Lights! Canberra! Action! & Enlighten film screenings

Photo: Supplied.

As Enlighten continues to enliven the nation’s capital, aside from pretty projections of colour to behold there are also some exciting injections of cinema to enjoy.

Tonight, head along to the Senate Rose Gardens at the Museum of Australian Democracy to catch the 12 slated short-film finalists in the 15^th edition of Lights! Canberra! Action! The award ceremony for the evening’s winners will directly follow. The event opens at 7 pm; screenings begin at 8 pm.

As per the brief of the annual event, filmmakers were only very recently advised of the ten items required to feature in their pieces. Subsequently given a mere ten days to shoot, edit and produce the final product, this evening’s suite of seven-minute films aim to encapsulate the essence of Enlighten: strange, beautiful and unexpected.

The event is free but it is recommended you bring your own chair, picnic rug, and snacks etc. if so desired. Otherwise, fuel up on festival food beforehand or hold out until after the event.

Aside from last night’s free ANU Film Group screening of recent Oscar darling The Shape Of Water (which you can still catch at Dendy Canberra and Palace Cinemas if you missed it!), ANU Enlighten Minds | Thinking Spaces in partnership with the National Film & Sound Archive will be screening two additional features as part of the Enlighten Festival.

Abra Cadabra (1983) is an Australian animated throwback based loosely on the story of the pied piper. Voiced by John Farnham and Jacki Weaver, and from the animator who brought us the iconic ‘Life, Be In It’ and ‘Slip, Slop, Slap’ commercials, this reel relic screens in 3D at 7 pm on Thursday, 15 March at the NFSA Arc Cinema. ‘Abragoggles’ will be provided. Tickets are $15/$13.

The following night, enjoy another fun slice of cult cinema history (albeit slightly more adult) in the notoriously raucous, futuristic, satirical, intergalactic military miasma of bugs and blood that is Starship Troopers (1997) . Re-live this spectacularly irreverent and iconic 90s alien adventure 20 years on from its initial release, directed by Paul Verhoeven the Dutchman who has previously delivered Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Showgirls and the more recently critically acclaimed Elle. Screening commences at 7pm on Friday, 16 March at the NFSA Arc Cinema. Tickets are $15/$13.

Enlighten. Enjoy.