Why film fans are getting naked to watch one movie – as a special nudist screenings hit Sydney and Melbourne
- Randwick Ritz in Sydney, Lido in Melbourne holding nude screenings for Patrick
- The movie is on this weekend as part of the ‘wild’ Fantastic Film Festival
- Patrons requested to turn up fully dressed and strip in the cinema
An independent cinema chain is hosting movie screenings you are invited to literally get naked for – but there are a few rules to follow if you want to undress for a night out.
The Belgian black comedy Patrick is being shown for nude audiences at the Lido in Melbourne on Saturday and Randwick Ritz in Sydney on Sunday as part of the Fantastic Film Festival, which has a line-up of provocative movies.
The movie itself is set inside a nudist colony and has ‘a level of nudity that has to be seen to be believed’ according to the promotional material – but that will be nothing compared to the audiences.
Jemaine Clement (right) and Hannah Hoekstra appear in the arthouse movie Patrick – which film fans are being invited to watch nude in Melbourne and Sydney cinemas this weekend
The Lido, in Hawthorn, will hold two sessions at 7.30pm on Saturday – one clothed and one unclothed, for a maximum of 94 patrons.
Nude session patrons can attend the unclothed session in their undies if they wish.
Tickets for the nude session have outsold the clothed session ‘about two to one’ according to Hudson Sowada, director of the Fantastic Film festival.
He plans to introduce the film live in Melbourne ‘in all my glory’ – something he isn’t nervous about.
‘If you’ve done life drawing before you get used to it, it’s funny for about a minute and then the novelty wears off,’ Mr Sowada said.
Sydney’s Randwick Ritz, which has a much bigger capacity for 900 patrons, will host Patrick in one session on Sunday at 4pm.
The Ritz plans to to split the audience between clothed and unclothed.
Clothed patrons will sit downstairs and the nude fans will be above, on the mezzanine level.
The Ritz and Lido are both owned by Moving Story Entertainment.
As at Tuesday, tickets were still available for the Melbourne and Sydney screenings.
Both cinemas have been instructed to raise the temperature to ‘a cosy 24 degrees’ inside.
Although the screenings allow for a liberal dress code, patrons are asked to follow a few ‘guidelines’ to keep the event ‘safe and fun’.
Nobody under 18 is allowed – but there is no upper age limit on who can attend.
A publicity still for Patrick, a black comedy set in a nudist colony
The major rule is, ‘Respect other patrons’ personal space – antisocial behaviour will not be tolerated’.
Also, don’t take the screening as an excuse to strip off and take the tram.
Patrons are asked to arrive fully dressed and strip off once inside the cinema.
If you need the bathroom or an ice cream or coffee – Melbourne’s temperature could drop below 15 during the screening – you’ll have to get dressed again.
Inside patrons will have to sit on a towel that they bring.
With so many conditions and potential problems, why the hassle of nude screenings?
‘The festival is about bold, groundbreaking films so we thought ‘how can we really make this memorable for people?’
‘We looked it up and found a nude cinema screening had only been done once before, in Israel in 2018. It had no disasters, so we thought ‘why not’?’
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