A new film on Harry Seidler, which premieres this October at the Sydney Opera House, will focus on the work and legacy of the renowned modernist architect.

The Australian Institute of Architects Foundation, in association with Film Art Media, will present the Australian premiere of the new film Harry Seidler: Modernist as a special event at the Sydney Opera House on Saturday, October 22.

A retrospective of Seidler's architectural legacy, the film will deliver an intimate portrait of the life and internationally recognised work of the architect who brought mainstream modernism to Australia.

The premiere will be followed by a Q&A discussion with the film’s director, Daryl Dellora, Dr Paola Favaro, an acclaimed academic of modernism, and foundation board member Penelope Seidler. Penelope was wife and professional partner to architect Harry Seidler and is director of their firm Harry Seidler & Associates.

The session will be moderated by the Foundation’s Chair, Emeritus Professor Alec Tzannes AM, who said that the event promised to be a very important evening for all who were interested in an architecture that expanded modernism beyond form and function.

Director Daryl Dellora recalled that he first met Harry Seidler when he was 72 years old with the architect exuding an infectious passion and excitement for his work and for architecture in general. The filmmaker knew from that moment his would be an incredible story to tell.

Considered one of the greatest of modernist architects even ten years after his death, Harry Seidler has won every major architectural prize in Australia, is represented in every state capital, and was embraced internationally by the likes of Norman Foster (the London Gherkin), Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano (Pompidou Centre, Paris). Over a career spanning almost 60 years, he has left his architectural impression across the world from New York, Paris, Vienna and Mexico, to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Hong Kong and Vienna.

Harry Seidler: Modernist was directed by Daryl Dellora (The Edge of The Possible: Jorn Utzon and the Sydney Opera House) and produced by Charlotte Seymour (A Walk With Words) and Sue Maslin (The Dressmaker, Michael Kirby: Don’t Forget The Justice Bit).

You can purchase tickets here.

Nathan Johnson

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