Ipswich Film Society

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David Clare (Chairman)

A MESSAGE FROM
THE CHAIRMAN

David Clare
CHAIRMAN

If you happen upon this page you are either already members or just curious, in which case let me persuade you to join the Society for the 2010/11 Season, one which boasts an array of fine films from around the world, all for the bargain subscription of �30 for seventeen films.
This season is different in a couple of ways from before. To begin with we have drawn more films than ever from the members� questionnaire, a list of thirty or so titles circulated for consideration just prior to season�s end. The reason for this is the need to compensate for a somewhat barren year for Ipswich filmgoers since the closure of the Film Theatre last October. All that has of course now changed thanks to the tireless efforts of the Film Theatre Trust to reach mutually agreeable terms with IBC, and if you are not already attending their screenings I urge you to do so. They can, however, only just keep up with contemporary product, not make up for lost time.
That is where we come in, hence the appearance on our programme of high-profile award winners like Bright Star, The Hurt Locker and Milk, and three of the films in the Foreign Language Oscar category: The White Ribbon, Un Proph�te and the winner The Secret in Their Eyes. We also have the previous year�s winner, the Japanese Departures and the Coen Brothers� riff on the Book of Job, A Serious Man. Some of these are what one might term arthouse tentpole films, and some may well have been exhibited elsewhere in town, but our members have said they want to see them.
Because it has been such an exceptional year, as I say, we have also included a further four very recent titles, as opposed to our usual more broadly spaced selection. There is Loach�s football-themed comedy Looking for Eric, a variant on Woody Allen�s Play It Again Sam premise of a mentor relationship between humble guy and popular legend. Nowhere Boy and Conversations with My Gardener are films about artists at opposite ends of their careers, the former a teenaged John Lennon, the latter a middle-aged painter. From Scandinavia we have another film about hanging up one�s spurs, O�Horten from Kitchen Stories director Bent Hamer. This time it�s an engine driver confronting retirement who embarks on one last trip. A fair share of films about professionals from all walks of society, therefore, seems to mark out our modern selection this season.
As always we have saved room for some revivals, significantly Powell and Pressburger�s The Red Shoes, which has been lovingly restored by the BFI. But film buffs will be pleased to see that Lang, Ozu and Cukor are also represented.
I mentioned earlier a couple of differences to this season. If you hadn�t realised already, the other is that we have again increased the number of films, by one this time. It seemed a good excuse to programme a documentary, a form which continues to experience something of a golden age; some entries have been good, some indifferent, but there were a number crying out for consideration this year and we settled on Gideon Koppel�s study of a Welsh valley with its community life under threat, Sleep Furiously.
If you are attracted by our programme and would like to join, pick up a brochure from either the Film Theatre or the Tourist Office. They will be on display from around the middle of August. Alternatively print off the downloadable version of the Brochure and Application Form available on our web site and use that, or contact our Membership Secretary and she will send you a copy. Join as promptly as you can to avoid disappointment: we are likely to fill up quickly.

Membership �30.00 - Student �15.00
Guest �5.00 - Student �2.50
Ipswich Film Society would like to thank Ipswich
Film Theatre for the continued use of the facilities