ACMI announces two-time Academy Award-winning sensation Geena Davis as Goddess ambassador and reveals first suite of event programs

ACMI announces two-time Academy Award-winning sensation Geena Davis as Goddess ambassador and reveals first suite of event programs

Tickets to the provocative new exhibition and events program now on sale

ACMI today announces a pivotal new partnership with two-time Academy Award-winning actor and advocate Geena Davis and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. The iconic actor is set to travel to Melbourne as lead ambassador for the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces blockbuster, Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebellion. The ACMI-curated exhibition opens at Australia’s national museum of screen culture on 5 April before touring internationally.

Globally renowned for her show-stopping performances in hits such as Thelma & Louise, A League of Their Own, Beetlejuice and The Accidental Tourist, Geena Davis is a true Hollywood movie star. Beyond her impact on screen, she is also a leader in leveraging research, education and advocacy to influence systemic change in onscreen character portrayals in global film, television, advertising and gaming through her Institute.

Goddess celebrates the pantheon of trailblazing women who fought the system that tried to exploit them. Showcasing more than 150 exhibition highlights, including never-before-seen costumes, original sketches, interactive experiences, large-scale projections and cinematic treasures, the exhibition interrogates the many stereotypes surrounding the screen goddess and honours the ground-breaking achievements of the screen’s revolutionary leading women.

In aligning with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media Goddess signals the work of these formidable figures is far from done – there are more boundaries to break, agendas to advance and systems to fight – while working towards a better future.

Speaking about her ambassadorship with ACMI, Geena Davis, said: “I’m so excited to be a launch partner for this ground-breaking exhibition and to lead important conversations about gender equality at the special Goddess event, Being Seen on Screen: The Importance of Representation. This one-day conference at ACMI will inspire discussion about equality, diversity and ageing on Australian screens – vital conversations to have if we are to make permanent change in the screen industry.”

ACMI Director of Experience & Engagement, Dr Britt Romstad, said: “We couldn’t be more delighted to announce stage one of the vibrant Goddess events program, the publication of our captivating Goddess catalogue, and of course, the partnership with Geena Davis and her vital organisation, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. Impacting how we think about representation on screen, Geena takes creative control, fights for equality and marches to the beat of her own drum – she is truly the ultimate screen goddess.”

Minister for Creative Industries, Steve Dimopoulos, said: “Melbourne is Australia’s creative city and we’re thrilled to host Geena Davis as part of the Goddess program. Equality isn’t negotiable in Victoria – throughout our creative industries and beyond.”

Being Seen on Screen: The Importance of Representation is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Geena Davis and hear her passionate call to action, live in conversation on Wednesday 5 April. It will also feature panel discussions with Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media President & CEO, Madeline Di Nonno, and a cross-section of Australian screen industry talent including Michelle Cheng, Santilla Chingaipe, Jan Fran, Elaine Crombie, Sophie Hyde, Amy Marks, Pallavi Sharda, Anousha Zarkesh, plus award-winning writer, speaker and appearance activist Carly Findlay, and the 2023 Australian of the Year, award-winning filmmaker, bestselling author and founder of the Body Image Movement, Taryn Brumfitt.

Further event programs include in-depth monthly Goddess ACMI Curator Tours providing exclusive out-of-hours access to deep-dive into the stories behind the fascinating figures who challenged and changed the role of women on screen.

The immersive Goddess Nights event series will kick off 25 May with the first of three big femme-centric live music line-ups featuring performances by DJ JNETT, CD, POOKIE and Ayebatonye with specially curated food and drink offerings across a huge evening of screen culture and music.

Curated in partnership with Clare Stewart (former Festival Director at BFI London Film Festival and Curatorial Advisor on Goddess), Divine Trailblazers is a cinematic tribute to contemporary actors at the height of their creative powers. The film program will feature Oscar-nominee Angela Bassett in the sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022); Leah Purcell in The Drover’s Wife (2021), a film she wrote, produced, directed and starred in; Oscar nominees Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis in the genre-bending Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022); Emma Thompson in the romantic comedy Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022), directed by Australia’s Sophie Hyde; Cate Blanchett in her BAFTA-Award winning and Oscar-nominated performance as an orchestra conductor in Tár (2022); Viola Davis in her BAFTA-nominated portrayal of the warrior Nanisca in The Woman King (2022); and Filipino actor Dolly De Leon in her international breakout role in the Palme d’Or winning Triangle of Sadness (2022).

Moreover, the Goddess Sundays program will shine a spotlight on formidable on-screen personas, with weekly Sunday afternoon film screenings across the duration of the exhibition. These films will showcase some of the boundary-breakers featured in the exhibition including Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot (1959), Anna Tsuchiya in Sakuran (2007) and Pam Grier in Jackie Brown (1997). Additional screenings will feature Cheryl Dunye’s The Watermelon Woman (1996) and Daniela Vega in A Fantastic Woman (2017) with more event programming to be announced during the exhibition’s run. As previously announced, ACMI will also screen an exclusive two-week Melbourne season of Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power (2022), Nina Menkes’ documentary examining the pervasiveness of the male gaze in film.

Throughout the exhibition, audiences will be invited to explore a powerful selection of films on Cinema 3, ACMI’s video-on-demand service, supported by Porsche Cars Australia.

From the screen to the pages of a book, ACMI is also bringing together a remarkable selection of writers, creatives, experts and academics to lend their ideas, voices and insights to Goddess: Fierce Women on Film, an accompanying publication expanding upon the exhibition’s stories and themes, published by Thames & Hudson. This outstanding critical examination of film’s foremost figures invites audiences to reconsider their understanding of moviemaking history, shifting the focus and putting the women back in the spotlight. Featuring contributions by writers and actors including Candy Bowers, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Cerise Howard and Pallavi Sharda, the publication will be available from 28 March in the ACMI Shop and bookstores Australia-wide.

Tickets for Goddess and the exhibition’s accompanying events program are now on sale.

Goddess is an ACMI-original exhibition with lead curation by Bethan Johnson.

Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebellion is part of the Victorian Government’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series and is proudly supported by our generous partners; Creative Victoria, Presenting Partner Visit Victoria, Lead Exhibition Partner Porsche Cars Australia, Major Technology Partner Panasonic, Major Research Partner RMIT University, Major Academic Partner Swinburne University of Technology and Supporting Partners City of Melbourne, Pixon Technology, Sofitel Melbourne on Collins, U.S. Consulate General Melbourne.

Notes to editor

• Curated by ACMI, Goddess is a world-premiere exhibition.
• Goddess runs from 5 April to 1 October 2023 at ACMI, Fed Square, Melbourne.
• Tickets are on sale now for the exhibition and events program at acmi.net.au
• Goddess is part of the Victorian Government’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series, presented by Visit Victoria.
• The Goddess publication can be purchased from the ACMI Shop and online from 28 March. Pre-order now available from the ACMI Shop.
• Images and media information, including a full exhibition breakdown, can be found at the Goddess Media Centre
• For media enquiries please contact charly@commonstate.co | 0435 356 530

Event Program
Being Seen on Screen: The Importance of Representation | April 5 | 9am – 6pm
Divine Trailblazers film program | 7–16 April
Goddess Sundays film program | Every Sunday | 2pm
Goddess ACMI Curator Tours | April 26 (5-6pm) and 31 May (9.30am-10.30am)
Goddess Nights | From May 25 | 7pm

More events to be announced soon!

About Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebellion
Through iconic stories, characters and moments from over 120 years of moving image history, Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebellion celebrates the women who shaped their own roles, took creative control and fought a system that tried to exploit them.

From the swagger of Mae West and glamour of Anna May Wong to the powerful punch of Pam Grier, this ACMI-curated exhibition salutes the ground-breaking achievements and impact of the screen’s revolutionary leading women. Too often reduced to the status of bombshell, starlet and screen siren, these goddesses remain far more than sexist stereotypes.

Developed over four years, this ACMI-original exhibition features over 150 exhibition highlights, including never-before-seen costumes, large-scale projections, original sketches, interactive experiences and cinematic treasures – including iconic outfits worn by Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Geena Davis and Margot Robbie. Goddesshonours the women who challenged narratives, defied expectations and transcended existing tropes.

Whether it’s Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Michelle Yeoh or Zendaya, today’s goddesses unapologetically occupy spaces and roles that shatter glass ceilings, project solidarity and reframe society through essential stories, brave voices and complex characters. They’ve overcome convention and an industry built to confine them with collective power and fearless creativity to imagine their own heroes and forge their own paths.

ACMI presents Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebellion in its world premiere in Melbourne, opening 5 April 2023, before the exhibition tours internationally. More at acmi.net.au

About Melbourne Winter Masterpieces at ACMI
ACMI has been part of the annual Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series since 2007, bringing major international exhibitions such as Disney: The Art of Animation, David Bowie Is… and Hollywood Costume exclusively to Melbourne, creating multi-award-winning blockbusters that have subsequently toured the world. More than 1.4 million local, interstate and international visitors have experienced Melbourne Winter Masterpieces at ACMI, with the museum's homegrown touring exhibitions such as Game Masters, DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition and Wonderland attracting over 4 million visitors across five continents.

About ACMI
ACMI is Australia’s national museum of screen culture. The museum reopened in February 2021 after a two-year, $40 million redevelopment – an architectural, programmatic and technological transformation. ACMI celebrates the wonder and power of the world’s most democratic artform – fostering the next generation of makers, players and watchers. ACMI’s vibrant calendar of exhibitions, screenings, commissions, festivals, and industry and education programs explore the stories, technologies and artists that create our shared screen culture. Navigate the universe of film, TV, videogames and art with ACMI. More at acmi.net.au

About Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
Founded in 2004 by two-time Academy Award-winning actor Geena Davis, the Institute is the only global research-based organisation working collaboratively within the entertainment industry to create gender balance, foster inclusion and reduce negative stereotyping in family entertainment media. The stories told in entertainment media send a specific message about who matters most in our culture. In order to bring about a global culture change, it is especially important that children see diverse, intersectional representations of characters in media to reflect the population of the world — which is half female and very diverse — and avoid unwittingly instilling unconscious bias in them. The organisation uses data-driven research, education and advocacy to empower and inspire content creators to reimagine the media landscape to reflect the world we live in. The institute has sponsored the largest amount of research ever done on children’s entertainment media, covering over a 30-year span. More at seejane.org
@geenadavisorg