About

Presented in conjunction with GOMA’s ‘Air’ exhibition (26 Nov 2022 - 23 Apr 2023), ‘Melting into Air’ explores cinematic representations of this essential element.

‘Melting into Air’ illustrates the possibilities – and impossibilities – of capturing air on screen. These films consider the environmental consequences of mass industrialisation and the sublime potential of natural phenomena, humanity’s dreams of taking to the skies and the exquisite mechanics of respiration, the hidden mysteries within deep fogs and the transformative power of the invisible world around us.

This cinema program brings together films from around the world and across the decades. It includes screenings of rare 16mm and 35mm prints, as well as new digital restorations and Live Music & Film events, in a major cinematic survey.

Live Music & Film: Wings
1.30pm, Sat 10 Dec 2022 | Event concluded

The first film to receive the Academy Award for Best Picture, Wings follows two hometown friends who encounter danger, romance and tragedy when they enlist to become combat pilots during WWI. David Bailey will provide live musical accompaniment on the Gallery's 1929 Wurlitzer organ.

Live Music & Film: The Wind
6.30pm, Fri 17 Feb 2023 | Event concluded

Starring silent cinema icon Lillian Gish, The Wind is the story of a young woman who relocates to a West Texas farm. She soon finds the strain of her new life and the incessant gales that beset the region are poised to drive her to madness. Experimental band Corporate Vibes will provide live musical accompaniment to the screening.

Program curated by Robert Hughes, Australian Cinémathèque.

QAGOMA acknowledges the generous assistance of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, Canberra; the American Genre Film Archive, Austin; Arsenal - Institut für Film und Videokunst, Berlin; the Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin; the British Film Institute, London; the UCLA Film & Television Archive, Los Angeles; the Warner Archive, Los Angeles; the Cinemateca Brasileira, São Paulo; the Korean Film Archive, Seoul; the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute, Taipei; the National Film Archive of Japan, Tokyo; and the Library of Congress, Washington DC in providing materials for this program. Additional writing by Rupert Levien.