ART, NOT APART is almost upon us and an unusual film with a Canberra angle will be screened in NewActon as part of the day-long event this Saturday.

Avant-garde poet and playwright Christopher Barnett won acclaim and notoriety in Australia’s underground theatre scene during the 1970s and 1980s, before self-exiling to France. He remains there today, running an experimental theatre lab working with the marginalised and underprivileged, loved by the people of his adopted home of Nantes, and faithful to his belief that art can change the world, a good match to the festival here.

Extraordinarily, he has returned just once, to work with Splinters in Canberra in 1993.

In 1993, Barnett was persuaded by his long-time collaborator, actor and director and Nicholas Lathouris (The Legend of King O’Malley, Mad Max, and Heartbreak High) to return to work with Canberra’s Splinters Theatre of Spectacle. The resulting work, Thirst… is a place played a sold-out season at Exhibition Park in Canberra. Footage of the performances has recently been rediscovered and a 30-minute compilation commissioned by “Art, Not Apart” from Splinters video maestro Luhsun Tan to accompany the documentary.

“These Heathen Dreams” is a portrait of Barnett’s life and revolutionary philosophy made by Anne Tsoulis and Georgia Wallace-Crabbe. Combining archival footage dating back to the 1960s with contemporary observational documentation and text from Barnett’s writings, it is a poignant and inspiring study of the power of both art and political activism.

The screening of These Heathen Dreams and Thirst… is a place will be FREE, thanks to the support of Palace Electric. Ronin Films will also be launching the DVD of These Heathen Dreams.

These Heathen Dreams: Journey of a cultural Bolshevik, written and directed by Anne Tsoulis, Produced by Film Projects & Les Films du Balibari, Official Selection Melbourne International Film Festival 2014. Free film screening at Palace Electric, NewActon, Saturday, March 14 at 2pm, for Art, Not Apart. Bookings essential to http://heathendreams.eventbrite.com.au