David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me would premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 1992. This was followed by releases in major markets throughout the rest of the year including Japan, France, Germany, North America, United Kingdom and more. Audiences in Australia, however, had to wait until June 13, 1993 where the film was shown only once to as sold-out theatre during the 42nd Melbourne International Film Festival.
WHAT IS THE MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL?
As one of the world’s oldest film festival alongside Cannes and Berlin, the Melbourne International Film Festival, or MIFF, is an independent nonprofit organization that has been continuously running since 1952. This premiere film festival in Australia features a curated global program of “innovative screen experiences and the world’s largest showcase of exceptional Australian filmmaking, MIFF is an accessible, iconic cultural event that provides transformative experiences for audiences and filmmakers alike.”
In 1993, Tait Brady served as the film director for MIFF, a role he would occupy for nine years. The event was held from May 13 through June 18 that year in several venues including The Astor, Kino, State and Vahalla. More than 200 films were screened, from feature films to documentaries to animation and more.
WHAT FILMS WERE SHOWN AT THE 42nD MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL?
On May 13, The Age published a first look at some of the films being show through mid-June. Lynch’s 1992 film, which was already listed as “Sold Out,” would be shown on Sunday, June 13 at 10:30 p.m.
On May 21, The Age ran another advertisement for the festival highlighting films show between June 4-18. This included a call out to Lynch’s film – “The Australian premiere of David Lynch’s bizarre TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME, the prequel to the Laura Palmer saga.”
By the end of the month on May 28, a full June schedule was published in The Age.
This newspaper advertisement had a special insert featuring The Little Man From Another Place and Special Agent Dale Cooper. The description read:
“One Night Only – Valhalla Sunday 13th at 10:30pm
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
We finally discover just what was so rotten in that little town in David Lynch’s tale of the last days of Laura Palmer; featuring Chris Isaak, Harry Dean Stanton, David Bowie and Julee Cruise joining Agent Cooper, the Log Lady, et al.”
The image was taken from this publicity photo where the Little Man holds up the Owl Cave ring in the Red Room.
A day before the screening of Lynch’s film, The Age ran another advertisement about films of MIFF. Twin Peaks screening was still shown as sold out.
Interestingly, MUBI currently has a landing page featuring films from the 1993 Melbourne International Film Festival which includes Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. You may recall that MUBI began showing all three seasons of Twin Peaks on June 13, 2025.
TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME AT 42nd MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL | JUNE 13, 1993
The Age ran a short film festival listing for Sunday, June 13 which placed Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me showing at The Valhalla in Melbourne at 10:30 p.m.
The former Valhalla Cinema, located at 89 High Street in Northcote, Australia, was a repertory and arthouse cinema. This location was the second home to the theatre as the original Valhalla theatre, meaning “Hall of the slain” in Norse mythology, was located on Victoria Street in Richmond from 1976 until 1987. The theatre moved into the Westgrath from 1987 through 1996.
When the Valhalla didn’t renew their lease, the Yiannoudes’ family continued operating the theatre as the Westgarth Cinema until 2006. Palace Cinemas then retained control of the movie theatre and added two screens.
Like many early 1990s film premieres before mobile phones and social media, I was unable to locate any photos from the screening. MIFF did publish a film synopsis from the 1993 screening. It’s unclear, however, if it was written for the showing at the time or if it’s a more contemporary summary.
“Only David Lynch would/could make a movie prequel after the series – Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me brings the Laura Palmer saga full circle. Dishing up the final week in life of the quasi-legendary Laura and her downward spiral into cocaine dependence in chronological order, for easy digestion. Not noted for his straight shooting, David Lynch relishes this opportunity to meander through an exploration of the converging forces that led to Laura’s corruption and brutal death. Setting the story against his usual smorgasbord of digressions and artistic doodlings, Lynch creates an atmosphere suffused with his particular brand of sugared and forbidding surrealism. Free of television’s censoring influence, he is able to realise some of his more lurid fantasies to their fullest extent, making Fire Walk With Me a truly nerve-tingling and unpredictable stroll to hell with Laura and the gang. Most of the cast from the series are returned, including the Double R diner, plenty of damn fine cups of coffee for Dale Cooper, donuts and Diane, the log lady and, of course, the very disturbing dwarf) but there are a few notable additions – David Bowie, Chris Isaak, Harry Dean Stanton, Julee Cruise and a star-turn from the man himself, as the hard of hearing stiff from FBI head office, Gordon Cole.
All these elements of Lynchian evil fused together take Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me out of the realm of bizarre teen soaps, and makes the leap into sophisticated menace and mania, that is as much a part of Twin Peaks as it is of David Lynch.”
Australian fans who missed this one-night only screening on June 13 would need to wait until Nov. 5, 1993 when the film opened in Sydney movie houses.
I’d love to hear if you attended this special screening 42nd MIFF – please leave a comment below.
Author
Discover more from TWIN PEAKS BLOG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.