Forest Row Film Society

A film festival with a musical theme will be taking place in Pembury from 15-18 October, together with the Big Shorts film competition.

The four day event will be held at a selection of venues in Pembury, including the theatre at Kent College, Pembury Primary School and Hospice in the Weald.

The programme has not been completely finalised yet, though will include about ten films, concerts and talks. The films all have a musical angle, and range from popular classics to some marvellous and compelling world cinema. Check out the website or contact the organisers for fuller details nearer the time.

The short film competition, Big Shorts, is open to any film-makers over 18 living in Kent, Surrey or Sussex, and is offering a £1500 prize. Films must be under 16 minutes, and the submission deadline is 15 September. Competition guidelines and an entry form are available from the website.

Also taking place is the Snapshoot Film Challenge for young teams of novice film-makers to make a film during the course of the festival. Further details are on the festival website.

Further details are available from the Festival Director Keir Hoffmann at hoffmank@kentcollege.kent.sch.uk.

The printed version of the new season’s programme will be in the village and surrounding areas this week. Alternatively, you can read or print it yourself since it is available here [789 kb]. All the details of the films will get added to the website as soon as possible, but at least you can read a bit more about the films now.

Please let us know if you can help to distribute programmes to locations outside of Forest Row.

We’re really delighted with the programme: not only the films, but also the lovely design which has again been done by Lee Hannam of Yellowfish Design, and the smashing print job done by Identity Print.

Here is the latest list of films available from the British Federation of Film Societies’ Block Booking scheme. Most of them are available through to about May 2012, though check the details on the BFFS site. In addition, most of the films listed a year ago are still available through to about July/August 2011, and many of those listed back in February 2009 are available until the end of this year or next. Check the BFFS catalogue for full details.

All the films link through to further details, normally from the Movie Review Query Engine.

• 37 Uses for a Dead Sheep (Ben Hopkins, UK 2006, 85 min)
• Bako l’autre rive (J. Champreux/Cheik Doukoure, France/Senegal 1980, 110 min)
• Beaufort (Joseph Cedar, Israel 2007, 131 min)
• Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee (Shane Meadows, UK 2009, 71 min)
• The End of the Line (Rupert Murray, UK 2009, 90 min)
• Fad’jal (Safi Faye, Senegal 1979, 113 min)
• La France (Serge Bozon, France 2007, 102 min)
• Les gens de la rizière (Rithy Panh, Cam/Fra 1994, 195 min)
• Heartbeat Detector (Nicolas Klotz, France 2007, 143 min)
• The Hide (Marek Losey, UK 2008, 82 min)
• L’Île de Black Mór (Jean François Laguionie, France 2004, 85 min)
• Import/Export (Ulrich Seidl, Aus/Fra/Ger 2007, 141 min)
• Jom (Ababacar Makharam, Sen/Ger 1981, 76 min)
• Lake Tahoe (Fernando Eimbcke, Mex/Jap/USA 2008, 89 min)
• Lettre d’amour Zoulou (Ramadan Suleman, Fra/S Afr/Ger 2004, 105 min)
• Lettre Paysanne [Letter from my Village] (Safi Faye, Senegal 1973, 98 min)
• London River (Rachid Bouchareb, UK/Fra/Alg 2009, 87 min)
• Ma vie en l’air (Rémi Besançon, France 2005, 90 min)
• Machan (Uberto Pasolini, Sri Lanka/Ita/Ger 2008, 109 min)
• The Magician (Scott Ryan, Australia 2007, 86 min)
• The Market: A Tale of Trade (Ben Hopkins, Ger/Tur/UK/KZ 2008, 93 min)
• Meurtrières (Patrick Grandperret, France 2006, 107 min)
• Naked Youth (Nagisa Oshima, Japan 1960, 97 min)
• The Night of the Sunflowers (Jorge Sanchez-Cabezudo, Spain 2006, 123 min)
• Opera Jawa (Garin Nugroho, Indonesia/Aus 2006, 120 min)
• Le petit lieutenant (Xavier Beauvois, France 2005, 110 min)
• Platform (Jia Zhangke, HK/Chi/Fra 2001, 155 min)
• Princess Raccoon (Seijun Suzuki, Japan 2005, 111 min)
• Puffball (Nicolas Roeg, UK/Ire/Can 2007, 119 min)
• Quo Vadis, Baby? (Gabriele Salvatores, Italy 2006, 102 min)
• Samson & Delilah (Warwick Thornton, Australia 2009, 101 min)
• Les silences du palais (Moufida Tlatli, Fra/Tun 1994, 127 min)
• The Sun’s Burial (Nagisa Oshima, Japan 1960, 87 min)
• Tales from the Golden Age (Hanno Höfer/Razvan Marculescu, Rom/Fra 2009, 146 min)
• To Get to Heaven, First You Have to Die (Djamshed Usmonov, Rus/Taj/Fra 2007, 96 min)
• Toi et Moi (Julie Lopez-Curval, France 2005, 94 min)
• U (Serge Elissalde, France 2006, 75 min)
• Under the Mud (Sol Papadopoulos, UK 2006, 85 min)
• Voisins, Voisines (Malik Chibane, France 2004, 95 min)
• Welcome (Philippe Lioret, France 2009, 110 min)
• Young@Heart (Stephen Walker, UK 2007, 107 min)

The ICO has some films available for booking, and we will be screening Bong Joon-ho’s Mother next season, which has yet to be released in the UK. Other films available are equally interesting, and there is a whole collection of other Korean films by Hong Sangsoo just available, via the Korean Cultural Centre, with an enticing piece by Tony Rayns to introduce them. Looks like they’re worth exploring, not least for our comedy film festival in March. The list below links through to the Movie Review Query Engine, though there often aren’t many items about any of the films.

• The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well
• The Power of Kangwon Province
• Virgin Stripped Bare by her Bachelors
• The Turning Gate
• Woman is the Future of Man
• Tale of Cinema
• Woman on the Beach
• Night and Day
• Like You Know It All
• Hahaha

Just back from the committee meeting and we can confirm the films for next season. It is possible that there might be a minor alteration due to rights, but that is reasonably unlikely. Full details will be on the website as soon as we can manage:

• The Band’s Visit
• When You’re Strange
• [A Buster Keaton, probably Seven Chances]
• Metropolis [restored version with live orchestra]
• Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet
• Milk
• Ordet
• Treeless Mountain
• Wrong Rosary
• A Common Thread (Les Brodeuses)
• The Woman of the Dunes
• The Class
• The White Ribbon
• Not One Less
• Mother
• Still Walking
• The Return
• Seraphine
• The Secret in their Eyes

The Brambletye Hotel adds screening facilities as part of its refurbishment.

We often get asked about screening films in and around Forest Row, and we are always keen to work with other people and organisations to further extend the film exhibition opportunities in this part of East Sussex.

A couple of years ago we received funding for our new digital equipment, which has greatly extended the number and range of films we can show. Furthermore, if other community groups want to organise screenings, we are keen to support such activities.

We’ve done a few one-off events for other groups, and have a regular programme that we develop with Transition Forest Row. Our funding also enabled us to purchase some portable screening equipment, and we have used that for other events in Forest Row and West Hoathly over the last year or two. If you are interested in organising other film events and want to know more about the terms for using our equipment, please let us know.

Still, sometimes people approach us with an interest in screening films for which the village hall may be too large a venue. In such cases it would be nice if there was an alternative space. Well, now there is.

As part of its major refurbishment work, the Brambletye Hotel is adding in a number of smaller scale screening facilities. I’ve just been shown around, and the first, in the function room downstairs by the reception, is almost finished.

There are a couple of documentaries that have been suggested to me recently, for which this would be an ideal venue, and it is possible that we could also use it for some smaller events during the Forest Row Festival (30 September-3 October), or for our comedy film festival that are planning.

Are there any films that you fancy screening in Forest Row? Let us know. The venues are multiplying.

Rather enjoying the summer months and a break from putting on films, but that doesn’t mean we’re not thinking about the film society. We’ve nearly finished setting the programme for next year, and it is looking very exciting and ambitious.

It is also a good time to take stock of this season. The table below shows the admissions for all the Forest Row Film Society films (15/6: this post has now been updated to include data from the last film, Alice in the Cities):

Our average audience is 62, which is the highest ever. It is only slightly more than last year, but it is still double what it was a decade ago and is much more consistent. We have had a total paying audience of 1299 in the 2009/10 season, which is wonderful. Apart from the silent Buster Keaton, which always draws a big crowd, it is interesting that the bulk of the most popular films are French. We don’t have quite so many French films lined up for next year, so we hope that isn’t a mistake. It will be a very strong line-up so we hope our programming sense matches your desire to turn up.

Now, consider the numbers and costs for next year:

We can see that we need to take about £200 to cover a film. These figures don’t take into account the membership fees or other income, eg from refreshments or adverts etc, but essentially, we need 50 people to break even at our current prices. That’s fine, and almost all of our films have done that. The key failures were the children’s films and The Constant Gardener. We know that if we want to do films aimed at children in the future we need to devote a lot more energy at building that audience and we will need a special team of people to do it. If you are interested in getting involved in that please let us know. At the moment, we are not planning any films aimed at a younger audience for next season.

The poor audience for The Constant Gardener illustrates that it isn’t very sensible to show fairly mainstream films that have had a wide exposure. Perhaps The Lives of Others begins to point to that as well.

One thing that we don’t do yet is measure the audience reaction, which many community cinemas do. It would be interested to compare which films get the highest approval rating against their audience numbers. Setting up such a system isn’t too hard, but we will need someone to do it. Any takers?

Do you have any other thoughts and observations about this most recent season and this data? We’d be very interested to hear your thoughts.

We want your input for a comedy film festival that we are planning.

Tentatively scheduled for 17-20 March 2011, Forest Row Film Society are in the early stages of putting together a film festival. Keen to counter the (partially untrue) idea that all we show are “serious” films, we are looking at creating an event that will be fun and will make us smile and laugh.

We’re looking for ideas for possible films. They can be from any part of the world, and from any part of cinema history, so can include anything from Buster Keaton to Micmacs and much else besides. We can’t guarantee to be able to source all the films you suggest since obtaining screening licences can be very difficult, but we will certainly consider everything.

Let us know if you want to know more, or fancy getting involved in some way. You can also keep in touch by becoming a fan on our Facebook page, or we can add you to our email list.

So, add your suggestions below, ideally with a note explaining why the film is so good, and why it might be able to attract 150 people to the village hall…

Thank you

The Annual General Meeting of Forest Row Film Society took place on Tuesday 16 March 2010 at the Brambletye Hotel.

Present: Robert Evans, Marie-Claire Thomson, Yolene Crawfurd, Brad Scott, Patrick Crawford, Sundari Heller, Tony Lewin, Tim Leeney, Suzanne Hillen, Cathie Hubert, David Catchpole, Valerie Moss, Sonia Ashe, Rachael Pereira, Judith Gleeson, Fred Doll, Steffi Pusch, Sanna Heald

Summary of 2008-9 season

Our last season was the most successful ever:

• £12,000 grant funding and new digital equipment
• Biggest and most varied season of films in our history (29 films, including 4 with TFR, 2 children’s films and 1 at Michael Hall)
• Average audience has doubled in the last ten years
• New community engagement initiatives and strong local profile
• Central part of the Forest Row Festival
• New blog, Facebook, Twitter and text messaging services

The expansion of the number of screenings is particularly significant: five years ago we were doing nine films a year; this current season (2009-10) there are 34 film events, including 7 with Transition Forest Row and the animation workshop, plus an external screening at West Hoathly church.

The latter event reminds us too that the new equipment includes a portable screen and speakers, which can enable us to screen elsewhere. We have also done a screening at Michael Hall. However, though we are keen to do other screenings in the community, it requires a fair amount of work to do them at other venues and we need to ensure we have an appropriate charging structure.

The work over the last few years has also resulted in our being recognised as Film Society of the Year 2009.

Accounts

Our accounts for 2008-9 are available on the website. Our season runs from September to May, and accounts are from 1 June.

Excluding grants, our income last year was almost exactly £6000, with expenditure being just over £4500. The chart below shows our year-end balance over the last six years, excluding grants.

Income for the current season will be roughly similar, though our expenditure has been higher this year: there have been some one-off expenses arising from the new equipment (cabling, electrical work, new cupboard), not all of which has been completed, and our programmes cost much more with the switch to full colour. Realistically, we will probably only break even this year.

Film sources

Brad outlined the issues with sourcing films. In principle, there are loads of films that we could screen, but tracking the rights holder to obtain the necessary licence can be very time-consuming. It is essential that we have the licence: for a recent film, the US rights holder called the village hall from LA to check that we were presenting a legitimate screening.

In practice, most of our films are hired from:

• British Film Institute
• British Federation of Film Societies
• Filmbank

We also hire films direct from production companies (eg Dogwoof), especially those that preview their films at the ICO screening weekends. The MPLC also has a non-theatrical licence arrangement. See Films Available on the website. We can still show 16mm films too, though these are really only available from the BFI, but can sometimes include gems that are not available in any other format. A list of films that have been suggested to date by members and the committee was also circulated.

The future

With our major expansion, we are delighted at the huge support we have for our screenings and the number of ideas and suggestions that we receive, whether on the night, via email, through the website or Facebook. However, to build on the current activities we will need further help and support to deliver film events in the village.

A list of tasks was circulated: this detailed most of the things that need to be done to maintain the Film Society’s activities. These ranged from things that need to be done for each film on the night, to the more periodic and annual tasks. The list also indicated whether we are undertaking them at the moment, and the amount of effort involved. Many of those present volunteered to take on one or more tasks in the future, or to review the list and get back in touch. The list will also be circulated to everyone on the email list and via Facebook.

A number of other events and activities were discussed:

Film for One Village 2010

We have been heavily involved in the annual Forest Row Festival since its inception. This year there is an additional village festival, taking place in June. It has been proposed that we screen a film on Friday 19 June as part of the festival. This coincides with the screening of an England World Cup match in the marquee that will be on the sports ground, so any film we choose will need to take that into account. If anyone has any suggestions for films that we could screen, please let us know as soon as possible.

Saturday screenings

Saturday evening screenings were an innovation this year. They have not been as well attended as the regular Friday slots, though they do attract people who can’t otherwise make it on Fridays. If we are to continue with them we will need to extend the number of people who can run the events since the existing committee would prefer to put their efforts elsewhere.

Film festival

Running a small-scale film festival was the idea that attracted the most attention, with several of those present very keen to be involved in the practical organisation. The proposal is to have the event over a long weekend in February 2011; if anyone knows of any other events that are happening in that month, please let us know. We will need to investigate possible funding sources. Possible events that could be included are:

• Screenings from local film-makers
• Films that have not been released in the UK, possibly introduced by film-makers or film journalists
• Screenings or other events involving some of the film industry professionals who live in the area
• Hands-on events (eg film-making workshops etc)
• Silent films
• Cultural activities around the films, including food/drink and talks

A festival team will get together soon to brainstorm and put together a proposal. If anyone is interested in being involved, please let us know.

Films for children and young people

There is some keenness to develop more programmes for children and young people. Hitherto, our screenings have only had partial success since we need to develop a different promotional strategy for these films. Given the proposal to deliver a festival next season, which would most likely include one or more events targetted at young people, we decided that we would continue with the existing level of programming and work on promoting them better before embarking on a fully-fledged programme aimed at young people.

AOB

• Judith Gleeson suggested that, as we expand, it may be prudent to become a Company Limited by Guarantee
• Tony Lewin suggested a drive-in. This is certainly possible, though the logistics are rather more complicated
• In the absence of more formal post-film discussions, Brad noted that many people end up in the Swan afterwards

What is your vision for our community cinema in the future?

Tuesday 16 March, 7-9pm, Brambletye Hotel

This is a very important meeting and we’d be delighted to see as many people there as possible; if you turn up, we’ll even buy you a drink!

As you know, we have extended our activities considerably over the last few years, and are delighted at the amount of support we have from you all. Now, we’re keen to know how you see the future of the film society in the village. What are we doing right? What could we change? What else can we do? More films for children? A film festival?

All of these things are possible, but we will need more hands to enable us to deliver them. One’s involvement doesn’t have to be huge: indeed, there are some jobs that need doing that could easily take just half an hour a month, so do come along for a couple of hours to help us plot the future of the Forest Row community cinema to help ensure it is a fun, sustainable and vibrant part of the village.

We’ll also bring along materials from other film societies, film festivals and distributors, so you can see the range of films available. We can talk a bit about some of the practicalities of running a community cinema.

But don’t be put off. Even if you’re not sure if you can commit to doing anything, we’d still like to see you; turning up and letting us know your thoughts is also really valuable, and we want Tuesday evening to be fun and interesting too.

We look forward to seeing you