Sunburnt Screens: An Australian Film Odyssey The Last Days of Chez Nous + Director Q&A

30 June 2024

In the Playhouse

Cinema

Australia | 1992 | English | Drama

Nominated for 10 AFI Awards and written by Helen Garner (Monkey Grip), The Last Days of Chez Nous is Gillian Armstrong’s (High Tide) acclaimed exploration of love, trust, betrayal and lust. 

This special screening is followed by a Q&A with film director Gillian Armstrong

Gillian Armstrong gives strength and honesty to a study of the dying stages of a marriage, with a clear-eyed focus on the flow of everyday lives.

The Guardian

Love, trust and betrayal

Written by Helen Garner, The Last Days of Chez Nous is Gillian Armstrong’s (My Brilliant Career) acclaimed exploration of love, trust and betrayal. Beth (Lisa Harrow) is a modern matriarch doing her best to raise her teenage daughter Annie (Miranda Otto) whilst enjoying the best of an easy-going marriage to Frenchman JP (Bruno Ganz). When younger sister Vicki (Kerry Fox) returns from abroad and moves into the household, she is instantly drawn to the family and develops a longing for what is missing in her own life. As Beth takes a trip with her dad (Bill Hunter), she leaves JP and sister Vicki behind unaware of the smoldering love triangle that has developed between them and the turbulence that lies ahead.

Presented by Sydney Opera House with Umbrella Entertainment and hosted by Alexei Toliopoulos

Trailer

Watch the trailer

Cast and credits

Credits

Director 
Gillian Armstrong

Producer 
Jan Chapman

Cast

Lisa Harrow 
as Beth

Bruno Ganz 
as J. P

Miranda Otto 
as Annie

Bill Hunter 
as Beth’s Father

Kerry Fox 
as Vicki
 

Other information

You may also like

Wrong Side of the Road

4 Sep 2025

This documentary-style classic 80s drama follows the Indigenous bands Us Mob and No Fixed Address as they move from gig to gig. Blending dramatisation with real events, it captures the energy of life on tour while exposing the racism, hostility and harassment the musicians faced.

  • Cinema
  • First Nations

Africa Film Fest Australia: Fanon

5 Sep 2025

France, Luxembourg, Canada | 2024 | French and Arabic with English subtitles | Biopic | M Jean-Claude Barny directs a searing biopic of French psychiatrist and philosopher Frantz Fanon. Spotlighting a series of events in the 1950s when his methods profoundly clashed with those around him, FANON shines a spotlight on the efforts of this renowned and influential thinker, working at the epicentre of colonisation.

  • Cinema

Saturday Film Club: Children of Men

6 Sep 2025

United Kingdom | 2006 | English | Thriller/Action | MA15+ Join us for the first in our regular Saturday Film Club screenings, pairing a contemporary classic with an in-depth discussion featuring Alexei Toliopoulos and special guests. Ranked by Rolling Stone as the best sci-fi film of the 21st century, Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men explores what it means to carry hope in hopeless times.

  • Cinema

Checking availability