The Cars That Ate Paris

Weir’s first feature film and a testament to just how unbridled his youthful imagination was.

The story begins with a series of car accidents and centers on Arthur (Terry Camilleri), a survivor of one of them who ends up in the eponymous small town somewhere in the Australian outback. Step by step, Arthur learns the customs of the strange local community and slowly realizes that it is connected to the car crashes in the surrounding area, and is itself grappling with a generational conflict that portends bloodshed…

This remarkable genre hybrid combines elements of a Hitchcockian thriller, a horror film about a disturbing microcosm (with echoes of Carnival of Souls and Bad Day at Black Rock), and the grotesque humor associated with the TV series The Twilight Zone, not to mention nods toward… the Western.

More than half a century after its premiere, The Cars That Ate Paris is now a classic of Ozploitation cinema and the Australian New Wave, while also remaining one of only three films that Peter Weir based on his own screenplay.

Michał Oleszczyk

In November 2025, Jakub Duszyński, Artistic Director of Gutek Film, travelled to Australia, where he met with Peter Weir. During the visit, he recorded an extensive interview with the director (to be published as part of the book “Peter Weir: Mystic and Traveller”) and invited him to collaborate on a short-form film project. The resulting visual installation, composed of previously unused footage from Picnic at Hanging Rock, was created in close consultation with Weir, who actively participated in its development.

The installation A Dream Within a Dream: Peter Weir is built almost entirely from materials that have never before been publicly presented, including the film’s legendary long-lost ending. In keeping with the director’s wishes, the installation will be presented exclusively on the big screen during Timeless Film Festival Warsaw — making this the only opportunity to see it.

Fragments of this short-form work will be accompanied by the director’s voice, reflecting on his creative process, the making of the film, and the artistic decisions that shaped its final form. The piece will be complemented by an original score composed by Jan Duszyński.

Peter Weir (b. 1944) – director, screenwriter, and producer, and one of the central figures of the Australian New Wave. In the 1970s, he played a crucial role in establishing Australian cinema on the international stage, creating films marked by an atmosphere of mystery, spirituality, and quiet unease. He later transitioned smoothly from auteur filmmaking to Hollywood while retaining his distinctive voice, consistently exploring outsiders, individuals in conflict with systems of power, and the metaphysical dimensions of reality. A six-time Academy Award nominee, Weir has received numerous major honours, including an Honorary Oscar (2022) and the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement (2024). He is a master of intelligent yet accessible cinema – one who has reached global audiences without ever sacrificing artistic depth or sensitivity.

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Screening presented courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA).