7th Festival 1960

The demolition of the Union Hall to make way for the new Union Theatre would pose problems over the next two years for SFF at the University of Sydney. The Festival continued its use of ANZAC House, as well as Teachers College, the Annexe, the Wallace, and Chemistry 1 and 3 lecture halls.

For the first time the Festival had an ‘official’ Opening Night – the film was Marcel Camus’ very popular Brazilian-made Black Orpheus.

One program was devoted to the memory of pioneer director Charles Chauvel, who had died the previous year. Four of his films were screened: In the Wake of the Bounty (1933), Heritage (1935), Uncivilised (1936) and Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940).

Twenty-three features were presented at the festival: Akira Kurosawa’s Living, Satyajit Ray’s The World of Apu, Andrzej Wajda’s Ashes and Diamonds and Georges Franju’s first feature La tête contra les murs were among the highlights.

Also in the line-up were: Denis Sanders’ Crime and Punishment USA (USA); Claude Autant-Lara’s Le rouge et le noir (France); Sergei Bondarchuk’s Destiny of a Man and Ivan Pyriev’s The Idiot (both USSR); Joseph Strick’s and Sidney Meyer’s The Savage Eye and Lionel Rogosin’s On the Bowery and Come Back Africa (all USA); Konrad Wolf’s Stars (East Germany); Lester James Peries’ Rekava (Ceylon); Martin Ritt’s Five Branded Women (Italy); Raymond Rouleau’s The Witches of Salem (France); Alfred Radok’s Old Man Motorcar (Czechoslovakia); Karoly Makk’s The House Under the Rocks (Hungary); Edvin Laine’s Sven Dufva (Finland); Bert Haanstra’s Fanfare (Netherlands); Bernhard and Michael Grzimek’s No Room for Wild Animals (West Germany); and Lee Byung ll’s Free Marriage (South Korea).

A Critics’ Choice screening of Kurosawa’s Rashomon was also presented.

This was the first SFF held under the recognition of the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FlAPFF); and 1960 was also the year the Festival established its GPO Box number 4934.

Giuseppina, a BP documentary short screened in 1960, would go on to win an Academy Award in 1961.

During the festival period, an exhibition of Jiri Trnka’s puppets was held in David Jones’ gallery.