The Dream of Perfection
Dir. John Weiley
THE DREAM OF PERFECTION is as extraordinary as its provocative subject matter, the dramatic story of the building of the Sydney Opera House, culminating in Utzons departure from the project. Director John Weiley was commissioned in 1968 to make the documentary Autopsy on a Dream by then BBC2 controller David Attenborough, and following its only screening on the BBC, it was destroyed literally chopped to pieces on the chopping block. Miraculously, a mute print of Autopsy on a Dream was rediscovered in a BBC vault this year, and has now been restored with sound saved by John Weiley, and with a new prologue. The film features interviews with David Attenborough, Jan Utzon, Lin Utzon, and Richard Neville.
The Edge of the Possible
Dir. Daryl Dellora
For the first time since the early 1970s, Sydney Opera House architect, Jorn Utzon, appears in an extensive filmed interview, speaking about the creation of one of the world's most iconic buildings.
In this beautifully photographed film, Utzon and his colleagues from the close-knit, international team of architects he assembled, chart the exhilarating and then troubled course of the design and construction of this World Heritage-listed landmark.
Denmark's most celebrated architect, Jorn Utzon received every major architectural award in his distinguished career, including the esteemed Pritzker Prize. He also received the Order of Australia and in 1998, the Keys to the City of Sydney.
But in February 1966, it was a very different story. In that month, his nine years of work on the Opera House ended when he wrote to the NSW Minister for Public Works, Davis Hughes, the historic words, "you have forced me to leave the job".
Utzon fled Australia with his young family & never returned.
Filmed at Utzon's home in Hellebaek, Denmark, The Edge of the Possible is a gentle portrait of a man and his most enduring work. The tragedy is there, a testament to what could have been, but so too is the antidote - the subtle and glorious vista on Bennelong Point.
ALSO RECOMMENDED:
The Dream of Perfection - Utzon and the Sydney Opera House
directed by John Weiley
