In the age of streaming, film societies continue to bring together movie lovers keen to share their appreciation of the silver screen. Oscar Parry explores the appeal of film societies.
Film societies unite members to enjoy cinema in a social environment, promoting a sense of community and a shared appreciation of the medium.
One of them is the Macedon Ranges Film Society, with an active base of members who meet each month to watch and discuss a feature-length film at a hall in Woodend.
Society president Christine Caley said the appeal of the society extends beyond the screen.
“We feel that the members who come for a film night, they come for two reasons: to see the film and to be involved in a group … the communication and friendship is equally as important as the film,” Ms Caley said.
“They get supper and they can have a glass of wine. It’s very convivial. In a lot of ways, it’s not at all like a cinema [where] you go and see a film with a bunch of strangers and then you walk out and that’s that. This is something else entirely, it’s a social networking [event] as much as watching a film,” she said.
Beginning as a small group about 15 years ago, Ms Caley said that the first meetings were “ad-hoc,” where films were screened at the Woodend Community Centre, before relocating to a room at the back of the Woodend Library.
“Over that time, we acquired our equipment. Part of our membership fees go towards that equipment fund, so now we own all our own equipment … all our equipment is 4K. We’re always looking to give back to our members,” she said.
The society now meets at the Norma Richardson Hall, which contains a drop-down cinema screen.
The group’s committee meets towards the end of each year to select 11 films for the following year’s screenings.
Ms Caley said selecting films as a committee is a lengthy process, with considerations including film length, suitability, clarity, visual appeal, and audio quality.
“Every now and again, we’ll show a film that we’re not sure about and it will surprise us by being popular,” she said.
“It’s quite like a book club … in that they come along to see films they haven’t seen before and are often pleasantly surprised.”
The selection process is also informed by feedback collected from members through a token rating system, where viewers rate films out of five at the end of each film.
Since its inception, membership of the film society has grown and remains active, Ms Carley said.
“The members we have are very happy with it. We never fail to get most of them there on a film night, even in the middle of a dreaded Woodend winter … I think that says a lot about it.”
She said the society is hosting its third short film festival this November, titled Cool Climate Cinema, featuring 12 short films.
Federation of Victorian Film Societies president and Macedon Ranges Film Society vice president Henry Screen said film societies unite people in enjoying film as a “powerful” medium, with the venues designed to replicate a high-quality cinema experience.
“It’s a shared pleasure of what film can do in terms of storytelling, entertainment, and education … I’m often surprised how you can watch a film and come away having learnt … some historical facts you never knew before. And at the same time as that’s going on, you’ve been entertained,” Mr Screen said.
He said the Federation of Victorian Film Societies consists of 75 member societies, with most located in regional Victoria.
In terms of influence on the film industry, Mr Screen said film societies can help create awareness of independent and local filmmakers, with the federation also funding a scholarship for Deakin University film students.
With the rising popularity of streaming services, Mr Screen said that so far, the impacts on membership numbers and film society screening events have been minimal.
“One of the issues though with streaming … is that there are so many competitive streaming services now that are hoovering up the rights to films, and most of them don’t want to give access to the rights … that is a downside … as far as we’re concerned,” he said.
Originating in France, film societies have a rich history in Australia.
Film historian and former Federation of Victorian Film Societies member John Turner has been a member of multiple film societies over the past 70 years and said that DVDs and downloading has made public screenings easier to manage.
“There’s no running around with great cans of films any more like we used to, dashing to the airport on the night of the screening to try and get the film in time,” Mr Turner said.
“In the earlier days, the really keen film society people were all socially and politically motivated … the government and ASIO used to photograph people going into meetings,” he said.
“These days, people join film societies because there’s so much stuff out there, both films and downloads, that they want to trust somebody to pick out the best for them … they just want to learn more about film.”
This year’s Macedon Ranges Film Society Cool Climate Cinema short film festival will be held on Saturday, November 23, from 4pm at the Norma Richardson Hall, Woodend, with tickets available online.
