Cancel your plans! Thursday night is Handmaids night. Last week saw season four kick off in our cinemas, and this week the season continues on @sbs_australia. Since starting out as a child actor in 1990 Elisabeth Moss has carved out a fascinating on-screen careers - think 'The West Wing', 'Mad Men', 'High-Rise' and 'Gypsy'. In 2015, Moss took on her first Producer role for Alex Ross Perry’s 'Queen of Earth', and this week we get to see her directorial debut in episode 3 of THE HANDMAID'S TALE. Tune in for a double episode at 8.30pm on Thursday, or get a head-start now on @sbsondemand.

From the director of WADJDA, NAPPILY EVER AFTER and MARY SHELLEY comes this rousing tale of a young Saudi doctor running as the first female candidate in her town's local elections. ACMI film curator Maria Lewis says: "It’s hard to find a more perfect film for the current moment than the aptly titled THE PERFECT CANDIDATE. The parallels between Dr. Maryam Alsafan's story and director Haifaa Al-Mansour's own struggle to break through as a filmmaker will not be lost on the audience." Screening 13-25 May at ACMI Cinemas.

You spin me right 'round, baby. @jen.kdt and @shanaz.l check out the Phenakistiscope discs in our new exhibition. ​ ​These were an important predecessor of the Zoetrope, another early animation device. Nothing magical happens when you spin the disc, but the images flicker to life when you peer through the slots at the disc’s reflection in a mirror 💫

G’day queens! Today we get the premiere of Rupaul's Drag Race Down Under, AU & Aotearoa NZ's addition to the international drag superstar circuit. We’ve got a proud history of charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent among our First Nations, Maori, Pasifika & AU/NZ queens, and we know they’ll bring it to the runway. Stream it today on Stan, or head to a watch party to support your local queens and queers. Watch parties around Melbourne: Fitzroy @rainbowhouseclub Footscray @prideofourfootscray Northcote @northcotesocialclub Carlton @thecurtin Fitzroy @molliesbaranddiner 📸 via stunning guest judge @danniiminogue

Did any childhood movie teach us more about the environment than FERNGULLY: THE LAST RAINFOREST? This #RewatchWednesday we’re remembering a classic that if you know, you know. It was either a solid part of your childhood, or you’ve never heard of it – though it may feel familiar to the ‘Avatar’ generation when we start talking plot. After a surprise encounter with a sprite, a human shows that he’s willing to learn the secrets of nature and is accepted by the fairies of FernGully. They band together with rainforest animals to save their beautiful paradise home from being destroyed by humans. Batty Koda was Robin Williams' first role in an animated film and in true Williams style it’s pure improv. Christian Slater is in there too, and Tim Curry aka Dr Frank-N-Furter voices the evil spirit that feeds on pollution, singing a greasy ditty called ‘Toxic Love’. This joint Australian-American venture had the cartoonists spend time studying real Australian rainforests. You can even see Aussie animals like cassowaries and kangaroos in the movie. Just don’t bother trying finding an Aussie accent on the Australian character Zak. FERNGULLY: THE LAST RAINFOREST (Bill Kroger, FAI Films, Kroger Films & Youngheart Productions, 1992).

See two responses to the idea of conservation in @gabriellahirst's ‘Darling Darling’. One highlights our ability to inflict great damage, and the other shows our capacity to nurture and protect. The 2020 Ian Potter Moving Image Commission will leave you wondering why we seem to value representations of the natural world over nature itself. Now showing in ACMI Gallery 3, free entry. Presented with @potterculturaltrust.⁣ Gabriella's team includes @smsmth @felix_media @the_other_meg_white @justinemullerartist @desertislandtracks @sarahmartinbadger @justine_kerrigan #liamegan @kooloona5

ACMI visitor @juandamazo gets his glow on beside Taree Mackenzie's installation, 'Pepper's ghost effect, triangles, cyan and red'. It's based on an old optical illusion used for ghostly effects in horror films and haunted houses 👻  ​ ​Have you visited us lately? Tag your photos with #acmimelbourne and we might even share your visit here.

Jennifer Kent’s ground-breaking directorial debut THE BABADOOK (2014) taps into the all-consuming nature of grief and existential dread with a horror movie character propelled into instant classic status.  ​ ​Essie Davis plays single mother Amelia, who’s still reeling from the death of her husband many years ago and struggling to raise their child who is manifesting serious behavioural problems. ​ ​🔗 Let the Babadook in and rent the film via ACMI's Cinema 3 today.  ​

Who needs gifs when you've got a "vaudeville show in miniature” — as described by Walt Disney himself. It's France, 1889 and Charles-Émile Reynaud is touring the country with his incredible Praxinoscope Théâtre. Theatre-goers peer through a glass window as a rotating cylinder, a strip of twelve frames and a set of mirrors create an optical illusion that brings the painted characters to life. Witness Charles-Émile’s magical contraption for yourself in our new centrepiece exhibition, The Story of the Moving Image.

If a lake had a voice, what might it say? ​Our ART+FILM program returns in 2021 with a night of eco cinema co-presented with @prototype_arttv. Join us Tuesday 27 April for the premiere of Australian filmmaker Samantha Lang's new work, BROWN LAKE, narrated by Mia Wasikowska. ​ ​“Samantha Lang has radically reimagined how filmmakers can make art about landscapes and filmed North Stradbroke Island’s major lake the way she might film an actor’s face. This is exciting, innovative filmmaking — beautiful, visual and right on the edge of abstract.” ​– Prototype Curator Lauren Carrol Harris

Are you an artist under 35 with an idea for an ambitious new moving image work? We want to support you to make this a reality. Applications are now open for the $80,000 Mordant Family Moving Image Commission for Young Australian Artists. ​ ​🔗 Find out more and apply online before Sunday 9 May.

What do you think the most Insta-worthy section of our new exhibition is? ✨ ​ ​Thanks for visiting @miagoreng & @needingdough pictured here with the Model 621 Sound Projector in the background. Tag your pics with #acmimelbourne and show us your favourite section in The Story of the Moving Image.