Company type | Company |
---|---|
Industry | Film exhibition, film distribution |
Founded | 1965 |
Headquarters | Melbourne, Australia |
Area served | Australia |
Key people | Benjamin Zeccola (CEO) |
Website | www |
Palace Cinemas is an Australian cinema chain that specialises in arthouse and international films.
Their head office are based in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra and they operate locations in New South Wales (Central Park, [1] Norton Street, Byron Bay, Ballina [2] & Oxford St), [3] Victoria (Coburg, Brighton Bay, Northcote, Balwyn, Brighton, South Yarra, Melbourne, Moonee Ponds & The Astor Theatre), [4] Western Australia (Raine Square), [5] Queensland (Brisbane & Fortitude Valley) [6] & Canberra. [7]
Palace Cinema operate a variety of locations that specialise in international and local art-house films and cinema events. Palace has been managed by the Zeccola family since its inception. [8]
Palace Moore Park has a non-competition deal with its neighbouring cinema Hoyts to not screen mainstream titles. [3]
While Palace only owns one cinema in WA, it also operates several others in partnership with Luna Cinemas.[ citation needed ] The Luna Palace Cinemas line have their own independent website, membership program and offers. [9] Palace Cinema's regular nationwide membership and offers in other states, are therefore not valid at these cinemas. Luna Palace uniquely operates two seasonal outdoor cinemas, one in Leederville (opposite their traditional cinema) and one in Mosman Park.[ citation needed ]
Palace also operate a series of international film festivals, highlighting a range of films from a chosen country. [10] Festivals include the Alliance Française French Film Festival, [11] the Lavazza Italian Film Festival, [12] the Spanish Film Festival, [13] German Film Festival and the British Film Festival.
Palace Cinemas was founded by Antonio Zeccola in 1965. [14] Zeccola's first cinema, Pix Theatre in Noble Park, was originally only open on weekends and operated as a dance theatre for the rest of the week. [15]
In late 1994, Palace opened The Como and The George cinemas in Melbourne. [15] The George originally focused on "new Australian films as well as experimental fare and cinema of a more quirky nature, whether sexual, social or political", while The Como highlighted "films selected from the Cannes, Venice, Toronto and Berlin festivals". [15]
In 1995, Palace acquired the Academy Twin cinema on Oxford Street in Sydney and opened the four screen Verona complex. [16] Nicole Kidman officially opened the Verona site on Valentine's Day in 1996. [3]
In 2000, Palace Norton Street held Australia's first professionally organised Italian film festival. [17]
In 2005, Cinema Como received a $1 million renovation. [18] Antonio Zeccola announced that Brighton Bay, The George and Palace's Sydney locations would receive similar refurbishment. In December, Palace announced they would take over and reopen Sydney's Chauvel cinema. [19]
In 2016, Palace moved their head office to South Yarra. [20]
In 2017, Palace Cinemas opened Palace Central. [21] The venue features 10 standard cinemas and three Palace Platinum cinemas. Two of the cinemas feature floor to ceiling windows that curtains obscure when a screening begins.
The Pentridge Cinema opened in 2020 in the shopping centre located inside the old HM Prison Pentridge in the northern Melbourne suburb of Coburg. It was the first Palace Cinema to open with a Dolby Atmos dedicated auditorium. [22]
In November 2023, Palace announced that it would be permanently closing Palace Verona in February 2024. The site would be replaced with a new location at The Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park. [3]
In December 2023, Palace's Moonee Ponds location Penny Lane opened to the public. [23] The cinema has 11 indoor screens and a rooftop cinema.
Palace Verona closed on 25 February 2024. [24]
Cinemas in partnership with Luna Cinemas. [9] The outdoor cinemas run during the summer months only.[ citation needed ]
Palace has produced and distributed such Australian films as Kokoda and Chopper, and distribute many foreign language films in Australia. [30] [31]
Jedda, released in the UK as Jedda the Uncivilised, is a 1955 Australian film written, produced and directed by Charles Chauvel. His last film, it is notable for being the first to star two Aboriginal actors, Robert Tudawali and Ngarla Kunoth in the leading roles. It was also the first Australian feature film to be shot in colour.
St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south-east of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. St Kilda recorded a population of 19,490 at the 2021 census.
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David James Stratton is an English-Australian film critic and historian. He has also worked as a journalist, interviewer, educator, television personality, and producer. His career as a film critic, writer, and educator in Australia spanned 57 years, until his retirement in December 2023.
Ascot Vale railway station is located on the Craigieburn line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the northern Melbourne suburb of Ascot Vale, and it opened on 1 November 1860.
Moonee Ponds railway station is located on the Craigieburn line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the northern Melbourne suburb of Moonee Ponds, and it opened on 1 November 1860.
Luna Park Sydney is a heritage-listed amusement park located at 1 Olympic Drive in the harbourside suburb of Milsons Point, New South Wales, Australia, on the northern shore of Sydney Harbour. The amusement park is owned by the Luna Park Reserve Trust, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It is one of Sydney's most famous landmarks and has had a significant impact on culture through the years, including being featured as a filming location for several movies and television shows.
HM Prison Pentridge was an Australian prison that was established in 1851 in Coburg, Victoria. The first prisoners arrived in 1851. The prison closed on 1 May 1997.
Melbourne tram route 82 is operated by Yarra Trams on the Melbourne tram network from Moonee Ponds Junction to Footscray railway station. It is one of only two tram routes which does not travel through the Melbourne CBD, the other being route 78. Part of its route is the last surviving segment of the Footscray tram network. It commenced operating on 2 May 1954.
Charles Edward Chauvel OBE was an Australian filmmaker, producer and screenwriter and nephew of Australian army General Sir Harry Chauvel. He is noted for writing and directing the films Forty Thousand Horsemen in 1940 and Jedda in 1955. His wife, Elsa Chauvel, was a frequent collaborator on his filmmaking projects.
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in Australia, after Sydney. Its name generally refers to a 9,993 km2 (3,858 sq mi) metropolitan area also known as Greater Melbourne, comprising an urban agglomeration of 31 local municipalities, although the name is also used specifically for the local municipality of City of Melbourne based around its central business area.
Forty Thousand Horsemen is a 1940 Australian war film directed by Charles Chauvel. The film tells the story of the Australian Light Horse which operated in the desert at the Sinai and Palestine campaign during World War I. It follows the adventures of three rowdy heroes in fighting and romance. The film culminates at the Battle of Beersheba which is reputedly "the last successful cavalry charge in history". The film was clearly a propaganda weapon, to aid in recruitment and lift the pride of Australians at home during World War II. It was one of the most successful Australian movies of its day. It was later remade in 1987 as The Lighthorsemen.
L'Alliance Française French Film Festival is an annual French film festival in Australia organised by Alliance Française.
Sons of Matthew is a 1949 Australian film directed and produced and co-written by Charles Chauvel. The film was shot in 1947 on location in Queensland, Australia, and the studio sequences in Sydney. Sons of Matthew took 18 months to complete, but it was a great success with Australian audiences when it finally opened in December 1949.
Luna Leederville is a cinema complex located at the corner of Oxford and Vincent Streets in Leederville, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
The King Is Dead! is a 2012 Australian comedy drama thriller film directed by Rolf de Heer about a young couple who are tormented by the neighbour from hell.
East Bourke Boroughs was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1904.
The Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF) is an annual LGBT film festival held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia in November. Founded in 1991, it is the largest queer film event in the Southern Hemisphere, in 2015 attracting around 23,000 attendees at key locations around Melbourne.