Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute

Ballarat Film Society | The Movie Teller
2025-03-13 19:30 - 21:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | The Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute, 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350, Australia
March 13
@
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm
Cinephile Comedy-drama

This film, adapted from Chilean writer Hernan Rivera Letelier’s 2009 novel of the same name, is set in 1969 in the Atacama Desert, where saltpeter miners and their families work and live in precarious conditions.
Far from their world, the rest of Chile is experiencing the death of Allende and the sudden military coup by Pinochet. Despite the hardship, one of the miners, Medardo, takes his wife Maria Magnolia and four children to the cinema every weekend to disappear into a world of cinematic storytelling. Suddenly, after a life-changing tragedy, they can afford only one ticket, so the children take it in turns to attend the Sunday screenings; one daughter, Maria Margarita, displays an astonishing gift at reciting and acting out the films of Hollywood to the rest of the family and then to her community.
The film follows her into adulthood, and into the city, where her gift as a movie teller still works its magic. With a nod to the pure nostalgia of Italian filmmaking and the film Cinema Paradiso (1988) this is a heartfelt story of escape and change combined with superb acting and cinematography. Palace.
Spain/Chile, 2023, 116 min.
Dir: Danish director, Lone Scherfig. Stars: Antonio de la Torre, Bérénice Bejo, and Alondra Valenzuela.
Ballarat Film Society

Membership
12 months – Feb-December: $60
Feb-July: $35 – July-Dec: $30
To join or renew your membership, please e-mail or phone Angus McLachlan (5374 2474), or come with cash on the night.
Membership can be paid by bank transfer or with cash.
For film enquiries, phone Sue Nunn: 5341 2266 or visit the Ballarat Film Society website
All films are subject to availability. If there is no next film shown below it means the BFS is working on next season’s programme.

More Films

Ballarat Film Society | Red Rocket
2025-04-10 19:30 - 21:00
April 10
@
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm
Indie Texas Trash

Sean Baker is well known for his caustic social observation of the frenetic lives of American marginalised people, especially migrants and sex orkers.
After a 17-year absence, energetically delusional hustler Mikey “Saber” Davies returns to his home town of Texas City after spending years as a washed-porn star in L.A. Set in the lead-up to the 2016 Trump/Biden election, virtually unemployable Mikey goes back to dealing weed, and to his old associates.
Always on the lookout for his next trick, he meets 17-year-old donut seller Strawberry, and sets out to groom her as his ticket back to the porn industry.
The character Mikey could be described as an entitled narcissist. He embodies the values and poverty-blighted reality of a stratum of society which is marginalised, impulsive, and open to a way out with often unrealistic expectations.
Red Rocket, for all its liveliness, is a “pinkly iced and sprinkled portait of a man, and a nation, with a hole in the middle,” a version of America that Sean Baker portrays so very well (Cannes Film Festival review). Roadshow.
​USA, 2020, MA15+, 130 min.
Dir. Sean Baker. His latest film Anora took out the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2024.
Ballarat Film Society

Membership
12 months – Feb-December: $60
Feb-July: $35 – July-Dec: $30
To join or renew your membership, please e-mail or phone Angus McLachlan (5374 2474), or come with cash on the night.
Membership can be paid by bank transfer or with cash.
For film enquiries, phone Sue Nunn: 5341 2266 or visit the Ballarat Film Society website
All films are subject to availability. If there is no next film shown below it means the BFS is working on next season’s programme.

More Film

Ballarat Film Society | Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di Biciclette)
2025-05-08 19:30 - 21:00
May 8
@
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm
Italian Neorealist Drama

​The Bicycle Thief is regularly voted one of the greatest films of all time. It was a key example of the Italian ‘cinema of the real’ which heralded a new kind of cinematic naturalism, employing non-professional actors and filming on the streets of a post-war Europe.
Antonio, a poor father, is on the first day of a new job gluing movie posters onto street walls in poverty-stricken Rome when his hard-earned bicycle is stolen.
Distraught, Antonio and his little boy Bruno (Enzo Staiola) desperately criss-cross the city trying to recover it, navigating difficult interactions with the police, hostile crowds, city offices, and home.
De Sica spent his childhood in Naples and was an actor as well as the director of many renowned neo-realist films which highlighted contemporary social issues, and often included touching father/son relationships.
Winner of the 1950 Academy Honorary Award for outstanding cinematic achievement. Umbrella.
Italy, 1948, B/W, 93 min.
Dir: Vittorio De Sica. Stars: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola and Lianella Carell.
Ballarat Film Society

Membership
12 months – Feb-December: $60
Feb-July: $35 – July-Dec: $30
To join or renew your membership, please e-mail or phone Angus McLachlan (5374 2474), or come with cash on the night.
Membership can be paid by bank transfer or with cash.
For film enquiries, phone Sue Nunn: 5341 2266 or visit the Ballarat Film Society website
All films are subject to availability. If there is no next film shown below it means the BFS is working on next season’s programme.

More Film

Ballarat Film Society | La Chimera
2025-06-12 19:30 - 21:00
June 12
@
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm
Archaeological Romance

La Chimera is the latest film from Rohrwacher, a delightfully singular Italian writer-director who, with just a handful of feature-length films, has become one of the must-see filmmakers on the international circuit.
Arthur, a British archaeologist just released from prison and grieving his lost love, soon falls back in with a rag-tag gang of petty thieves plundering pre-Roman tombs in the Italian countryside.
Hijinks ensue, but his mystic connection with these tombs will either be his doom or salvation.
Imagine Indiana Jones crossed with Fellini and you have a sense of this marvelous film. Part caper movie, part romance, La Chimera draws on the mystical and the mythic, on national history and magic realism, to create something extraordinary. Stars Josh O’Connor (The Crown) and Carol Duarte, with a guest appearance by Isabella Rossellini. Palace.
Italy, 2023, 130 min.
Dir. Alice Rohrwacher.
Ballarat Film Society

Membership
12 months – Feb-December: $60
Feb-July: $35 – July-Dec: $30
To join or renew your membership, please e-mail or phone Angus McLachlan (5374 2474), or come with cash on the night.
Membership can be paid by bank transfer or with cash.
For film enquiries, phone Sue Nunn: 5341 2266 or visit the Ballarat Film Society website
All films are subject to availability. If there is no next film shown below it means the BFS is working on next season’s programme.
More Film
5 events found.

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13

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Ballarat Film Society | KNEECAP

Mar
13

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Ballarat Film Society | The Movie Teller

Apr
10

Featured
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9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Red Rocket

May
8

Featured
7:30 pm
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9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Bicycle Thieves

Jun
12

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Ballarat Film Society | La Chimera

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Ballarat Film Society | Sweet As
2025-07-10 19:30 - 21:00
July 10
@
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm
Indigenous Coming of Age Story

Filmed in the stunning Pilbara over five weeks, Nyul Nyul/Yawuru woman Jub Clerc’s debut feature film is the first Western Australian film by a First Nation’s director.
16-year-old Murra, whose abandonment by her drug-fuelled mother puts her at risk of being sent into the Child Protection system, instead finds herself on an outward-bound mini-bus full of at-risk teens and two charismatic team leaders. Amongst others, the group includes a troublemaker, a lonely and vulnerable young man, and an irrepressible ‘Elvis,’ the reason for whose inclusion on the trip is unknown. Sweet As is an uplifting coming-of-age road movie about unconventional friendships, romantic crushes, and the use of the camera to capture the beautiful and meaningful cultural landscape and quiet moments of realization.
In the 1980s, Jub herself travelled on a photo safari for at-risk teens which ignited her passion for visual story-telling. Just as her journey was a transformative one for her, so too is Sweet As transformative for its audience. Roadshow.
Australia, 2022, 83 min.
Dir: Jub Clerc. Stars: Shantae Barnes-Cowan, Mark Coles-Smith and Tasma Walton.
Ballarat Film Society

Membership
12 months – Feb-December: $60
Feb-July: $35 – July-Dec: $30
To join or renew your membership, please e-mail or phone Angus McLachlan (5374 2474), or come with cash on the night.
Membership can be paid by bank transfer or with cash.
For film enquiries, phone Sue Nunn: 5341 2266 or visit the Ballarat Film Society website
All films are subject to availability. If there is no next film shown below it means the BFS is working on next season’s programme.
More Film
10 events found.

Today

Upcoming
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Select date.

Feb
13

Featured
7:30 pm
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9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | KNEECAP

Mar
13

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | The Movie Teller

Apr
10

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Red Rocket

May
8

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di Biciclette)

Jun
12

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | La Chimera

Jul
10

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Sweet As

Sep
11

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Goodbye Julia

Oct
9

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | To Thank the Room

Nov
13

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | ​Hammarskjöld: The Fight for Peace

Dec
11

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | ​Little Richard: I am Everything

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Ballarat Film Society | Goodbye Julia
2025-09-11 19:30 - 21:00
September 11
@
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm
Sudanese Moral Drama

Only a handful of films originate in Sudan due to the civil war from 1983 to 2005, and this is the first to participate in the Cannes Film Festival.
This debut feature film from Mohamed Kordofani follows the story of Mona, a retired Northern Sudanese singer who is wracked with guilt after covering up a murder in the lead-up to the civil war.
In an attempt to make amends, and secretly seeking redemption, she takes a Southern Sudanese widow, Julia, and her son into her home.
Attempts to leave the past behind, however, are impossible. Kordofani reworked the script assiduously to achieve the well-rounded nature of the characters and unpack the complexity of the war, family secrets, cultural expectations, religion and politics.
South Sudan was finally declared an independent country in 2011, but is still troubled. This film gives an insight into the birth of a new country and a tragic history felt on the level of everyday people.
The film has won over 14 major international film awards including the Freedom Prize – Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2023. Potential Films.
Sudan/Sweden/Germany/Saudi Arabia/France/Egypt, 2023, 120 min.
Dir: Mohamed Kordofani. Stars: Siran Riak, Eiman Yousif and Nazar Goma.
Ballarat Film Society

Membership
12 months – Feb-December: $60
Feb-July: $35 – July-Dec: $30
To join or renew your membership, please e-mail or phone Angus McLachlan (5374 2474), or come with cash on the night.
Membership can be paid by bank transfer or with cash.
For film enquiries, phone Sue Nunn: 5341 2266 or visit the Ballarat Film Society website
All films are subject to availability. If there is no next film shown below it means the BFS is working on next season’s programme.
More Film
6 events found.

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Feb
13

Featured
7:30 pm
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9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | KNEECAP

Mar
13

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | The Movie Teller

Apr
10

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Red Rocket

May
8

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Bicycle Thieves

Jun
12

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | La Chimera

Sep
11

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Goodbye Julia

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Newsletter – February 2025

A Message from the Chair…

Newsletter – January 2025

A Message from the Chair…

Rosemary’s Book of the Week

The Mystery of Haverford House Rachel Burton. A Mystery that…

Rosemary’s Book of the Week

Dead Man’s Shoes Marion Todd. A Master of the Tartan…

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Spaceballs - a FightMND fundraiser
2025-10-04 19:00 - 21:00
October 4
@
7:00 pm
–
9:00 pm
$18
Minerva Theatre

Get tickets

Join us at 7pm on October 4th for a screening of the cult classic Spaceballs to raise much needed funds for FightMND.
In 2013, we lost my dad, Ian, from MND. In his memory, we are raising funds and participating in this year’s FightMND Daniher’s Drive to raise funds and awareness to defeat the beast.
Help us celebrate Dad’s memory and raise some funds as we enjoy one of his all-time favs, Spaceballs. May the Schwartz be with you. – Gareth

In a distant galaxy, planet Spaceball has depleted its air supply, leaving its citizens reliant on a product called “”Perri-Air.””
On the peaceful planet Druidia, King Roland attempts to marry his daughter Princess Vespa to Prince Valium, but Vespa and her loyal droid Dot Matrix escape during her wedding.
After wasting the fresh air on the distant planet Spaceball, corrupt President Skroob orders the arch-villain henchman Dark Helmet to kidnap Princess Vespa to force King Roland to provide them with the code to Druidia’s atmosphere. Under those circumstances, the seasoned mercenary Lone Starr and his devoted half-human, half-canine sidekick Barf try to save the princess. In the meantime, the ruthless loan shark Pizza the Hutt is after them. But only he who can harness The Schwartz, a mystical cosmic force, will save the day.—Nick Riganas

America – 1987 – Comedy – 1h 32m
Director, Mel Brooks – Writers Mel Brooks – Thomas Meehan – Ronny Graham
Tickets: $18

Get Tickets

This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work, learn and create. Always Was, Always Will Be, Aboriginal Land.

Ballarat Film Society | To Thank the Room
2025-10-09 19:30 - 21:00
October 9
@
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm
Award Winning Australian Documentary

Best Melbourne Documentary 2024 at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, To Thank the Room is about the last 100 days of the iconic Brooklyn Arts Hotel in Fitzroy.
This heart-warming and inspiring documentary is an intimate portrait of Maggie Fooke, the creator of the hotel, as she navigates the final days of this dearly-loved institution, before its closure in 2020 due to financial constraints.
​
To Thank The Room is about living life to the fullest and facing major life-transitions. Maggie leads a merry dance as she both embraces and resists the process of letting go, with a fierce determination to relish and share her beloved ‘Brooklyn’ to the very last drop. (She now presides over the Northern Arts guest house in Castlemaine, which hosts a rich programme of music and film events). ‘So few films try to capture everyday life, and few succeed as this one has. I enjoyed it so much. Just beautiful’ – John Flaus – Australian screen and broadcasting legend. Kind Films.
Australia, 2023, 77 mins.
Plus 30 mins for Q&A with director Belinda Lloyd and Maggie Fooke.
Ballarat Film Society

Membership
12 months – Feb-December: $60
Feb-July: $35 – July-Dec: $30
To join or renew your membership, please e-mail or phone Angus McLachlan (5374 2474), or come with cash on the night.
Membership can be paid by bank transfer or with cash.
For film enquiries, phone Sue Nunn: 5341 2266 or visit the Ballarat Film Society website
All films are subject to availability. If there is no next film shown below it means the BFS is working on next season’s programme.
More Film
10 events found.

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Feb
13

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Ballarat Film Society | KNEECAP

Mar
13

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7:30 pm
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9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | The Movie Teller

Apr
10

Featured
7:30 pm
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9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Red Rocket

May
8

Featured
7:30 pm
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9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Bicycle Thieves

Jun
12

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | La Chimera

Jul
10

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Sweet As

Sep
11

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Goodbye Julia

Oct
9

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | To Thank the Room

Nov
13

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | ​Hammarskjöld: The Fight for Peace

Dec
11

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | ​Little Richard: I am Everything

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Newsletter – February 2025

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Newsletter – January 2025

A Message from the Chair…

Rosemary’s Book of the Week

The Mystery of Haverford House Rachel Burton. A Mystery that…

Rosemary’s Book of the Week

Dead Man’s Shoes Marion Todd. A Master of the Tartan…

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Ballarat Film Society | ​Hammarskjöld: The Fight for Peace
2025-11-13 19:30 - 21:00
November 13
@
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm
Compelling Cold War Political Thriller

In 1961, the charismatic Swedish diplomat, economist and implacable idealist Dag Hammarskjöld was in his seventh year as Secretary-General of the United Nations. By some, he was considered the ‘clearest thinker in the room,’ but by others as the victim of a ‘saviour complex’ (Cineuropa).
Torn between his personal life and dedication to global responsibilities, he set out to bring peace to the newly decolonizing Congo, taking on in the process powerful mining entrepreneurs and world powers intent on exploitation. Hammarskjöld’s mission was fraught with danger as he boarded a plane in a desperate attempt to negotiate a ceasefire.
John. F. Kennedy called Hammarskjöld one of the greatest statesmen of our century and he has remained the benchmark against which later UN Secretaries-General have been judged. Whilst the film is set against a huge geo-political backdrop, it also helps humanize a man acutely aware of his role as a politician. Palace.
Sweden, 2023, 114 min.
Dir: Per Fly. Stars: Mikael Persbrandt.
Ballarat Film Society

Membership
12 months – Feb-December: $60
Feb-July: $35 – July-Dec: $30
To join or renew your membership, please e-mail or phone Angus McLachlan (5374 2474), or come with cash on the night.
Membership can be paid by bank transfer or with cash.
For film enquiries, phone Sue Nunn: 5341 2266 or visit the Ballarat Film Society website
All films are subject to availability. If there is no next film shown below it means the BFS is working on next season’s programme.
More Film
7 events found.

Today

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Upcoming

Select date.

Feb
13

Featured
7:30 pm
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9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | KNEECAP

Mar
13

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | The Movie Teller

Apr
10

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Red Rocket

May
8

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Bicycle Thieves

Jun
12

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | La Chimera

Sep
11

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Goodbye Julia

Nov
13

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | ​Hammarskjöld: The Fight for Peace

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Newsletter – February 2025

A Message from the Chair…

Newsletter – January 2025

A Message from the Chair…

Rosemary’s Book of the Week

The Mystery of Haverford House Rachel Burton. A Mystery that…

Rosemary’s Book of the Week

Dead Man’s Shoes Marion Todd. A Master of the Tartan…

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Ballarat Film Society | ​Little Richard: I am Everything
2025-12-11 19:30 - 21:00
December 11
@
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm
Musical Doco

‘The south is the home of all things queer,’ says scholar Zandria Robinson as we witness the exhilarating jam-packed story of Little Richard’s complex life and musical career, ending only in 2020.
Born in 1932 as Richard Wayne Penniman, by 1955 Little Richard was declared a world rock ‘n’ roll star with his hit “Tutti Frutti.”
Raised on gospel music, experimenting with drag, and drenched with musical talent, he went on to win award after award and reach global stardom.
Interestingly enough, on an Australian tour in 1957, when his plane from Melbourne to Sydney experienced difficulty, he saw a bright red fireball, coinciding with the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik. He cancelled his last two concerts, renounced rock’n’roll, and declared he was returning to the US to repent and be baptized!
An enlightening film which will fill in the ‘gaps’ about his turbulent life and his undisputable influence. Amalgamated.
USA, 2023, 98 min.
Dir: Lisa Cortés and starring Little Richard.
Ballarat Film Society

Membership
12 months – Feb-December: $60
Feb-July: $35 – July-Dec: $30
To join or renew your membership, please e-mail or phone Angus McLachlan (5374 2474), or come with cash on the night.
Membership can be paid by bank transfer or with cash.
For film enquiries, phone Sue Nunn: 5341 2266 or visit the Ballarat Film Society website
All films are subject to availability. If there is no next film shown below it means the BFS is working on next season’s programme.
More Film
8 events found.

Today

Upcoming
Upcoming

Select date.

Feb
13

Featured
7:30 pm
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9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | KNEECAP

Mar
13

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | The Movie Teller

Apr
10

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Red Rocket

May
8

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Bicycle Thieves

Jun
12

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | La Chimera

Sep
11

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | Goodbye Julia

Nov
13

Featured
7:30 pm
–
9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | ​Hammarskjöld: The Fight for Peace

Dec
11

Featured
7:30 pm
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9:00 pm

Ballarat Film Society | ​Hammarskjöld: The Fight for Peace Copy

Previous Events

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Newsletter – February 2025

A Message from the Chair…

Newsletter – January 2025

A Message from the Chair…

Rosemary’s Book of the Week

The Mystery of Haverford House Rachel Burton. A Mystery that…

Rosemary’s Book of the Week

Dead Man’s Shoes Marion Todd. A Master of the Tartan…

Load More
