The Last Violin (Film Screening)

When Romano Crivici persuades retired master violinmaker, Harry Vatiliotis, to make a last violin, a heart-warming story unfolds. Charalambos Vatiliotis, or Harry, is considered Australia’s greatest living violin maker. He and his wife Maria came from Cyprus in the 1950s. Romano Crivici, a professional violinist and composer, has known Harry for 48 years. Together they share the making of Romano’s last violin which also threatens to be Harry’s last, as the ravages of old age take their toll on each of them.
Shot in the one location – the home in the suburbs of Sydney which Harry and Maria have shared and barely left for over 60 years – the director has spent a year charting the making of Harry and Romano’s last violin within the context of the love, friendship and humour that each of the three protagonists
shares. The director has been hands-off and observational, capturing the intimate and meditative process of hand-making a fine violin from a rough piece of wood together with the sometimes hilarious interactions between Harry, his wife who is now increasingly showing signs of dementia, and Romano their friend of many years.
An important element is an exquisite score by Romano Crivici played entirely on instruments made by Harry. Romano is an established Australian art music composer, violinist and pianist, and has written an exquisite score for the film.

“This enchanting film … it’s a love story. It’s a love story about music, a love story about the violin, it’s a love story about you and this extraordinary instrument maker. But it’s also a love story about Harry and Maria…” Philip Adams, ABC Radio National – Late Night Live 28/11/22

“Two old friends, one final mission – _it’s the stuff of movie legend”. ABC Classic FM 11/01/2023

“There is tranquil beauty in the distinctive quality of the analogue age, one which Thackrah manages to preserve throughout the film… and the culminating performance with musicians playing on Harry’s instruments in the closing scenes is one filled with great emotional tenderness.” Limelight Magazine 4/11/22

About the Filmmaker, Carla Thackrah

Carla Thackrah is an award-winning musician, filmmaker and screen composer. She has 20 years full-time professional orchestral experience, ten years of that as a principal flute with the Opera Australia Orchestra. She has performed as guest principal with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO), West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO), the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO), and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO). She has also performed with contemporary and world music ensembles including David Ahern’s A-Z Music, the Lindsey Kemp Contemporary Dance Co., Seymour Group, Tango Paradiso, Doyna, Tucana Flute Ensemble, Elektra Collective Unconscious (ECU).
She runs her own production company – See TEa Productions – that specialises in the making of arts documentaries. The Art of Sound, for string quartet and narration was made for ABC Radio National. The multi award-winning documentary, Sex, Drugs & String Quartets was broadcast on ABC and NZ TV, shown at many international film festivals and won Carla an Australian Guild of Screen Composers award for Best Music for a Documentary. Film scores she has written include music for the SBS TV series, Frocks Off, which was nominated for an Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) award, and music for the documentary Sex, Drugs and String Quartets which won the AGSC Best Music for a Documentary award. Most recently she co-wrote the music for the documentary Follow the Rain released in 2024.
Carla has studied at the University of Sydney, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and, in London, at the Chelsea School of Art, Guildhall School of Music, and Royal College of Music. She has a Masters degree in music and film from the Queensland University of Technology and a Doctorate in film, music & sound from the University of Technology Sydney.

About the Composer Romano Crivici

Romano Crivici, a former member of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the New England String Quartet (violin) has also worked extensively as a pianist, repetiteur and conductor. As artistic director, he founded the Elektra String Quartet in 1991, an influential contemporary ensemble which worked with cutting-edge sound technologies and cross-cultural collaborations. In that role he commissioned, recorded and premiered works by many Australian composers. Romano formed the Elektra Collektive Unconscious in 2019, a flexible ensemble of classical improvising musicians which he directs from the keyboard.
His work has been performed in the UK, Europe and South America, and he has six albums released of his compositions, three on the ABC Classic label, that are broadcast regularly. His most recent album, Ebb & Flow, was released in 2022 by ABC Classic.
As well as years of experience in recording studios recording major scores as a violinist, he has composed the scores for a number of short films including Running with The Boys, Home of the Blizzard, and The Drip. In 2023, he composed the score for the feature-length documentary The Last Violin, broadcast on SBS. More recently, he co-composed the score for the feature-length documentary Follow the Rain, released on Netflix in 2024.