Forest Row Film Society

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

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.

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

Despite the weather, the film tonight will go ahead at 8pm as advertised. If you’re tired of being stuck indoors, head along to the village hall and catch this rather excellent German film released last year.

Telling the story of an elderly couple facing their mortality, their relationship with their children and of unrealised ambition, it is a beautiful and moving film which I’d thoroughly recommend. If you’ve ever seen Tokyo Story by the great Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu, you may also find some strong parallels, and indeed, it was partly filmed in Japan.

“Exquisitely made, this gentle, intelligent film is full of warm humour. … Cherry Blossoms invites us to slow down and discover the hidden layers of meaning in our own lives. It requires and solicits a certain generosity of spirit and an openness to experience, but what it offers in return is something remarkable.” (Eye for Film)

Do you think we should show any of these films? The list below is the latest available from the British Federation of Film Societies (BFFS), from whom we regularly hire films; it includes old and new films, features and documentaries. Each title links to the corresponding entry in the Movie Review Query Engine (if one exists, otherwise it links to another source), so you can read more about any that look interesting. Let us know if there are any here that you think we should show next season, and don’t forget to check out the lists of films that are available from other distributors.

• A Generation (Andrzej Wajda, Poland, 1955)
• A Griot’s Story (Adam Rozanski, Nigeria, 2008, doc)
• Ahlaam (Mohamed Al-Daradji, UK/Iraq/Netherlands, 2006)
• The American Friend (Wim Wenders, Germany/France, 1977)
• The American Soldier (R. W Fassbinder, Germany, 1970)
• Beware of the Holy Whore (R. W Fassbinder, Germany, 1971)
• Bitter Moon (Roman Polanski, France/UK/US, 1992)
• The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (R. W Fassbinder, Germany, 1972)
• La Boheme (Robert Dornhelm, Austria/Germany, 2008)
• Boogie (Radu Muntean, Romania, 2007)
• Blue Eyelids (Ernesto Contreras, Mexico, 2007)
• Buena Vista Social Club (Wim Wenders, Ger/USA/UK/France/Cuba, 1999)
• Burma VJ (Anders Østergaard, Denmark, 2008, Doc)
• Canal (Andrzej Wajda, Poland, 1957)
• Carambola (Kurt Hollander, Mexico, 2004)
• The Cement Garden (Andrew Birkin, Fra/Ger/UK, 1993)
• Chinese Roulette (R. W Fassbinder, Germany/France, 1976)
• Compassionate Sex (Laura Mañá, Spain, 2000)
• Conversations with my Gardener (Jean Becker, France, 2007)
• Dawn of the Dead (George. A. Romero, Italy/US, 1978)
• Dear Diary (Nanni Moretti, Italy/France, 1993)
• Les Diaboliques (Henri-George Clouzot, France, 1955)
• Disarm (Brian Liu, Mary Wareham, US, 2006, Doc)
• Effi Briest (R. W Fassbinder, Germany, 1974)
• The End of America (Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern, US, 2008, Doc)
• Europa, Europa (Agnieszka Holland, Ger/Fra/Pol, 1990)
• Fear of Fear (R. W Fassbinder, Germany, 1975)
• Flower Drum Song (Henry Koster, US, 1961)
• Football Days (David Serrano, Spain, 2003)
• Four Eyed Monsters (Susan Buice, Arin Crumley, US, 2005)
• Fox and his Friends (R. W Fassbinder, Germany, 1975)
• Gods of the Plague (R. W Fassbinder, Germany, 1970)
• The Hide (Marek Losey, UK, 2008)
• The House of the Spirits (Bille August, Port/Ger/Den/UK, 1993)
• How to Cook Your Life (Doris Dörrie, Germany, 2007, Doc)
• I Served the King of England (Jiri Menzel, Czech Rep/Slovakia, 2006)
• Iceman (Fred Schepisi, US, 1984)
• In the City of Sylvia (José Luis Guerín, Spain, 2007)
• Katzelmacher (R. W Fassbinder, Germany, 1969)
• King of New York (Abel Ferrara, Ita/US/UK, 1990)
• Kings of the Road (Wim Wenders, Germany, 1976)
• The Lost World of Mr. Hardy (Andy Heathcote, UK, 2008, Doc)
• Love is Colder than Death (R. W Fassbinder, Germany, 1969)
• The Merchant of Four Seasons (R. W Fassbinder, Germany, 1970)
• Molly’s Way (Emily Atef, Germany, 2005)
• Mother Kuster’s Trip to Heaven (R. W Fassbinder, Germany, 1975)
• Niklashauser Journey (R. W Fassbinder, Germany, 1970)
• Of Mice and Men (Lewis Milestone, US, 1939)
• Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa (Randy and Jeremy Stulberg, US, 2007, Doc)
• On the Edge of the Forest (E F Schumacher, Australia, 1977, Doc)
• Pig Business (Tracy Worcester, UK, 2009, Doc)
• Preparez vos Mouchoirs (Betrand Blier, France/Belgium, 1978)
• Return to Goree (Pierre-Yves Borgeaud, Swiss/Luxembourg, 2007)
• Rio das Mortes (R. W Fassbinder, Germany, 1971)
• Salaam Bombay! (Mira Nair, UK/India/France, 1988)
• Satan’s Brew (R. W Fassbinder, Germany, 1976)
• A Secret (Claude Miller, France, 2007)
• Sugar (Anna Boden/ Ryan Fleck, USA, 2008)
• A Touch of Class (Melvin Frank, UK, 1973)
• Under the Mud (Solon Papadopoulos, UK, 2007)
• Welcome (Philippe Lioret, France, 2009)
• When Trumpets Fade (John Irvin, US, 1998)
• Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, Germany/France, 1987)
• Wrong Move (Wim Wenders, Germany, 1975)
• Zero Degrees (Akram Khan/ Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, UK, 2005)

What should we screen next season? We want your ideas. It may seem a bit early, since we’re barely three months into this season, but it is important that we start thinking about it now. It has been a bumper year for great films, so we’re potentially spoilt for choice. We’ve also finally tracked down the rights holder for Dreyer’s incredible Ordet (1955), so I think we can safely assume that that will be in the programme.

If you have any thoughts, you can suggest a film, and if you have a moment, do have a look at some of the film lists on our films available page. We’re also trawling through old BFI 16mm catalogues to see what rare gems we can find, and will add some more lists in due course.

Other films that have caught our eyes on the recent lists include:

• Welcome
• A Prophet
• The White Ribbon
• Departures
• Fish Tank
• Katalin Varga
• Orlando

but there is much to choose from, so let us know what you think would do well in Forest Row.

Several people have also been talking about doing even more films, whether as a festival or a more substantial season of films for children. These are all great ideas, and it would be wonderful to do them all but we will need a few more people to get involved if we want to deliver them. Choosing the films is the easy bit. As Ted Hope noted on Twitter this morning:

Cinema requires an audience. A movie shown in an empty room is not cinema. Spend as much time on bringing them as on what you show them

Great advice. Any takers?

• What films do you think we should be screening?
• Have you seen something recently that you think would go down well in Forest Row?

Add your suggestions in the comments box below and we’ll look at them. If you can say a bit about the film too, that will be very useful.