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Kingsnympton community film club
KN Fim Club
The idea behind the Film Club is similar to a book club - each film will be suggested by someone from within the group based on their own tastes, the only stipulation being that we avoid mainstream movies. Not all films will be ones you might have chosen yourself, but - as with a book club - the idea is to push people out of their comfort zones and to watch stuff they wouldn't have thought of watching!
Plenty of scope for a discussion about the film afterwards.
I have obtained an umbrella license from the Motion Picture Licensing Company - the license comes with a couple of caveats, which I will outline below, but it allows unlimited film showings during the year of any legally obtained film at a single named venue.
My plan - initially - is to use the committee room of the Parish Hall - many of the films we might want to show are only available on streaming services, and the hall has good broadband. They are happy for it to be a BYO venue, and for those who want something other than standard hall seating, I suggest they bring along their own deck chairs/folding garden chairs etc!
Back to the license - it costs around £260 for a year. I have set up a bank account, and suggest that anyone who can donates £20-£30 (depending on how many agree to contribute). Anyone who does donate would be paid back once we have taken enough money to cover the fee.
Those caveats - while we can advertise dates anywhere we like, we can ONLY publicise what specific film we are showing privately. Because the KN FB site is a members only site, it will be ok to publicise the film there, but not - say - on posters around the village or elsewhere.
The other caveat is that we are not allowed to charge to see the film - so income has to be generated in other ways - the MPLC suggests things like a charge for food or drink/ raffle etc. My suggestion is that we ask for a donation (say £5pp) to cover hall fees, `corkage' for BYO and as a contribution towards the running of the club - once we have generated enough money those who chipped in for the license would be re-imbursed - any extra would go towards the following year's license, or maybe a fund to buy our own kit (projector/sound system etc).
I have some thoughts (my own, and other people's!) for the first few films but will be looking for others.
Martin Pailthorpe
Coming up
December 6th
M Hulot's Holiday - a bit of light relief. Jacques Tati (think Charlie Chaplain meets, Mr Bean, but French) stars in a gentle ribbing of the French 'en vacances'
January 3rd
Honeyland
An extraordinary documentary both in terms of subject and craft, Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov's Honeyland is an immersive and deeply moving portrait of the delicate balance of life and traditions in rural Macedonia. Honeyland is a beautiful film - both physically (the cinematography is lush and lovely) and emotionally. Hatidze's story is one of patience and care, diligence and love.
February 7th
The Squid and the Whale
Root-canal-jabbingly uncomfortable, this black comedy from writer-director Noah Baumbach based on his parents’ breakup is bittersweet without the sweet
March 7th
My Brother the Devil
An early film by Sally El Hosaini, whose `The Swimmers' has just been released to great acclaim. My Brother the Devil brings a fresh and mature perspective to a story of shifting relationships between siblings, clearly marking the Egyptian-Welsh writer-director as someone on a path to greater things
April 4th
Moon
Less a whodunnit, more a whothehellami, while the ingenious script keeps you guessing, a terrific turn from Sam Rockwell keeps you caring. It’s a deeply engaging one-man show and, crucially, puts a human face on some seriously hefty themes (memory, alienation, identity). Duncan Jones’ mesmerising debut is an affectionate throwback to the Blade Runners, Outlands and Dark Stars of the genre
May 2nd
Free Solo
A daredevil with a samurai’s intensity, Alex Honnold scales a vertiginous cliff without ropes in this visually staggering documentary. Here’s a film that brought to my mind Mary Poppins’s famous order: “Close your mouth please Michael, we are not a codfish.” I spent most of this film with my jaw on the floor. We see his difficult relationship with his girlfriend Sanni McCandless. Like all those close to Honnold, she is in the purest form of agony as Honnold makes his almost supernaturally difficult climb. Why is he doing this crazy thing? The nearest Honnold comes to a because-it-is-there moment is comparing his physical and mental intensity to that of a samurai.
June 6th
Russian Ark
Every review of "Russian Ark" begins by discussing its method. The movie consists of one unbroken shot lasting the entire length of the film, as a camera glides through the Hermitage, the repository of Russian art and history in St. Petersburg. The cinematographer Tillman Buttner, using a Steadicam and high-def digital technology, joined with some 2,000 actors in an tight-wire act in which every mark and cue had to be hit without fail. The camera doesn't merely take us on a guided tour of the art on the walls and in the corridors, but witnesses many visitors who came to the Hermitage over the years. Apart from anything else, this is one of the best-sustained ideas I have ever seen on the screen. Sokurov reportedly rehearsed his all-important camera move again and again with the cinematographer, the actors and the invisible sound and lighting technicians, knowing that the Hermitage would be given to him for only one precious day.
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