Established | 2002 |
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Location | Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia |
Coordinates | 37°49′03″S 144°58′10″E / 37.817438°S 144.969533°E |
Visitors | 1.4 million (2015) |
Director | Katrina Sedgwick |
Public transit access | Train: Flinders Street Station Tram: Stop 13 Federation Square |
Website | acmi |
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) is a facility for the preservation, exhibition and promotion of Victorian, Australian and International screen content. It is located in Federation Square, in Melbourne, Australia. During the 2013-14 financial year, 1.3 million people visited the ACMI, the second-highest attendance of any gallery or museum in Australia.
The ACMI started life as the State Film Centre of Victoria 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 VCE students, based on core texts, and in-service days for their teachers.
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.