RIVER OF ART: FILM
This River of Art Festival, the Kinema becomes a home for art on screen – celebrating film, visual art, performance, music and storytelling from across our region and beyond. For the first time, River of Art, the Kinema and Far South Film Inc come together, united by a shared commitment to championing regional creativity, creating new opportunities for artists and filmmakers, and connecting audiences with the diverse ways stories and ideas can be brought to the screen.
25 SEPTEMBER - 5 OCTOBER 2026
KINEMA + FAR SOUTH FILM INC present:
CONTINUOUS PRESENT – Digital Artists from the South East
TWELVE FILMMAKERS. ONE CONTINUOUS SCREEN. DROP IN AND DISCOVER. A new collaboration celebrating moving-image work being created right here in South East NSW. Continuous Present brings together five regional filmmakers and digital artists in a free, continuously looping program in Cinema 2 at the Kinema. From experimental film and visual storytelling to digital art on screen, discover different creative voices, perspectives and approaches to the moving image. There’s no start time and no need to book. Grab your morning coffee, drop in for one work or stay for the full loop - and experience the screen as a gallery for contemporary regional creativity.
Scott Baker/Abre Ojos
Susan Chancellor: Millingandi, Glad Tidings and Road Trip
Bob Georgeson: Fairhaven Point , Various
Yemaya Grace Maitri: Bermagui, Surface Tension
Kristin Rule: Mallacoota
FREE SCREENINGS DAILY | 9AM–11AM
25 SEPTEMBER – 5 OCTOBER 2026
CINEMA 2, NAROOMA KINEMA
Presented by Kinema + Far South Film Inc as part of River of Art Festival 2026.
RIVER OF ART X KINEMA FILM PASS:
See all 4 films for $40! *
(Or see individual films at our standard film prices).
THE MUSICIANS
25 SEP - 5 OCT
(FRENCH) COMEDY/DRAMA
MUSIC, PERFORMANCE
FOUR FILMS. MANY ARTISTS AND DISCIPLINES FEATURED. MUCH ART.
The Musicians (Les Musiciens) is an enchanting comedy of manners from acclaimed writer/director Grégory Magne. Starring Valérie Donzelli as a wealthy heiress whose plan to stage a landmark concert is derailed by the clashing egos of the quartet of virtuosos recruited for the performance.
Astrid Thompson (Donzelli) is determined to honour her late industrialist father’s final wish: unite four priceless Stradivarius instruments for the premiere recital of a new composition by his favourite artist, to be live-streamed for music lovers globally.
KUSAMA INFINITY
25 SEP - 5 OCT
(JAPANESE, ENGLISH) HISTORY/DRAMA
SCULPTURE, INSTALLATION, FASHION
Kusama - Infinity explores Yayoi Kusama’s fierce determination to become a world-renowned artist. Kusama was born into a conservative family in rural Japan and she made her way to America on the heels of WWII. There, without connections and speaking only broken English, she devoted herself to her one true love, making art. On her first day in New York, Kusama has stated that she climbed to the top of the Empire State Building, looked down upon the city below, and made a decision to stand out from everyone she saw below and become a star. She has received the Praemium Imperiale Laureate for lifetime achievement in painting, and was named the world’s ‘most popular artist’ and one of the ‘most expensive living female artist’ in 2014.
THE LOVE THAT REMAINS
25 SEP - 5 OCT
(ICELANDIC, ENGLISH) COMEDY/DRAMA
SCULPTURE
The Love that Remains (Ástin sem eftir er) is an Icelandic tragi-comedy. Anna, an artist, and Magnús, a fisherman, live with their three children and charismatic sheepdog in the quiet grandeur of the Icelandic countryside. As the fractures in their marriage come to the surface, the couple try to hold onto the afterimages of a life together and make sense of a deep and lingering devotion. Filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason (Godland) brings surprising humor and emotional weight to this gorgeous, intimate, and brilliantly expansive scenes from a marriage, amidst the majestic backdrop of the changing seasons.
LIVE IT UP: THE MENTAL AS ANYTHING STORY
1 OCT - 5 OCT
(AUSTRALIAN) MUSIC DOCO
FILM SOCIETY SELECTION
VIDEO WORKS, MUSIC
Live It Up is a 2026 feature documentary celebrating Mental as Anything, the art-school band whose irreverent humour, visual art and clever pop songs made them one of Australia’s most distinctive cultural forces. Following the release of Nips Are Getting Bigger in 1979, the Mentals rose quickly from inner-city Sydney pubs to national fame, becoming masters at capturing Australian suburban life with warmth, wit and playfulness. While success came fast, they never treated it with reverence. Funny, warm and unexpectedly moving, Live It Up explores how Mental as Anything navigated fame, longevity and the pressures of the music industry while holding fast to their humour and creative spirit — revealing why their music continues to resonate today.
* If seeing individual films, standard film entry prices apply $16 Full Price, $14 Concession, $12 Member, $18 Film Society Event. Unfortunately No Refunds on FILM PASSES. Please book ahead to secure your preferred session times.