IT WOULD be a mistake to underestimate the tenacity of Stan Gower. He may be 71 but he doesn't easily give up a fight, and he has had a few of them during his 40 years as an industrial relations advocate.

That's too bad for the Australian Centre for the Moving Image — he has it in his sights.

Mr Gower's is the archetypal tale of one man against a colossus, a little like the story of David and Goliath, or the Australian hit film The Castle — although the man at the centre of this tale is not about to lose his house. Rather, he is about to lose his access to ACMI's outstanding 40,000-title film collection and the home-lending service he has been a member of for 25 years — and he's not happy.

"So what?" you might think. Incredible as it sounds, Melbourne obsessives don't just come in the form of sport tragics, which is something that ACMI director Tony Sweeney is becoming only too aware of.

Last week, ACMI sent letters to 780 metropolitan Melbourne members of its home-lending collection, telling them that the service would finish at the end of this year. No more being able to borrow rare films by Cocteau or hard-to-find documentaries. Instead, members have been told that, from next year, they will be able to view the collection for free at ACMI's new "drop-in" resource centre on the ground floor of its Federation Square site. But Mr Gower, who lives in Eltham, scoffs at that idea.

"It's absurd to think we will go in there. It would take an hour to get into the city by train. I am 71, my wife's a bit younger. Why would we go in there to watch a couple of episodes of The Forsyte Saga? We're about to watch it tonight, after dinner," he says.

To add insult to injury, members were told that the changes would "significantly enhance general public access to the collection". "The letter is so patronising," Mr Gower says.

He is so angry at ACMI's decision, which was made without consulting members, that he is planning to take the state-funded organisation to the Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission. Mr Gower claims ACMI's metropolitan members are being discriminated against because the home-lending service will still be offered in country Victoria and to film societies and schools.

Although he sympathises with Mr Gower, Mr Sweeney does not believe he has a case — no one is being discriminated against in terms of age, gender, marital status and so on. "This is an archive for the future, it is a learning and research resource. This is not a sort of Video Ezy set-up," he says.

But that's the point, say other disappointed members, such as Robyn Loquet, 66, who recently borrowed Frank Capra's film The Bitter Tea of General Yen. "Video libraries and the internet have nothing like the richness of the ACMI collection," she says.

Mr Gower won't stop agitating until he gets his service back. Mr Sweeney won't back down. At some point, someone will have to swallow some bitter tea.