicom.

Constellation

The Lens can be used at the Constellation, a room-scale experience located at the end of The Story of the Moving Image exhibition, consisting of six interactive touchscreen tables with an interface developed by Grumpy Sailor and a data visualisation designed by OOM Creative and More Studio. The Constellation takes the items collected by visitors on their Lens devices throughout the exhibition and connects them up to hundreds of other films, TV series, artworks and videogames beyond the scope of the gallery. Each recommendation is handpicked by ACMI's staff.

Edit Line

An approximation of physical film editing and digital editing on screen, Edit Line allows visitors to The Story of the Moving Image to rearrange physical storyboard blocks that each represent iconic quotes from films and television shows to trigger a clip played on a large screen. The resulting clip can be saved to the Lens and accessed online. Referenced screen works include major films such as Titanic, Blade Runner, and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and television shows such as The Simpsons, The Wire, and The X-Files. An accompanying essay has been published for each work on the ACMI website.

Foley Studio

Visitors can add sound effects to scenes from Round the Twist and Li'l Elvis and the Truckstoppers using unconventional objects typically used in the practice of Foley art. Videos produced can be saved to Lens devices and accessed online.

Memory Garden

An interactive and immersive display of digitised Australian home movies from the 1930s from the ACMI collection. Beams of light are projected from the ceiling that animate when visitors hold out their hands.

Shadow Play

An interactive experience in the Moving Pictures section of The Story of the Moving Image where visitors use their bodies to control virtual puppets projected in front of them.

List of exhibitions at ACMI

Gallery 1

Gallery 1 now houses the permanent exhibition The Story of the Moving Image which opened in 2021 following a renovation of the gallery. Gallery 1 is built along the entire length of what was previously Princes Bridge railway station. From 2002 to 2019 Gallery 1 was used for temporary exhibitions on the moving image such as video art, installations, interactive, sound art, net art and screen related objects were all regularly exhibited in this space. Gallery 1 exhibitions 2002–19 Gallery 1 exhibitions 2020 – present

Gallery 2

Open from 18 September 2009, Gallery 2 is a smaller, more flexible gallery than Gallery 1. Gallery 2 exhibitions 2009–19 Gallery 2 exhibitions 2021 – present

Gallery 3

Open from 18 February 2021, Gallery 3 displays commissioned artworks and smaller exhibitions. Gallery 3 exhibitions 2021 – present

Gallery 4

Open from 18 February 2021, Gallery 4 hosts larger exhibitions and Melbourne Winter Masterpieces.

Gallery 5

Launched in October 2020, Gallery 5 is an online space for virtual exhibitions and performance, and a commissioning space for practitioners making art that interrogates Internet and digital culture.

Programs

Film programs

ACMI's year-round film program celebrates local and international cinema. ACMI has two main cinemas located on Level 2 of the museum, which were the first cinemas in Australia equipped to present Digital Cinema (DCP). Today the cinemas continue to be equipped to screen analog formats including 16mm film, 35mm film, HDCAM, Digital Betacam and SP Betacam. Cinema 1 seats 168 and Cinema 2 seats 390. ACMI's ongoing film programs include: Past programs include: ACMI profiles actors, directors, writers, cinematographers, and film genres through its retrospective seasons and screenings. Highlights have included seasons on Wong Kar-wai, Agnès Varda, Abbas Kiarostami, Dario Argento, William Klein, John Cassavetes, and Jim Henson. Genres have included Ozploitation; Zombie Horror; East German Cinema; and Monsters, Ghouls and Melancholy Misfits in conjunction with the Tim Burton exhibition.

Public programs

ACMI programs events to industry, practitioners and the broader public through talks and workshops in person and online. Regular public programs include ACMI + RMIT Audience Lab, Women & Non-Binary Gamers Club, First Nations Film Club, and workshops for families during the school holidays.

Festivals

Film festivals and events hosted at ACMI's venues are a core part of ACMI's cinema programs.

Current festival partners

Collections and preservation

The ACMI Collection contains over 250,000 items including film, ephemera, objects, videogames and time-based media art. It began in 1947 as the State Film Centre collection allowing Victorians to access film for education purposes. Since becoming part of ACMI it has diversified to include all forms of the moving image. ACMI works collaboratively both nationally and internationally with organisations including the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA), the Internet Archive, MoMa, Tate, Swinburne University, RMIT University, the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, and private collectors. Many digitised items in the ACMI Collection are accessible to the public via the ACMI website or ACMI Collection YouTube channel.

Blackmagic Design Media Preservation Lab

Located at ACMI, Fed Square on Level 1, the Blackmagic Design Media Preservation Lab is a publicly visible space where ACMI's Collection team can be viewed undertaking digital preservation, digitisation and time-based media (TBM) conservation activities. The Lab is supported by Blackmagic Design, and was designed in collaboration with BKK Architects and Second Story.

Education

ACMI's education program provides schools and teachers with exhibition visits, workshops, film programs, talks, online programs, professional development opportunities, free learning resources and recorded lectures.

Touring

ACMI has expanded its touring program over the past decade. Beginning with Mary and Max, which toured regional Victoria, ACMI then followed by showing the 2011 Best of the Independent Games Festival in Sydney and Brisbane; Shaun Tan's The Lost Thing: From Book To Film and War Pictures: Australians at the Cinema 1914–1918; and ACMI's first original exhibition in the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series, Game Masters: The Exhibition.

Touring exhibitions

Two Girls from Amoonguna

==== Between the Details: Video Art from the ACMI Collection ==== Marshmallow Laser Feast: Works of Nature How I See It: Blak Art and Film

Previously Toured

Wonderland

==== DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition – Journey from sketch to screen ==== ==== Cleverman ==== Code Breakers: Women in Games ==== Game Masters ==== ==== Del Kathryn Barton: The Nightingale and the Rose ==== ==== War Pictures: Australians at the Cinema 1914–1918 ==== ==== Shaun Tan's The Lost Thing: From Book to Film ==== ==== Mary and Max: The Exhibition ====

Online content and programming

ACMI has a strong online presence, with regular updates being made to the ACMI website and its accounts on social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

YouTube

ACMI's main YouTube channel publishes recorded talks, interviews with artists, season trailers, screen culture essays and behind-the-scenes videos. The ACMI Collection channel provides access to digitised works such as home videos, promotional and educational films, and stories from original analogue formats, including film or tape. The ACMI Education channel publishes explainer videos, educational resources and films produced by students.

Cinema 3

ACMI's on-demand rental platform features new release films, classics and revivals curated by ACMI's programmers.

Gallery 5

Launched in October 2020, Gallery 5 is an online space for virtual exhibitions and performance, and a commissioning space for practitioners making art that interrogates Internet and digital culture. Commissioned artists include Lu Yang, Matthew Griffin, Ross Gibson, Jazz Money, Moorina Bonini, Kalanjay Dhir, Laura Duffy, Firepit Collective, Xanthe Dobbie, APHIDS, Daniel Jenatsch, Oliviah Koh and Emile Zile.

Stories & Ideas

ACMI publishes essays, interviews, recorded talks, behind-the-scenes videos, topical articles and recommendations related to film, television, videogames and digital art on its website. Content is produced by ACMI staff and external writers.

The Story of the Moving Image Online

An abridged online version of ACMI's centrepiece exhibition, The Story of the Moving Image, was launched in October 2020.The Story of the Moving Image Online is presented in six parts: Australian Television, Australian Film, Videogames, Blak Women on Screen, Social Video and Digital Art.

ACMI Publications

Commercial operations

ACMI Shop

ACMI's gift shop stocks books, curios, gifts, ACMI publications and merchandise related to screen culture. The shop collaborates with local artists to produce exclusive ranges and sustainably sourced products, and stocks exclusive merchandise designed by ACMI's in-house design team.

Event spaces

Hero (closed)

Located in Fed Square, ACMI's restaurant, bar and café Hero featured a menu developed by Melbourne chef, restaurateur, writer and television presenter Karen Martini. Hero's menu was described as "European-focused", "seasonal" and "uncomplicated cooking packed with flavour that celebrates local Victorian produce". Hero was designed by Melbourne-based architecture and interior design studio Chris Connell Design, drawing on aesthetic inspiration from the 1967 film PlayTime by French filmmaker Jacques Tati. Hero was operated by HospitalityM, a venture founded by Michael Gebran. Hero closed in October 2023.

Industry partnerships and co-working

ACMI X

The ACMI X Industry Residency program provides an office space, resources and networking opportunities for Melbourne-based creative practitioners, startups and businesses working across film, TV, videogames and art. ACMI X is located on Level 2 at ACMI, Fed Square, and was previously located in Southbank, Melbourne.

CEO Digital Mentoring Program

ACMI, in conjunction with the Australia Council's national Cultural Digital Program, runs a mentoring initiative for strategic technology and digital mentoring for CEOs and Directors of cultural organisations. The program is supported by the Ian Potter Foundation.

ACMI + RMIT Audience Lab

ACMI and RMIT invites game developers, filmmakers, moving image artists, technologists and individual creators to show their products and works at ACMI and gather audience feedback. Previous projects tested out at past Audience Labs include Untitled Goose Game and The Gardens Between.

ACMI + RMIT Games Prize

The ACMI + RMIT Games Prize is awarded to a graduating student from the RMIT Bachelor of Design (Games) for a work exploring the artistic potential of the medium.

Previous winners

ACMI + MESS partnership

ACMI's partnership with Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio (MESS) saw four artists commissioned to create immersive, experimental and atmospheric sound compositions for ACMI's cinema trailers. The commissioned artists were Chiara Kickdrum, Sara Retallick, Sabine Brix and Tyler Wilay.

Foundry658

Foundry658 was an initiative of the Victorian Government’s Creative State strategy delivered by ACMI and State Library Victoria. Foundry658 supported independent artists, small arts organisations, not-for-profits, commercial creative enterprises, early-stage entrepreneurs and creative industries practitioners to transform their ideas into sustainable businesses.

ACMI Xcel Accelerator

Launched in 2018 in partnership with LaunchVic, ACMI X offered a business accelerator program that gave creative technology practitioners access to ACMI's audience to test, refine and promote their ideas, and to showcase outcomes to industry, investor and international audiences.

Awards

Renewal Awards

Australian Institute of Architects’ 2021 Victorian Architecture Awards Melbourne Design Awards 2021 Good Design Awards 2021 Idea Awards 2021 Victorian Lighting Award Victorian Premier Award 2021

Awards for The Story of the Moving Image

MAGNA (Museums & Galleries Awards) Good Design Awards 2021 SEGD Global Design Awards 2022

Brand Awards

**MAPDA (**Museums & Galleries Awards) Creative Review Magazine Design Week (UK) Monotype Type Champions 2020 Brand New Awards Taiwan International Graphic Design Awards 2021

Website and Post-visit Awards

MAPDA (Museums & Galleries Awards)

Awards for Hero – Design

INDE.Awards 2021 The Australian Interior Design Awards 2021 Dulux Colour Awards 2021 Eat Drink Design Awards 2021 Idea Awards 2021

Awards for Hero – Food

**Melbourne Awards 2021  ** Good Food Guide Victoria 2022

Former attractions

Screen Worlds

Open from 18 September 2009, Screen Worlds was an evolving permanent exhibition exploring all aspects of the moving image using objects, footage and artistic installations. Screen Worlds explored the story of the moving image through a number of different sections – Emergence, Voices, Sensation, Games Lab and Kids Space. The Screen Worlds exhibition hosted a number of 'Immersive Experiences'(interactive displays), including Timeslice (inspired by The Matrix), Ty the Tasmanian Tiger Zoetrope, The Faulty Fandangle (created by Oscar®-nominated Anthony Lucas), an installation by Anthony McCall, and many more. Screen Worlds closed on April 22, 2019 to allow for redevelopment.

Video Garden

The Video Garden was an outdoor gallery that led people from the Flinders Street side of the building to the main entrance. Exhibitions included Random Encounters, Gooey by the Lycette Bros, and Blast Off.

Memory Grid

The Memory Grid was a display allowing access to over 100 hours of film that were recorded by ordinary Australians, independent filmmakers, students, community-based practitioners and participants in ACMI hands-on production workshops. Much of the content in the Memory Grid had either never been displayed outside, or had been displayed only once on community television. Further, the Memory Grid contained a large collection of animated and interactive works, and actively accepted work from the public for display.

Australian Mediatheque

Australian Mediatheque, coordinated by ACMI and the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) was a multiple screen station with access to works from ACMI and the NFSA. Admission was free. The Australian Mediatheque closed permanently in September 2017.

Screen It

Screen It was an annual filmmaking competition for primary and secondary school students, hosted by ACMI. Screen It had 6 categories: Primary Live Action, Primary Animation, Primary Videogame, Secondary Live Action, Secondary Animation and Secondary Videogame. Each year there was a theme; past themes included Change (2015) and Reflection (2014). At the end of the year, there was a Red Carpet Awards Gala for the finalists in which they announced winners and the next year's theme. The competition was cancelled after 2019's event, with ACMI citing a "[transformation] into a brand new global museum".

Games Lab

The Games Lab was ACMI's display area for interactive videogames. It celebrated the past, present and future of games and promoted this popular form of the moving image as a reflection of Australian culture. In 2003, ACMI commissioned an interactive game-based, site specific installation called acmipark, which was exhibited in the Games Lab. acmipark replicated and abstracted the real world architecture of Federation Square. It also housed highly innovative mechanisms for interactive, multiplayer sound and musical composition. The Games Lab exhibited the Best of the Independent Games Festival for 2005, 2006 and 2007. In early 2007, Hits of the 80s profiled Melbourne's Beam Software and the secret history of Australia's place in the rise and rise of the videogame. In 2005 an exhibition was dedicated to Sonic the Hedgehog called Sonic the Hedgehog: Icon of our Times. The Games Lab was incorporated into the Screen Worlds exhibition space.