Swinburne students curate "Wrestling with Reality" film season for ACMI's Cinema 3

Students from Swinburne’s Cinema and Screen Studies program have curated a compelling film season titled Wrestling with Reality, now available on ACMI’s streaming platform, Cinema 3. This initiative underscores Swinburne’s dedication to preparing future screen industry leaders through practical, real-world experiences.

The curated season explores the multi-faceted world of professional wrestling through a diverse selection of films. From Sean Durkin’s critically acclaimed drama "The Iron Claw," to the heartfelt adventure "The Peanut Butter Falcon," each film delves into different aspects of wrestling culture, offering viewers both entertainment and thought-provoking narratives.

Movie Mogul is a project run in partnership with Swinburne which provides Cinema and Screen Studies students with the opportunity to curate their own season of films for exhibition on Cinema 3. The winning seasons were decided by a panel of experts at a pitch session at ACMI.

Associate Professor and Discipline Leader in Cinema and Screen Studies, Liam Burke emphasises the importance of these real-world experiences and the structure of the unit.

"Through industry links and real-world assessment, Cinema and Screen Studies at Swinburne prepares students to move into a range of screen culture careers including film distribution, festival management, exhibition, and entertainment journalism. Movie Mogul continues this commitment to creating future-ready learners.”

“Streaming services like Netflix are the screen industries’ fastest growing sector, fundamentally reshaping how films and TV shows are funded, distributed, and consumed. In the Cinema and Screen Studies’ capstone unit MDA30016 Screen Technology and Culture, students gain exclusive work experience on ACMI’s streaming service Cinema 3.”

“Collaborating closely with ACMI’s curatorship and engagement teams, student groups develop thematically linked film seasons with multimedia marketing campaigns. Students then pitch their seasons to an industry panel at ACMI’s Swinburne Studio with the winning seasons made available to thousands of paying customers via ACMI’s streaming service.”

Lecturer in Cinema and Screen Studies, Dr Andrew Lynch reflects on the team success.

“With their cleverly curated season of five amazing films, students Patrick, Grace and Lachlan remind movie lovers how important a part of modern popular culture professional wrestling is. At the same time, their thoughtful and in-depth audience research has identified a new potential audience for ACMI: pro wrestling fans. They’ve done an incredible job selecting films that will absolutely appeal to fans of the silver screen and the squared circle alike.”

One of the season’s highlights is the involvement of Australian wrestling legend KrackerJak, whose promotional video added an authentic touch to the marketing campaign, reaching a wide audience of wrestling enthusiasts and film buffs alike.

Cinema and Screen Studies student, Patrick O’Bryan says Movie Mogul was a very rewarding experience.

“It enabled us to get a feel of what it would be like to pitch a curation to a major organisation. It was beneficial as it taught us workplace skills, as well as enable us to form a bond as a group.”

“We as a group have experienced an achievement that we can now use in our resumes/portfolios to make us more employable when we have finished our degrees." 

Wrestling with Reality continues to captivate audiences on Cinema 3 until the end of July.