Picnic at Hanging Rock

1975, Australia, Peter Weir, 115 min.
With Rachel Roberts, Anne-Louise Lambert, and Vivean Gray

Introduced by filmmaker Nick Bentgen

While on a class trip to Hanging Rock, a group of Australian school girls mysteriously vanish. Their departure and absence leaves a lasting mark on the townspeople, including their teachers and schoolmates.
“Weir’s sense of foreboding, stroked by languidly offbeat editing, bloomed with his 1975 critical breakout, Picnic at Hanging Rock. The filmmaker’s precarious mix of irony and dippiness reaches a sweet spot “¦ mood is all there is in Weir’s hothouse fusion of Victorian ghost story and outback omen, as he renders the tale of white-clad schoolgirls who vanish while clambering up a magnetic mountain.” ““ Nicholas Rapold, The Village Voice

About the Speaker

Nick Bentgen premiered his debut feature, Northern Light this summer. A verité portrait of three families living in rural Michigan, the film was an official selection of the 2013 True / False Film Festival, Hot Docs, BAMcinemaFest and Visions du Réel. Nick has created music videos for Small Black, Bear In Heaven, Sinkane, and Pitchfork’s Juan’s Basement; as well as commercials for Google, New York City Ballet, and VW. He is also a cinematographer. He lensed Daniel Carbone’s feature narrative, Hide Your Smiling Faces (Berlin 2013 / Tribeca 2013); Matat Wolf’s Teenage (Tribeca 2013 / Hot Docs 2013); and portions of Jody Lee Lipes’ upcoming documentary, Ballet 422 (Tribeca 2014).