• The River Moorabool | Ballarat

    The Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

    This film explains why this unique river, travelling from the Wombat Forests near Ballarat to the Barwon River at Geelong, is in trouble. "The River Moorabool" promotes alternative urban water supplies that would increase its flow and resilience in a changing climate. About 90% of the Moorabool’s natural flow is taken for human use. Dams […]

  • Ballarat Film Society – Heroic Losers

    BMI - Minerva Space 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC

    We begin with a comedy to start the year on a happy note. Set in 2001, when Argentina was at a low point economically, retired soccer star Fermin joins with other locals to finance a grain co-operative that falls prey to a deceptive banker. Consequently, they band together to steal back the money. Revenge has never felt so […]

  • Ballarat Film Society – De Gaulle

    BMI - Minerva Space 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC

    To celebrate the 32nd Alliance Françoise French Film Festival in Melbourne, we are screening the latest spectacularly mounted biopic on Charles de Gaulle. In Paris, 1940, France is facing military and political collapse as World War 11 intensifies. The government panics and considers accepting defeat however on June 18th the BBC provides 4 minutes of […]

  • Ballarat Film Society – White Riot

    BMI - Minerva Space 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC

    In late 1970s Britain, fascists and racists were gaining ground, extending their influence across popular culture. This film documents a vital London protest movement established in response. Rock Against Racism (RAR) was formed in 1976, during a hostile environment of anti-immigrant hysteria and National Front marches. As neo-Nazis recruited the nation's youth, RAR's multicultural punk and […]

  • Ballarat Film Society – Lamb

    BMI - Minerva Space 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC

    An unhappy couple living on a remote Icelandic farm are reinvigorated by a miraculous discovery in their sheep shed. Filling the void with a bizarre animal-human hybrid lamb, a passionate attachment begins after naming the new lamb Ada after their lost daughter. Troubles and family strain ensues resulting in extreme drama and weirdness. Cinematographer Eli […]

  • Ballarat Film Society – Herself

    BMI - Minerva Space 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC

    Stars: Clare Dunne, Harriet Walter, Conleth Hill and Ian Lloyd Anderson. Sandra, (Clare Dunne), is a young mum struggling to provide her two daughters with a warm, safe and happy home in which to grow up. With very little income and no savings, Sandra perservers to build a house from scratch in Dublin: an ambitious dream whilst trying to escape the […]

  • Ballarat Film Society – High Ground

    BMI - Minerva Space 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC

    Stars: Guruwuk Mununggurr, Wakarra Gondarra, Jack Thompson, Simon Baker, Callan Mulvey and Aaron Pedersen. We present this film to celebrate NAIDOC Week, 2022. This is the first film that director Stephen Maxwell Johnson has made since Yolngu Boy, 20 years ago. Set in the 1930s Northern Territory, where two cultures collide in the violence perpetuated […]

  • Ballarat Film Society – Little Woods

    BMI - Minerva Space 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC

    Set in the border-crossing town of Little Woods, between North Dakota and Canada, two reunited sisters struggle to survive in circumstances of economic injustice largely not of their own making. Confronted with urgent personal decisions, warring personalities, opioid-driven traumas and small-town economic downturn, the two have a week to settle a mortgage on their mother’s […]

  • ‘Mine-Field’ Documentary Screening + QnA

    BMI - Minerva Space 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC

    This engaging, highly informative film is a must-see for communities like Ballarat and Moorabool who are keen to understand the environmental and lifestyle implications of Victoria’s 21st-century mining boom. Filmed over three years, 'Mine-Field' (2022) shows how a farming community in East Gippsland fought a ruthless mining company and won. It reveals the devastating impact […]

    $12
  • Ballarat Film Society – Quo Vadis, Aida?

    BMI - Minerva Space 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC

    ​Quo Vadis, Aida? is inspired by true events.  In Bosnia, 1995, middle-aged Aida is a United Nations translator located in the small mountain town of Srebrenica when the Serbian army ignores a UN peace ultimatum and begins a series of round-ups. Aida’s translation skills come into action when Aida and her family find themselves among 30,000 […]

Guides in period costume

Minerva's Secrets Night Tours

Night Tours

Fri 31 Oct – Sat 15 Nov

& Fri 12 Dec
 

Tour 1 at 7pm
Tour 2 at 9pm. 

Ballarat Heritage Festival BMI Day Tours

Two tours  on 20 &  21 May 

 

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Your gift will be tax-deductible this financial year if you make it before June 30.

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2024 End of Financial Year Appeal 

Or alternatively go to our Donations web page.

Our Challenge

Like many organisations the BMI faces significant funding challenges. 

We thank you for your support.
The Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute 2025 Calendar

Featuring the BMI Image Collection | Now $20

Devonshire Tea & Fashion Parade

Bubbly on arrival & Featuring quality items from our Vintage Shop | $60

Christmas Holiday Closures | Library

Monday 23 December – Sunday 5 January

Dame Nellie Melba Birthday Celebration

  Performance – 18 May.

Australian Heritage Festival Events at the BMI

18 April to 18 May

Spring Season, History Talks:

Ballarat's Henry Lawson - The Dragon's Den - Gold! Gold! Gold!

Wed 3, 17 & 24 September, 5.30pm

Ballarat Heritage Festival Events at the BMI

16 to 25 May 

Dame Nellie Melba Birthday Celebration

  Performance – 18 May.

portrait of author with book cover

Australian Heritage Festival

Natasha Lester in conversation

1 May at 6pm

guides dressed in period costum

Australian Heritage Festival

Minerva's Secrets

25 April – Tour 1 at 7.30pm – fully booked
Tour 2 at 9.30pm – still tickets. 

portrait of author with book cover

Australian Heritage Festival

Natasha Lester in conversation

1 May at 6pm

with Nicole Alexander

28 May at 6pm

Linen & Lace Exhbition

Includes Devonshire Tea | $20

Sat & Sun 22, 23 Oct
10am-4pm

with Gail Holmes

 Wed 4 June at 6pm

Ballart Seniors Festival 

Celebrate at the BMI.

 October 2025

Ballarat Pride Month

Events at BMI

The Month of June 

Ballarat Winter Festival

Events at BMI

5 July – 27 July 

 Coming in November

Stella Day Out, Ballarat, Rachael Johns & Margaret Hickey

with Michael Robotham

 Wed 20 August at 6pm

Tracey Lee Holmes: A Life Through Sport

Thu 4 September at 6pm

Raise a Glass for Brass

The Little Brass Band BMI Fundraiser

Sun 10 August at 2pm

 Coming soon

Dianne Dempsey, Chrissie Bellbrae, Paula Gleeson, Rozzi Bazzani.

 Coming soon

Rozzi Bazzani. Stella Day Out: Katia Ariel & Samah Sabawi, Rachael Johns

Thu 16 Oct – 19 Oct 

Remembrance Day:

A Surgeon Commander & A Leading Cook - Recent War Memoribilia

Wed 29 Oct & 5 Nov, 5.30pm

BMI Fundraiser

Featuring:
The Hideaways,
The Harmonies &
Surf Shadows. 

2 course dinner & lots
of dancing