We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of New South Wales stands.

Film series: Me, myself and I 27 July – 16 October 2016

By Robert Herbert, curator, film (until June 2017)
A man with light skin seated at the edge of a round stage raises a small glass. Behind him are clapping and smiling audience members.

Still from The passenger, 1975

On the deceptive nature of appearances

Identity is a façade; a carefully fabricated aspect of ourselves that we communicate to others. It can be made up of many conflicting parts, an armour defending against the reality of everyday, sometimes falsified to the point of becoming completely fictitious.

Screening at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 27 July to 16 October 2016, in conjunction with the Archibald Prize 2016, the Me, myself and I film series explores the ambiguity of identity.

What are the sources of identity? Is it your name, your status, your career, your environment? By engaging explicitly with these questions, these films examine how we are shape-shifters, thinking and behaving differently in relation to different contexts. They delve into the conundrums of mistaken identity, false identity, imagined identity, memory loss and gender-bending, in stories of espionage, crime, political intrigue and romantic love.

Films

  • 27, 31 July – The great dictator (director Charles Chaplin, US, 1940, 35mm)

  • 3, 7 August – The shop around the corner (director Ernst Lubitsch, US, 1940, 35mm)

  • 10, 14 August – The enigma of Kasper Hauser (director Werner Herzog, Germany, 1974, 35mm)

  • 17, 21 August – Vertigo (director Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1958, 35mm)

  • 24, 28 August – In the beginning (director Xavier Giannoli, France, 2009, 35mm)

  • 31 August, 4 September – Baran (director Majid Majidi, Iran, 2001, 35mm)

  • 7, 11 September – Olivier, Olivier (director Agnieszka Holland, France, 1992, 35mm)

  • 14, 18 September – Offside (director Jafar Panahi, Iran, 2006, 35mm)

  • 21, 25 September – Pretty poison (director Noel Black, US, 1968, 35mm)

  • 28 September, 2 October – Solaris (director Andrei Tarkovsky, USSR, 1970, 35mm)

  • 5, 9 October – North by northwest (director Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1959, 35mm)

  • 12, 16 October – The passenger (director Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy/France/Spain, 1975, 35mm)

A man impersonating Adolf Hitler stands in front of several microphones and rows of people dressed as Nazi soldiers.

Still from The great dictator, 1940

Two people wearing coats and hats in a large lobby. The woman on the right is holding wrapped packages.

Still from The shop around the corner, 1940

Two light skinned men with long hair and cravats peer closely at a third man.

Still from The enigma of Kasper Hauser, 1974

Two light skinned people with closed eyes are embracing.

Still from Vertigo, 1958

Two men wearing nylon coats smiling at each other.

Still from In the beginning, 2009

Half of a light skinned face peers out from between to wooden panels.

Still from Baran, 2001

Two people lying together on a bed. One person rests their head on the other's shoulder.

Still from Olivier, Olivier, 1992

Four young people with light brown skin peering over a fence. One of them has painted the green, white and red stripes of the Iranian flag over their nose and chin.

Still from Offside, 2006

Close up of two light skinned people's faces. One is looking at the other.

Still from Pretty poison, 1968

Two people standing in front of a mirror. One of them is looking sideways and the other is gazing at the reflection of the first person.

Still from Solaris, 1970

A man with light skin in a suit sprinting towards the camera. Behind him is an airplane flying low to the ground.

Still from North by northwest, 1959

A man with light skin seated at the edge of a round stage raises a small glass. Behind him are clapping and smiling audience members.

Still from The passenger, 1975