Wake in Fright - Film Screening

John Grant (Gary Bond) is a schoolteacher in the small Australian town of Tiboonda. With the school term finally over, he is eager to escape and begin his holiday, planning on travelling to Sydney to reunite with his girlfriend. To get there, he must first take a train and spend the night in the mining town of Bundanyabba, also known as ‘The Yabba’. It seems like a simple plan: enjoy a meal, stay overnight, and catch a plane the next morning. Yet nothing in Wake in Fright is ever that simple. From the moment John steps into The Yabba, the disgusting heat and a different kind of atmosphere and community weigh down on him.

Martin Scorsese said of the film, "It left me speechless" after seeing it at it's Cannes Film Festival debut in 1971. The film was thought to be lost for decades until 2007, when original film elements were discovered in a warehouse in Pittsburgh, just days before they were scheduled for distruction. The film was painstakingly restored over the next two years by the National Film and Sound Archive in Sydney, Australia. It was restored again in 2024 by Umbrella Entertainment and we are proud to present the new 4K restoration.

Doors open at 7:30 pm. Film at 8 pm. Concession is available inside the venue. Tickets also available at the door. Recommended for mature audiences.

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Host or Publisher Abbotsford Film Society