A man descends into provincial hell in Australia’s greatest lost film. Russian premiere of the restored copy as part of the retrospective programme of the Festival of Films Regained.
Wake in Fright
- Date:
- 30 Sep 2025,
19:30–21:20
- Age restrictions
- 18+
Wake in Fright
1971, Ted Kotcheff
Australia—United States—United Kingdom
109 minutes, English with Russian subtitles
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Gary Bond, Chips Rafferty, Jack Thompson
T
At first, the inhabitants of the small Australian town where young teacher John is stranded seem friendly. But with every piercing glance from these colourful characters, the dark clouds thicken over the hero. Just a little bit more, and he will, like them, lose his humanity—no one will notice it anyway.
Shot form Wake in Fright, 1971
There is certainly the emptiness, the roads to nowhere, the cosmic despair in Kotcheff’s indelible vision. But there is also a dark, explosive energy.
— Adrian Martin, Film Critic
The film was successfully presented at the Cannes Film Festival and marked the peak of the New Wave of Australian cinema, but the public rejected it. By the 1990s, it could only be found in censored, low-quality video copies. After eight years of searching for the original negative, it was found by the film’s editor, Tony Buckley. A restored 4K version will be screened at the Found Film Festival.
