Film Society

AGM September 2005 .

EGERTON FILM SOCIETY

Chairman’s Annual Report – September 2005

This is my second Annual Report as your Chairman. At last year’s AGM the existing committee – Caryl Budd, Derek Budd, Vivienne Foulds, Ruth Haggie, Peggy Harper, John King, Richard King, and Mark Kingsbury – were asked to continue, and I was asked by them to carry on as Chairman. The Committee has met from time to time, either formally or informally at the Telecottage, with decisions about the programme being taken either at these meetings, or by e-mail. Members continue to carry out their duties as in previous years.

Over the last year, as members will know, we have had a full programme of classic and contemporary films – We started in September 2004 with “Master and Commander – The Far Side of the World”. In October we screened “Girl with the Pearl Earring”, and in November a double bill of the Bob Hope film “The Cat and the Canary” and Hitchcock’s Thirty Nine Steps”. Also in November we held a special screening with the Egerton WI of “Calendar Girls” which attracted an audience of over 100 people. For our December meeting we screened the final part of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Our New Year season included many films requested by members, including “LA Confidential” (January), “Whale Rider” (February), “Cold Mountain” (March), “The Titfield Thunderbolt” (April), “Ladies in Lavender” (May) and “Amadeus” (June). Attendances have continued to be good, with audiences usually of between 40 and 70 members and their guests, with current films attracting particularly high audiences. Our screenings are preceded by a short introduction, which some members say they find useful and interesting (!), and we produce a programme in advance with detailed notes about each film. With the notice of the AGM members will have received the autumn programme, with details of the wide range of films we shall be screening up to Christmas. The committee would very much like to hear member’s views about what films we should book for the first half of next year.

Our successful application for funding from the CASK project, for which we were most grateful, enabled us to purchase a new projector, which we first used early this year. As you will hear from the treasurer your Film Society is run at a profit, which we generally re-invest in better equipment to enhance member’s enjoyment of the films.

Finally, as I said last year, I would like to thank on your behalf all those members who help in so many different ways - on the door, setting up the equipment, getting out chairs and putting them away again afterwards, running our licensed bar, and doing all the paperwork behind the scenes. I would also like to thank Egerton Stores for acting as our ticket agents, and for everyone who helps publicise our film shows, and, of course, for all of you for turning up each month. Your committee get a lot of pleasure out of the Egerton Film Society and I hope that you do too.

Richard King
29 September 2005