On Valentine’s Day, 1900, students from Appleyard College, a girls’ private school in Victoria, Australia, embark on a field trip to an unusual but scenic volcanic formation called Hanging Rock. Despite rules against it, several of the girls wander off. It’s not until the end of the day that the group realise that some of their party have mysteriously disappeared. Returning to the big screen to celebrate its 50th anniversary in a 4K restoration, Peter Weir’s adaptation of Joan Lindsay’s novel has lost none of its mystique or mesmerising power. A key film of the Australian New Wave, Picnic at Hanging Rock has become a landmark for its dreamlike exploration of the intensely romantic, yet profoundly unsettling, experience of girlhood and burgeoning sexuality.

There will be Open Captioned screenings at 15.50 on Friday 21st, and 18.15 on Thursday 27th.

Notes by David O’Mahony