The Dubbo Film Society is located in Dubbo NSW and is the only film appreciation community group in the city. It has been operating since 1989. We bring quality films to film goers looking for a cinematic experience beyond the mainstream line of commercial box office films.
For more details come to our website: The Dubbo Film Society
Or visit our Facebook Page The Dubbo Film Society
The Deniliquin Film Society screens on the second Friday of every month (except January). Doors open at 7:30pm for a 8pm start.
Screenings are held at the Neighbourhood Centre, corner Napier and Trickett Street Deniliquin.
Attendance is by 12 month subscriptions $40 (single) $60 (Family)
Deniliquin Film Society Website
Complimentary Tea and Coffee are available.
For further information please contact Graeme Dick (03) 54897258 or by email on info @ denifilms .org .au
The Footscray Film Society screens once every two months at the Trocadero Art Space in Footscray Victoria.
For more information, go to their website http://www.trocaderoartspace.com.au/
Everyone will have received this month’s InFilm Bulletin – June 2014 reminding them that film societies need to renew their membership this month. Payment is due by 30 June. Payments will be completely digital this year so please use the electronic membership form
Making the payment online seriously reduces the work load of the volunteers who have to process and record the payments. Contact us If you have any problems.
The Bulletin also reminds everyone that our AGM is coming up on Saturday 30 August in Canberra.
A number of decisions concerning the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) have been made in advance of the 2014-2015 Federal Budget. Nearly every film society in Australia will be affected.
THE KEY DECISIONS
1. SUPPORT FOR THE SCREEN LENDING COLLECTION IS TO BE WITHDRAWN.
2. THE NFSA HAS ALREADY STOPPED ADDING NEW ITEMS TO THE SCREEN LENDING COLLECTION. IT HAS ALSO STOPPED RENEWING FILM AND DVD LICENCES.
3. THE SCREENING LOANS SECTION WITHIN NFSA WILL BE DISBANDED IN COMING MONTHS. WHETHER THE SERVICE CONTINUES BEYOND THIS FINANCIAL YEAR IS UNDER CONSIDERATION BY NFSA SENIOR MANAGEMENT.
MAJOR CONSEQUENCES FLOWING FROM THE DECISIONS ·
All borrowing from the collection will cease from a given date; all items now held in the Screen Lending Collection will be absorbed into the general collection and become inaccessible to erstwhile borrowers, other than commercial clients and possibly accredited researchers and educational institutions. ·
It’s a no-brainer that once the NFSA stops providing cost-effective screening rights, higher fees charged by other license holders will make life extremely difficult for film societies. Some will find it impossible to continue. ·
PLEASE ACT NOW!
email a short message indicating your support for the Screen Lending Collection and the Screening Loans Section to Michael Loebenstein, CEO of the NFSA, at michael.loebenstein@nfsa.gov.au, and cc it to the following senior NFSA executives: Steve Vogt, Organisational Development and Corporate: steve.vogt@nfsa.gov.au; Jane Cruickshank, A/g General Manager, Access and Outreach: jane.cruickshank@nfsa.gov.au; Sonia Gherdevich A/g General Manager, Collection Development: sonia.gherdevich@nfsa.gov.au
Dear Mr Loebenstein, I am writing to you on behalf of/as a member of (your film society) concerning the future of the Screen Lending Collection and the Screening Loans Section of the NFSA. We appreciate the pressure you are under, but we are extremely concerned that closing down these facilities will have many serious consequences, especially for film societies which rely on them very heavily. More importantly, I/we feel obliged to point out that if the collection closes, the NFSA would not be meeting its obligation to carry out the core functions of collecting, preserving and sharing Australia’s audiovisual heritage, as enshrined in legislation and enunciated in the NFSA charter and current NFSA promotional material. The only way we and other film societies across Australia can share the NFSA collection is by using the Screen Lending Collection. Closing it would be denying us this opportunity. Accordingly, I/we hope you are able to ensure the Screen Lending Collection continues to flourish and the Screening Loans Section continues to provide its excellent service. I/We look forward to your early reply. Yours etc, (Your name)
I was recently contacted by a film society which was organizing a film festival but was having problems finding the copyright holders for the films that they wanted to show. As every film society knows, you have to get permission from the copyright holders before you can screen a film but if the screening rights aren’t held by the two big companies (Roadshow and Amalgamated) it can be very hard to identify who to contact.
As announced in the latest InFilm, the Federation’s committee is developing a database of DVD films and their distributors. This is not aimed at films held by the big distributors but at the hard to find titles. The more information we get from members the better the database will be so please send us a list of DVD titles you have screened and their distributors.
Meanwhile I will share the advice I gave to the film society that contacted me, in the hope that it will be useful to other groups.
The people who own the screening rights are usually the distributor or the producer. The two best sources of information about who has the screening rights are:
1) To get the Australian distributor (if there is one), look at the film’s entry on the EzyDVD website
2) To get the name of the producing company, you can go to the IMDB Database
Update
We have been contacted by a few people regarding this post. That always makes me very happy.
Sharon from Friend’s Flix Film Society says that her first port of call when tracking down a distributor is urbancinefile.com.au
She says that it works well at least for DVD’s. you do a search for the film and it comes up with a whole range of information (including reviews) – Australian Distributor is almost always there and usually correct. If its not then it points you in the right direction and the person you contact will usually know who to pass you on to.
e.g., Search for ‘The Artist’
http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=18669&s=DVD_Archives
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All member societies are warmly invited to attend the 2013 Annual General Meeting of the Federation, which will be held at the Australian National University on Saturday 31 August 2013. The meeting will start at 12.30pm.
The AGM is completely open to ideas, so if you have any suggestions on how the federation can improve things for you and other members, please let us know so they can be put on the agenda.
The business of the meeting will be to receive reports of the Federation’s activities during the past year, to conduct elections of office bearers and other Executive members, and to consider any matters of which due notice has been given. This is also a call for nominations of candidates for election, which may be made in writing and received by the secretary before Tuesday 13 August. Candidates can also be nominated from the floor of the meeting.
Each member society is entitled to be represented at the AGM by two delegates who are members of the society they represent. If you can’t send delegates you can appoint a proxy who will vote on your behalf. A proxy doesn’t have to be a member of your society. To appoint a proxy you need to complete the Proxy form and mail or scan/email it to reach the secretary by Tuesday 27 August.
In the next day or two all members will receive a letter containing information, and a membership renewal form.
Our new membership year starts on 1 July and runs until 30 June next year. This means that all subscriptions need to be paid by 30 June (there will a period of grace to allow for any unexpected glitches in the new system).
Unlike previous years, you don’t have to make any calculations, because all societies now pay the same amount, $50, regardless of how many members you have. And you can now do everything online, so the whole process can be completed in just a few minutes.
As in previous years, the renewal process is in two parts.
Part 1. Complete a membership renewal form. This can be done online You can also use the form attached to the letter referred to above or print the form from our electronic form page.
Part 2. Pay your membership subscription. This can be done by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) or by cheque. If you pay by cheque, it has to be mailed to the treasurer.
We believe the changes, especially the option to do everything online, will make life a lot easier for everyone. And our treasurer will be eternally grateful if you can make your payment by EFT.
In my role as Vice-President of the Federation. I have been working with the staff of the NFSA to identify films that are in the NFSA Non-Theatrical lending collection but aren’t, in my opinion, being borrowed as much as they deserve to be.
This is the first of what will hopefully be a regular column where I draw attention to the many excellent films in the Non-Theatrical Lending Collection, available in 16mm prints.
The criteria for the choices are films of quality, prints in good condition (because rarely booked), and the rights not expiring anytime soon. It is hoped that some more bookings of the films will encourage the development of the Collection.
HUMAN DESIRE USA 1954
Director: Fritz Lang. Screenplay:Alfred Hayes, from the novel “La Bete Humaine” by Emile Zola. With Glenn Ford, Broderick Crawford, Gloria Grahame. Also Available on DVD
Made by Fritz Lang immediately after “The Big Heat”, “Human Desire” is somewhat overshadowed by the success of that film. It is a remake of Jean Renoir’s 1938 “La Bete Humaine”(The human beast) with Jean Gabin. In the Renoir film the protagonist is a psychopathic sex murderer, which created problems in 50s USA. In this version Glenn Ford plays a Korean War veteran returning to his job as a railroad engineer. He gets drawn into a sordid affair with a violent railroad supervisor’s wife, leading to a murder. Lang uses the railroad yards and trains to striking visual effect.
The 16mm print of Human Desire was acquired from a collector only 3 years ago and is in great condition.
THE RAID USA 1954
Director: Hugo Fregonese. Screenplay: Sydney Boehm from a story “Affair at St Albans” by Herbert Ravenal Sass. With Van Heflin, Anne Bancroft, Lee Marvin, Richard Boone, Peter Graves, Tommy Rettig.
Set during the American Civil War. Van Heflin plays a Confederate officer who enters a Northern town, pretending to be a Canadian businessman, intending to spring a surprise raid. He gets drawn into the life of the town when he falls for a glamorous widow, played by Anne Bancroft. “War makes younger widows”. Her son, played by Tommy Rettig, the star of “The 5000 Fingers of Dr T”, becomes attached to him.
Ironies abound in this fine screenplay, as the officer becomes a town hero when he is forced to shoot one of his men who is about to blow their cover. The scene where Van Heflin, in Confederate uniform, tries to “explain” the rationale for war to a devastated boy is very powerful.
Peter Graves spent many years in Australia, filming the “Whiplash” TV series. A lovely Technicolor print of a little seen underrated minor masterpiece.
THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT USA 1952
Director: John Ford. Screenwriter: Laurence Stallings, based on three short stories by Irvin S. Cobb. With: Charles Winninger, Stepin Fetchit, Dorothy Jordan, John Russell, Arleen Whelan, Milburn Stone.
“The Sun Shines Bright” is one of John Ford’s greatest films, yet is little-known even among Ford fans. Set in Kentucky in the 1900s, it is a flavoursome picture of small town life, riven by guilty secrets, racial tension and the still open wounds of the Civil War. Little-known actor Charles Winninger gives a magnificent performance as ageing Judge Priest, a warm-hearted yet wily character, standing for re-election, for what will be the last time, against the forces of “progress”, represented
by carpetbagger Milburn Stone.
The print of THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT is the version slightly shortened for “B” picture (!) cinema release but all the great scenes are intact. In a just world, Winninger would have won an Academy Award. The scene where the judge stands up to a lynch mob, and (especially) a lengthy funeral sequence, are among the greatest in all cinema. Ford described “The Sun Shines Bright” as “really my favourite, the only one I like to see over and over again”.
WINGS USA 1927
Director: William A. Wellman. Screenplay: Hope Loring, Louis D.Lighton. With: Clara Bow, Charles “Buddy” Rogers, Richard Arlen, Gary Cooper. Silent with inter-titles.
“Wings” won the first Academy Award in 1927, the last silent film to do so until “The Artist” in 2011. It has never been surpassed in its recreation of aerial combat. Wellman, himself a former World War 1 combat pilot, insisted that the combat footage be recreated without the use of models and process shots. The full co-operation of the army ensured authentic simulation of trench warfare.
The simple plot has two airmen competing for the love of the same woman. The two men join the Air Corps in WW1, and become aces. The then rising star Charles “Buddy” Rogers forms a triangle with big star Clara Bow (the “It” girl) and Gary Cooper in a small but stand-out part.
Unlike many silent films in the NTLC the print of WINGS does not have a music soundtrack. Silent films were never meant to be shown silent. See this not as a threat but as an opportunity. Audiences love silent films with live music accompaniment. Make an occasion of it! A small group of music makers can prepare a score, or a single instrument, usually a piano, works well. Some pianists, especially jazz pianists, are good at improvising. Or a score can be made up using existing music.
John Lanser, from the Workshop Film Group at Willoughby in Sydney, has done numerous scores this way, and would I’m sure be happy to advise.
Richard Keys
Since launching in late February, this website has received 229 different visitors and 1268 page views, which is very encouraging. We have recently added new pages that cover screening rights and a guide to help anyone thinking about starting a film society.
The site is a continuing work in progress. If you think something can be improved, let us know. Likewise if there’s a topic you would like to see featured, request it or send in your material.
Also, The InFilm Bulletin for April has come out and you can find it here.
It covers the launch of the Illawara film Society, The program of the Blacktown Libraries film club, a brief description of the Robert Altman films that are in the NTLC and more.
Australian Film Societies Federation 