'Wake in Fright' here Sunday

Chattanooga film club Mise En Scenesters will present a screening of a film considered a lost classic at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, at Barking Legs Theater, 1307 Dodds Ave.

"Wake in Fright," says the New York Observer, "may be the greatest Australian film ever made."

Alongside "Mad Max" and "Walkabout," "Wake in Fright" is widely acknowledged as one of the seminal films in the development of modern Australian cinema, said MES founder and programmer Christopher Dortch in a news release.

Directed by Ted Kotcheff ("First Blood") and starring Donald Pleasence ("Halloween, "The Great Escape"), "Wake in Fright" tells the nightmarish story of a schoolteacher's (Gary Bond) descent into personal demoralization at the hands of drunken, deranged derelicts while stranded in a small town in outback Australia.

Virtually unseen in America until now, "Wake in Fright" was considered lost for years and has never been available on VHS or DVD, Dortch said. However, it recently was recovered and "gorgeously restored."

Admission is $5.

For information, visit http://mesfilmclub.com.

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