June at The Pivotonian Geelong: Q&As, Opera, Comedy and Cannes Winners
June at The Pivotonian has something for every kind of film lover. A darkly funny Aussie comedy with a filmmaker Q&A, Jack Johnson on the big screen, Helen Mirren as the Queen, Nicola Coughlan live from the National Theatre, a magical-realist Met Opera, and a Cannes Jury Prize winner. There are stories about grief and goshawks, refugees who built schools, and a couple whose imaginary neighbours started writing back. Plus Miranda Priestly, Toy Story 5, and Franz Kafka for good measure. It’s a big month. All session times are on sale now.
We Are Not Powerless Q&A
Join us for a one time Q&A screening with people involved in the journey of We Are Not Powerless. Ten years ago Muzafar Ali and his wife Nagina escaped the Taliban in Afghanistan and found themselves living in Indonesia as refugees when Australia ‘stopped the boats’. Determined to do something, they started a small two room school, which soon became the hub of a community, and the most successful refugee-led initiative in the world. We Are Not Powerless tells the story of what can happen when a community refuses to give in and work together for hope, love, and education
We Are Not Powerless Q&A
Join us for a one time Q&A screening with people involved in the journey of We Are Not Powerless. Ten years ago Muzafar Ali and his wife Nagina escaped the Taliban in Afghanistan and found themselves living in Indonesia as refugees when Australia ‘stopped the boats’. Determined to do something, they started a small two room school, which soon became the hub of a community, and the most successful refugee-led initiative in the world. We Are Not Powerless tells the story of what can happen when a community refuses to give in and work together for hope, love, and education.
Encore Screening: Alphabet Lane
An isolated couple lose control of a joke about imaginary friends. This darkly funny thriller follows Anna (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) and Jack (Nicholas Denton), a young couple who have recently moved to the country. With the reality of their new situation failing to live up to their expectations, as a joke they invent imaginary neighbours to cope with their growing loneliness. As letters begin to arrive from their new friends, what started out as a joke soon comes to take over their entire relationship.
Encore Screening: Alphabet Lane
An isolated couple lose control of a joke about imaginary friends. This darkly funny thriller follows Anna (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) and Jack (Nicholas Denton), a young couple who have recently moved to the country. With the reality of their new situation failing to live up to their expectations, as a joke they invent imaginary neighbours to cope with their growing loneliness. As letters begin to arrive from their new friends, what started out as a joke soon comes to take over their entire relationship.
How to Talk Australians: The Movie – Special Q&A
Join us for a special filmmaker Q&A of the viral hit YouTube show HOW TO TALK AUSTRALIANS, now THE MOVIE! Sure to raise many questions and eyebrows, this one’s for the comedy lovers and film enthusiasts alike. Warning: contains explicit language. A group of students and teachers from The Delhi College of Linguistics hit the road to discover Australia and gain first-hand experience of its authentic language and culture. When their plane is diverted to the country town of Dubbo due to storms, and their tour-leader is detained by customs, the hapless bunch unearth the ‘real’ Australia while never making it to Sydney, Melbourne…or even Brisbane.
How to Talk Australians: The Movie – Special Q&A
Join us for a special filmmaker Q&A of the viral hit YouTube show HOW TO TALK AUSTRALIANS, now THE MOVIE! Sure to raise many questions and eyebrows, this one’s for the comedy lovers and film enthusiasts alike. Warning: contains explicit language. A group of students and teachers from The Delhi College of Linguistics hit the road to discover Australia and gain first-hand experience of its authentic language and culture. When their plane is diverted to the country town of Dubbo due to storms, and their tour-leader is detained by customs, the hapless bunch unearth the ‘real’ Australia while never making it to Sydney, Melbourne…or even Brisbane.
Met Opera 2025-26: El Último Sueño de Frida y Dieg
The Metropolitan Opera’s 2025–26 Live in HD season comes to a close with American composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s first opera, a magical-realist portrait of Mexico’s painterly power couple Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, with libretto by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Nilo Cruz. Fashioned as a reversal of the Orpheus and Euridice myth, the story depicts Frida, sung by leading mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, leaving the underworld on the Day of the Dead and reuniting with Diego, portrayed by baritone Carlos Álvarez. The famously feuding pair briefly relive their tumultuous love, embracing both the passion and the pain before bidding the land of the living a final farewell. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Met-premiere staging of Frank’s opera, a “confident, richly imagined score” (The New Yorker) that “bursts with colour and fresh individuality” (Los Angeles Times).The vibrant new production, taking enthusiastic inspiration from Frida and Diego’s paintings, is directed and choreographed by Deborah Colker.
Met Opera 2025-26: El Último Sueño de Frida y Dieg
The Metropolitan Opera’s 2025–26 Live in HD season comes to a close with American composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s first opera, a magical-realist portrait of Mexico’s painterly power couple Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, with libretto by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Nilo Cruz. Fashioned as a reversal of the Orpheus and Euridice myth, the story depicts Frida, sung by leading mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, leaving the underworld on the Day of the Dead and reuniting with Diego, portrayed by baritone Carlos Álvarez. The famously feuding pair briefly relive their tumultuous love, embracing both the passion and the pain before bidding the land of the living a final farewell. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Met-premiere staging of Frank’s opera, a “confident, richly imagined score” (The New Yorker) that “bursts with colour and fresh individuality” (Los Angeles Times).The vibrant new production, taking enthusiastic inspiration from Frida and Diego’s paintings, is directed and choreographed by Deborah Colker.
National Theatre Live: The Playboy of the Western
Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton) joins Éanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment) and Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) in John Millington Synge’s riveting play of youth and self-discovery. Pegeen Flaherty’s life is turned upside down when a young man walks into her pub claiming that he’s killed his father. Instead of being shunned, the killer becomes a local hero and begins to win hearts, that is until a second man unexpectedly arrives on the scene… Filmed live on stage at the National Theatre, Caitríona McLaughlin directs this darkly funny tale full to the brim with secrets.
National Theatre Live: The Playboy of the Western
Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton) joins Éanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment) and Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) in John Millington Synge’s riveting play of youth and self-discovery. Pegeen Flaherty’s life is turned upside down when a young man walks into her pub claiming that he’s killed his father. Instead of being shunned, the killer becomes a local hero and begins to win hearts, that is until a second man unexpectedly arrives on the scene… Filmed live on stage at the National Theatre, Caitríona McLaughlin directs this darkly funny tale full to the brim with secrets.
A Private Life
Paris. A shocking death, a determined psychiatrist, and a truth no one else wants to see. When Paula Cohen-Solal (Virginie Efira, Waiting for Bojangles, AF FFF22) is found dead, the authorities rule it a suicide. But her psychiatrist, Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster in her first major French-language role), refuses to accept it. Convinced that Paula’s husband Simon (Mathieu Amalric, Sink or Swim, AF FFF19) is involved, she decides to investigate on her own – even if it means venturing far beyond her professional limits. With the help of her ex-husband Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil, Love Boat, AF FFF25) and a hypnotist whose sessions trigger unsettling visions, Lilian is plunged into a labyrinth where memory, intuition, and doubt collide. Each vision brings her closer to the truth… or deeper into danger. Jodie Foster delivers a riveting performance worthy of her two Oscars and four Golden Globes, and showcases her sensational linguistic and emotional precision. Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski (Other People’s Children, AF FFF23), the film reimagines the investigative thriller with a bold twist – blending tension, dark humour, and witty couple dynamics within a charged psychological setting. Premiering at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, this sharp, stylish investigation keeps audiences guessing until the very end. Do not miss it!
A Private Life
Paris. A shocking death, a determined psychiatrist, and a truth no one else wants to see. When Paula Cohen-Solal (Virginie Efira, Waiting for Bojangles, AF FFF22) is found dead, the authorities rule it a suicide. But her psychiatrist, Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster in her first major French-language role), refuses to accept it. Convinced that Paula’s husband Simon (Mathieu Amalric, Sink or Swim, AF FFF19) is involved, she decides to investigate on her own – even if it means venturing far beyond her professional limits. With the help of her ex-husband Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil, Love Boat, AF FFF25) and a hypnotist whose sessions trigger unsettling visions, Lilian is plunged into a labyrinth where memory, intuition, and doubt collide. Each vision brings her closer to the truth… or deeper into danger. Jodie Foster delivers a riveting performance worthy of her two Oscars and four Golden Globes, and showcases her sensational linguistic and emotional precision. Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski (Other People’s Children, AF FFF23), the film reimagines the investigative thriller with a bold twist – blending tension, dark humour, and witty couple dynamics within a charged psychological setting. Premiering at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, this sharp, stylish investigation keeps audiences guessing until the very end. Do not miss it!
Jack Johnson: SURFILMUSIC
An intimate documentary following Johnson’s journey from surfer to filmmaker to world-renowned musician through rare archives and present-day reflections on how experience, friendship, and exploration shaped his sound and stories. Two Screenings Only!
Jack Johnson: SURFILMUSIC
An intimate documentary following Johnson’s journey from surfer to filmmaker to world-renowned musician through rare archives and present-day reflections on how experience, friendship, and exploration shaped his sound and stories. Two Screenings Only!
Colours Of Time X Discovering The Impressionists
To celebrate the opening of the French Impressionist exhibition Discovering the Impressionists, The Piv has partnered with Geelong Gallery to offer Friends of the Gallery exclusive $10 tickets—available today only. To access this special offer, find your discount code in your Friends of the Gallery email or on the Geelong Gallery website, and enter the code at checkout. Regular-priced tickets remain available for all sessions. Brought together by the unexpected inheritance of an abandoned house in rural Normandy, four cousins discover they share a mysterious family history. In 1895, their ancestor Adèle, then aged 21, leaves her hometown to search for her mother in Paris. She discovers a city on the cusp of modernity, bustling with new-found avant-garde creativity, with the rise of photography and the birth of Impressionist painting. As her descendants retrace her steps, they unravel Adèle’s surprising past. The two timelines of 1895 and 2024 intertwine and collide, confronting the cousins’ contemporary attitudes with life in late 19th century Paris, leaving everyone’s future forever changed.
Colours Of Time X Discovering The Impressionists
To celebrate the opening of the French Impressionist exhibition Discovering the Impressionists, The Piv has partnered with Geelong Gallery to offer Friends of the Gallery exclusive $10 tickets—available today only. To access this special offer, find your discount code in your Friends of the Gallery email or on the Geelong Gallery website, and enter the code at checkout. Regular-priced tickets remain available for all sessions. Brought together by the unexpected inheritance of an abandoned house in rural Normandy, four cousins discover they share a mysterious family history. In 1895, their ancestor Adèle, then aged 21, leaves her hometown to search for her mother in Paris. She discovers a city on the cusp of modernity, bustling with new-found avant-garde creativity, with the rise of photography and the birth of Impressionist painting. As her descendants retrace her steps, they unravel Adèle’s surprising past. The two timelines of 1895 and 2024 intertwine and collide, confronting the cousins’ contemporary attitudes with life in late 19th century Paris, leaving everyone’s future forever changed.
Franz
The life of Franz Kafka in a series of independent chapters: from his birth in 19th-century Prague to his final years in Berlin and death in 1924, and his imagined future.
Franz
An intimate documentary following Johnson’s journey from surfer to filmmaker to world-renowned musician through rare archives and present-day reflections on how experience, friendship, and exploration shaped his sound and stories. Two Screenings Only!
H is for Hawk
When Helen’s beloved father passes away, she is overtaken by grief and loses herself in memories of their time birding and exploring the natural world together. She becomes obsessed with the idea of training her own goshawk, and so she brings the fearsome bird Mabel home to Cambridge with her. Ready to embark on the arduous process of trying to train the wildest of animals, Helen fills the freezer with hawk food and turns off her phone. But as she labors to teach Mabel how to hunt and fly free on her own, Helen uncovers how neglected her own emotions and life have become. Based on a true story and a memoir of the same name, H IS FOR HAWK is a soaring journey of the connection between people and nature, and how it might be possible to reconcile loss through love.
H is for Hawk
When Helen’s beloved father passes away, she is overtaken by grief and loses herself in memories of their time birding and exploring the natural world together. She becomes obsessed with the idea of training her own goshawk, and so she brings the fearsome bird Mabel home to Cambridge with her. Ready to embark on the arduous process of trying to train the wildest of animals, Helen fills the freezer with hawk food and turns off her phone. But as she labors to teach Mabel how to hunt and fly free on her own, Helen uncovers how neglected her own emotions and life have become. Based on a true story and a memoir of the same name, H IS FOR HAWK is a soaring journey of the connection between people and nature, and how it might be possible to reconcile loss through love.
The Devil Wears Prada 2
Almost twenty years after making their iconic turns as Miranda, Andy, Emily and Nigel—Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci return to the fashionable streets of New York City and the sleek offices of Runway Magazine in the eagerly awaited sequel to the 2006 phenomenon that defined a generation. The film reunites the original main cast with director David Frankel and writer Aline Brosh McKenna, and introduces an all-new runway of characters including Kenneth Branagh, Simone Ashley, Justin Theroux, Lucy Liu, Patrick Brammall, Caleb Hearon, Helen J. Shen, Pauline Chalamet, B.J. Novak and Conrad Ricamora. Tracie Thoms and Tibor Feldman also reprise their roles as “Lily” and “Irv” from the first film. “The Devil Wears Prada 2” is produced by Wendy Finerman, and executive produced by Michael Bederman, Karen Rosenfelt and McKenna. The film debuts exclusively in cinemas April 30, 2026.
The Devil Wears Prada 2
Almost twenty years after making their iconic turns as Miranda, Andy, Emily and Nigel—Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci return to the fashionable streets of New York City and the sleek offices of Runway Magazine in the eagerly awaited sequel to the 2006 phenomenon that defined a generation. The film reunites the original main cast with director David Frankel and writer Aline Brosh McKenna, and introduces an all-new runway of characters including Kenneth Branagh, Simone Ashley, Justin Theroux, Lucy Liu, Patrick Brammall, Caleb Hearon, Helen J. Shen, Pauline Chalamet, B.J. Novak and Conrad Ricamora. Tracie Thoms and Tibor Feldman also reprise their roles as “Lily” and “Irv” from the first film. “The Devil Wears Prada 2” is produced by Wendy Finerman, and executive produced by Michael Bederman, Karen Rosenfelt and McKenna. The film debuts exclusively in cinemas April 30, 2026.
Sound of Falling
A remote German farm harbours generations of secrets. Four women, separated by decades but united by trauma, uncover the truth behind its weathered walls.
Sound of Falling
A remote German farm harbours generations of secrets. Four women, separated by decades but united by trauma, uncover the truth behind its weathered walls.
The North
Two old friends are walking 600 kilometers through the Scottish highlands, to reconnect with each other, with nature and with parts of themselves they have lost.
The North
Two old friends are walking 600 kilometers through the Scottish highlands, to reconnect with each other, with nature and with parts of themselves they have lost.
Toy Story 5
The toys are back and this time, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang’s jobs are challenged when they come face-to-face with Lilypad (voice of Greta Lee), a brand-new tablet device that arrives with her own disruptive ideas about what is best for their kid, Bonnie. Will playtime ever be the same?
Toy Story 5
The toys are back and this time, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang’s jobs are challenged when they come face-to-face with Lilypad (voice of Greta Lee), a brand-new tablet device that arrives with her own disruptive ideas about what is best for their kid, Bonnie. Will playtime ever be the same?