Having watched the Oscar awards earlier in the week, I found it a breath of fresh air that, putting aside Hollywood's self aggrandisement, the major awards were given to a foreign language film from Korea.

However on asking the Regent Cinema why I had to drive to Melbourne to see this film, I got the following response:

I understand your grievance, unfortunately "Parasite" is still a very limited audience film with subtitles.

Films of this ilk do not perform very well here in Ballarat.

Having lived in and around Ballarat for some 44 years and been associated with both the Mechanics Institute and the Art Gallery, I find this response dismissive of Ballarat's long cultural history.

Although I appreciate that much of the Regent's income comes from what I regard as lightweight productions appealing to the younger generation, I think that such a Ballarat-based organisation has some indebtedness to those of us who have supported it since its one screen days.

John Hosking, Ballarat

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