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The History of Concrete 2026 (101 mins) will be preceded by a screening of Isle of Flowers 1989 (13 mins).

The History of Concrete 2026

"Idle during the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, documentarian John Wilson attends a workshop on how to make Hallmark Christmas rom-com movies. Inspired by his apartment building’s crumbling foundations, he tests this aspirational, escapist formula on the world’s love affair with concrete. Unsurprisingly, Wilson struggles to pitch his idea to prospective investors – and, fretting that he might be falling through the industry’s cracks, he takes a pilgrimage from the celebrity handprints outside LA’s Chinese Theatre to the dome atop Rome’s ancient Pantheon and more, finding surprising insights along the way.

Fans of HBO comedy series 'How To With John Wilson' will rejoice that the director’s Sundance-premiering debut feature continues along his curious perambulation. As entertainment grows gimmickier and ever more disposable, The History of Concrete offers a rich, hearteningly humane meditation on life and death, on the things we either leave in ruins or care enough to fix." - Melbourne International Film Festival

101 minutes | M | Crude humour and coarse language

Ilha das Flores (Isle of Flowers) 1989

Please note: this film contains brief historical footage of concentration camps.

Widely celebrated as the greatest short film ever made in Brazil, Jorge Furtado's Isle of Flowers turns a caustic eye to supply chains, waste and overconsumption. Both viciously funny and powerfully tragic, the film blends Gilliam-esque animation with stock footage and newly shot scenes to create a riveting indictment of modern society's systems of exploitation.

13 minutes | Ages 15+