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focus on punk

Punk and the Pistols

Piercingly political and anti-establishment, get up close and angry with the music subculture that defined a generation.

Friday 11 May - Sunday 20 May
Full $13 Concession $10
Six Session Pass: Full $60 Concession $48



In the midst of a current punk revival criticised for being more 'mall core' than hard core, rediscover the real thing at ACMI.

Curated by Jack Sargeant.

This season of films has been inspired by No Focus: Punk on Film edited by Chris Barter and Jack Sargeant. Available from the ACMI Shop. 

Focus on Punk has a myspace. Visit www.myspace.com/focus_on_punk and become a friend!

jubilee Derek Jarman's vivid depiction and celebration of all that was punk about London circa 1977.

suburbia 'The Rejected' are a gang of disenfranchised Californian punks living, hanging out and trying to survive in Reagan's 80s.

ghost on the highway Gun Club, with vocalist Jeffrey Lee Pierce, was one of only a handful of bands to genuinely push the punk/post-punk template.

shorts 1: punk and post punk From industrial music to Bay Area hardcore to punksploitation, this selection of short films and documentaries lets punk loose in all its variety.

ladies and gentlemen, the fabulous stains The Stains are an all-girl punk band trying to escape small town America and change the world in this 'youthsploitation' classic.

punk and the pistols Inspired by Jon Savage's classic book England's Dreaming, this documentary tells the whole story of punk rock in London.

shorts 2: nyc no wave This collection of politically sharp punk/anti-punk classics features members of the 'no wave' music scene which flourished briefly alongside punk.

made in britain Directed by Alan Clarke, Made in Britain is a brutally realistic portrayal of skinheads, racism, violence and urban neglect in Thatcher's Britain.

billy childish & the chatham super 8 cinema A unique insight into the incredibly creative Billy Childish who took punk rock's 'do-it-yourself' dictum to the limits.

desperate living The last of John Waters' legendary 'trash trilogy' is classic pre-punk punk, full of homicidal lesbians, perverted cops and plenty more to boot.

repo man Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez are repo men, hunting a car with a mysterious cargo in the trunk.

the great rock n roll swindle The story of the Sex Pistols, told through Julien Temple's epic movie that mixes rebellion, history, animation, and punk rock.

list all session times