Category: Newsletters

Newsletter September 2024

The Last Picture Show

No, not Peter Bogdanovich’s 1971 era-defining small town coming-of-age classic [for all the wrong reasons] the momentous announcement that, as from September 30th [just a few days after you read this], and after almost half a century of promoting and celebrating the art of film in Abingdon and its environs, ABCD Film Society will be wound up and hence no longer exist in its present form.

The circumstances leading to this, in the end, inevitable decision were, as always, many and varied – not least among them being the lack of active volunteers to fill a number of Committee vacancies, continuous room hire and equipment setting up problems since the Town Council took over management of Guildhall last October, diminishing audience numbers and probable loss of our hitherto supportive connection with Abbey cinema. The amount of work to keep the Society viable in its present form in any reasonable scenario is now beyond the capabilities of the few of us remaining on the Committee.

Nevertheless, we decided to screen a final film to mark our ‘exit left of stage’ and the one we’ve chosen sums up [we think] our realisation that we are at the end of an era of community participation in film appreciation – namely, Giuseppe Tornatore’s  Cinema Paradiso, released in 1988. With an original run time of 174mins, the film is a loving homage to the magic of cinema and its ability to capture the heart, mind and imagination, just by telling simple stories often with profound meaning. Not only is it a salute to the golden age of movies but also it’s a reflection on the lamentable loss of culture and past values.

This final screening will take place in the Roysse Room on Tuesday 24th September at the usual time of 7.30pm.

In recognition of the support from past audiences there will be NO CHARGE for the screening.

To access Abbey Cinema’s booking page for Cinema Paradiso, please use the following link

https://theabbey.ac/web?film=66bf40256cf2cd64f100d115 

Then select 7.30pm GUILDHALL where you can make your booking.

Note: For security reasons instituted by the Town Council, access to the Roysse Room is now only via the Bridge Street entrance.

More information about the booking process can be found by searching under ‘About Us’ on the ABCD Website https://abfilms.org.uk

For this last screening, a member of the Committee will be on hand to assist anyone who wants to see the film but has not been able to book online.

A Programme Note for the film has been produced and is attached to this newsletter- it can be accessed via the link at the bottom of the page, and provides a descriptive context to film you are about to see. Please print the Programme Note if you wish to retain a paper copy.

Reaction slips, for comments on the film and any other points about ABCD you may wish to make, will be available at the screening. Please use them freely- your comments and scores will be published on our Website in due course.

Note:

In order to keep at least the spirit of ABCD alive, we propose reviving the online format we pioneered during the 2020 Covid pandemic. Imaginatively named ABCD Online 2, further details will be announced before the screening. If you wish to obtain more information about ABCD Online 2, please contact Barry Reeves by Emailing  barryabingdon@gmail.com

http://abfilms.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/ABCD-Prog-Note-Cinema-Paradiso-ex-MJ-240924a.pdf

 

 

ABCD FILM SOCIETY PRESENTS

 

24/09/24 at 7.30pm in the Roysse Room, The Guildhall, Bridge Street, Abingdon

 

CINEMA PARADISO (Italy/France, 1988, 118mins, Subtitled, Cert PG)

Giuseppe Tornatore’s loving homage to the magic of cinema, starring Philippe Noiret and Enzo Cannavale, tells the story of Salvatore, himself a successful film director, returning home for the funeral of Alfredo, his old friend and projectionist at the local cinema throughout his childhood. Soon memories of his first love affair with the beautiful Elena and all the highs and lows that shaped his life come flooding back, as he reconnects with the community he left thirty years earlier.

 

 

Coming soon details for our next [and final] screening on TUESDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER 2024 at 7.30pm………..

Due to some building work to be carried out at our venue in the Roysse Room, the film club will now take a break until 26th September when we hope to resume screenings.

In the meantime please, please , please contact us if you can offer any help, as our future is in doubt with only 3 people currently active on the committee…….

Thanks!!

End of Season Film

On Thursday 25th, as our final screening of the 2023/2024 season, we present Aguirre, Wrath of God, directed by Werner Herzog and released in 1972. Shot entirely on location in the Amazonian jungle, the film stars the legendarily volatile Klaus Kinski as a power-crazed 16th century Spanish explorer who leads an unruly band of conquistadors on a doomed expedition in search of El Dorado, the fabled City of Gold. A visceral, ambitious exploration of megalomania and savage beauty, the film remains one of Werner Herzog’s most outstanding directorial achievements and an all-time totemic masterpiece of German cinema.

The decision to curtail the current season prematurely has effectively been imposed upon us because the Roysse will be unavailable  for our May 30th screening- to allow for some refurbishment work to be carried out therein. Two alternative venues [the Old Magistrates’ Court or the Council Chamber] were offered by the Council but neither are at all suitable for film screenings- due primarily to the lack of black-out curtains in each room- so, with only one more film evening remaining before our summer break [viz, June 30th] we reluctantly decided that Thursday would be our final film event of the present season.

We shall, of course, keep you informed of developments during the summer months- especially as they may [or may not] affect our autumn re-opening date of September 26th.

As ever- watch this space for updates!

Thursday’s screening will be charged at our current rate of £8.00, which includes £1.00 membership fee.

To access Abbey Cinema’s booking page for Aguirre, please use the following link

https://theabbey.ac/web?film=65a80d59779795171cad46bb

Then select   7.30 Guildhall 

where you can make your booking.

Note: For security reasons instituted by the Town Council, access to the Roysse Room is now only via the Bridge Street entrance.

More information about the booking process can be found by searching under ‘About Us’ on the ABCD Website, https://abfilms.org.uk

for this screening, a member of our Front of House team will be on hand to assist anyone who wants to see the film but has not been able to book online.  Payment by card, no cash payments.

A Programme Note for the film has been produced and is attached to this Newsletter- it can be accessed via the link at the bottom of the page, and provides a descriptive context to film you are about to see. Please print the Programme Note if you wish to retain a paper copy.

Reaction slips, for comments on the film and any other points about ABCD you may wish to make, will be available at the screening. Please use them freely- your comments and scores will be published on our Website in due course.

Note:

If this is the first time you have received an ABCD Newsletter and would like to find out more about the Film Society, please contact our Membership Secretary by Emailing info@abfilms.org.uk

http://abfilms.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ABCD-Prog-Note-Aguirre-ex-MJ-250424a.pdf

 

 

   

Interim Programme

For Thursday’s ABCD presentation, we’ve chosen Transit, auteur Christian Petzold’s 2018 enigmatic adaptation of Anna Seghers’ 1944 novel. It is a brilliantly realised haunting, allegorical thriller with a timeless narrative that explores questions of loss of homeland, identity and the desperate trauma of displaced refugees. Existentially blurring the past with modern times, the film shows how little has changed in the intervening years between the original World War 2 setting and present day.

New Screen

In order to circumvent some of the difficulties we’ve been experiencing with the screening equipment, we’ve  acquired a new screen and shall be using it for the first time this Thursday. It has a diagonal dimension of 120ins and an aspect ratio of 16:9, so we hope your viewing enjoyment will be suitably enhanced  for our future presentations!

See below for advance notification of the final title in the interim programme….

April 25th.   Aguirre, Wrath of God.  Germany/Mexico,   1972.   dir: Werner Herzog

…..and watch this space for news of the films for May and June!

Screenings are charged at our current rate of £8.00, which includes £1.00 membership fee.

To access Abbey Cinema’s booking page for Transit, please use the following   link

https://theabbey.ac/web?film=65a80d33779795171cad46b5 

Then select 7.30pm   Thursday 28th March 2024, where you can make your booking.

Note: For security reasons instituted by the Town Council, access to the Roysse Room is now only via the Bridge Street entrance.

More information about the booking process can be found by searching under ‘About Us’ on the ABCD Website  https://abfilms.org.uk

For this screening, a member of our Front of House team will be on hand to assist anyone who wants to see the film but has not been able to book online. You are reminded that payment is by bank card only, no cash will be taken.

A Programme Note for the film has been produced and is attached to this newsletter- it can be accessed via the link at the bottom of the page, and provides a descriptive context to film you are about to see. Please print the Programme Note if you wish to retain a paper copy.

Reaction Slips, for comments on the film and any other points about ABCD you may wish to make, will be available at the screening. Please use them freely- your comments and scores will be published on our Website in due course.

Note:

If this is the first time you have received an ABCD Newsletter and would like to find out more about the Film Society, please contact our Membership Secretary by Emailing  info@abfilms.org.uk

http://abfilms.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/ABCD-Prog-Note-Transit-ex-MJ-280324a.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interim Programme

For our second presentation of 2024, we’ve chosen In A Lonely Place [USA, 1950, 105mins, Cert PG], one of Nicholas Ray’s best films. Enhanced by brilliant performances from Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, this is a fascinating noir-ish drama which Bogart plays an emotionally unstable screenwriter who, after becoming a murder suspect, is given a false alibi by his glamorous neighbour [Grahame]- inevitably leading to romance, with dark overtones. Cineasts will note that, despite their obvious on-screen chemistry in this film, Bogart and Grahame never worked together again- a great loss to all their admirers.

See below for advance notification of the next two titles in the interim programme….

March 28th.   Transit .                 Germany/ France, 2018.          dir: Christian Petzold

April 25th      Aguirre, Wrath of God.  Germany/ Mexico, 1972    dir: Werner Herzog

…..and watch this space for news of the presentations for May and June!

The screening will be charged at our new rate of £8.00, which includes a £1.00 membership fee

To access Abbey Cinema’s booking page for In A Lonely Place, please use the following link

https://theabbey.ac/web?film=65a80ce5779795171cad4698

Then Select 7.30pm. GUILDHALL  where you can make your booking.

Note: For security reasons instituted by the Town Council, access to the Roysse Room is now only via the Bridge Street entrance.

More information about the booking process can be found by searching under ‘About Us’ on the ABCD website, https://abfilms.org.uk

For this screening a member of our Front Of House Team will be hand to assist anyone who wants to see the film but has not been able to book online. 

A programme note for the film has been produced and is attached to this Newsletter- it can be accessed via the link at the bottom of the page, and provides a descriptive context to film you are about to see. Please print the Programme Note if you wish to retain a paper copy.

Reaction slips, for comments on the film and any other points about ABCD you may wish to make, will be available at the screening. Please use them freely- your comments and scores will be published on our Website in due course.

Note:

if this is the first time you have received an ABCD Newsletter and would like to find out more about the Film Society, please contact our Membership Secretary by Emailing info@abfilms.org.uk

 

http://abfilms.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ABCD-Prog-Note-Lonely-Place-ex-MJ-290224a.pdf

 

New Year 2024

As trailed in last month’s Newsletter and despite several further delays, we have produced an interim programme of films for January to April which covers our four usual cinematic catagories and which we hope will excite your interest. They are:-

January 25th.     The Quiet Girl                 Ireland, 2022.            dir: Colm Bairead

February 29th   In a Lonely Place.          USA, 1950.                   dir: Nicholas Ray

March 28th.       Transit.                              Germany/France      dir: Christian Petzold

April 25th.         Aguirre, Wrath of God    Germany/Mexico.   dir: Werner Herzog. 

The first of these, The Quiet Girl, is a visually stunning film that follows 11 year old Cait, who is sent to live with foster parents after existence with her dysfunctional family becomes unbearable. She is quickly enamoured by the bucolic setting and her new way of life but discovers a secret that threatens to destroy her idyllic world. Anchored by superb performances- especially from Catherine Clinch, who plays Cait- the film is constantly riveting, with a final reveal that is both devastating and beautiful.

The screening will be charged at our new rate of £8.00, which includes £1.00 membership fee.

To access Abbey Cinema’s booking page for The Quiet Girl, please use the following link

https://theabbey.ac/web?film=65a80886779795171cad463a

Then select 7.30pm Guildhall  

where you can make your booking.

Note: For security reasons newly instituted by the Town Council, access to the Roysse room is now only via the Bridge Street entrance.

More information about the booking process can be found by searching under ‘About Us’ on the ABCD website, https://abfilms.org.uk

For this screening, a member of our Front of House team will be on hand to assist anyone who wants to see the film but has not been able to book online.

A Programme Note for the film has been produced and is attached to this Newsletter- it can be accessed via the link at the bottom of the page, and provides a descriptive context to film you are about to see. Please print the Programme Note if you wish to retain a paper copy.

Reaction slips, for comments on the film and any other points about ABCD you may wish to make, will be available nat the screening. Please use them freely-your comments and scores will be published non our Website in due course.

Note:

If this is the first time you have received an ABCD Newsletter and would like to find out more about the Film Society, please contact our Membership Secretary by Emailing info@abfilms.org.uk

http://abfilms.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ABCD-Prog-Note-Quiet-Girl-ex-MJ-250124a.pdf

 

 

Last Month

Although the equipment set-up was marginally improved for Luzzo, the overall screening arrangements were still far from satisfactory so, once again, we can only commiserate with members’ disappointment and hope that the further assurances we’ve received from the Town Council about staff training on use of the equipment herald an early return to the arrangements which have previously been an acceptable norm.

Next Year 

For the reasons noted above, and previously, our future film programme planning has been seriously delayed. However, assuming there are no further significant equipment set-up problems, we plan to produce a programme for January to April 2024 at least as eclectic, diverse and stimulating as we’ve attempted to develop over the past two years at the Guildhall.

So,  watch this space for further updates!

December Film

For our end-of-year presentation, we’re screening Martin Scorsese’s classic ‘rockumentary’ The Last Waltz  [USA, 1978, 117mins.]. Since its release 45 years ago, this documentary celebrating The Band’s 1976 farewell concert has been widely imitated but never bettered. Consummately stylish but with dignity and restraint, the film rejoices in and extols The Band’s 16 years on the road with a plethora of invited guests from Dr John to Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan to Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell to Emmylou Harris and many other famous names in the pantheon of country rock.

The screening will be charged at our new rate of £8.00, which includes £1.00 membership fee.

To access Abbey Cinema’s booking page for The Last Waltz, please use the following link

https://theabbey.ac/web?film=64f8545af4e9775d2f5e6c32 

Then select 7.30 Guildhall  where you can make your booking .

Note: For security reasons newly instituted by the Town Council, access to the Roysse Room is now only via the Bridge Street entrance.

More information about the booking proces can be found by searching under ‘About Us’ on the ABCD Website, https://abfilms.org.uk

For this screening, a member of our Front of House team will be on hand to assist anyone who wants to see the film but has not been able to book online. N.B. payment can only be accepted by card, no cash payments.

A Programme Note for the film has been produced and is attached to this Newsletter-it can be accessed via the link at the bottom of the page, and provides a descriptive context to film you are about to see. Please print the Programme Note if you wish to retain a paper copy.

Reaction Slips, for comments on the film and other points about ABCD you may wish to make, will be available at the screening. Please use them freely-your comments and acores eill be published on the Website in due course.

Note

If this is the first time you have received an ABCD Newsletter and would like to find out more about the Film Society, pleasecontact our Membership Secretary by Emailing  info@abfilms.org.uk

http://abfilms.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ABCD-Prog-Note-Last-Waltz-ex-MJ-281223a.pdf

 

Last Month

The change in the Guildhall leasing arrangements bore bitter fruit for our October presentation, ‘L’Eclisse’, with the complete failure of the equipment setting-up arrangements we otherwise thought were in place. The last minute substitution of a [not very large] TV for the usual projector/screen set-up comprehensively diminished the viewing experience of Antonioni’s masterwork by the [very few] members who attended. We can only commiserate with their disappointment and hope that the assurances we’ve received from the Town Council about staff training on use of the equipment herald an early return to the arrangements to which we’ve previously become accustomed.

Note: For security reasons newly instituted by the Town Council, access to the Roysse Room is now only via the Bridge Street entrance.

November Film

In his debut feature, released in 2021 and set on the sun-soaked island of Malta, writer-director Alex Camilleri portrays not only a young family struggling against changing nature of sea fishing but, casting his creative net wider, also captures issues of identity, loss and the burden of responsibility both to one’s past and to one’s future. It’s an impressive feature from the Maltese American film-maker, making the most of a stunning setting and excellent performances from a largely non-professional cast.

The screening will be charged at our new rate of £8.00 which includes £1.00 membership fee.

To access Abbey Cinema’s booking page for Luzzo , please use the following link

https://theabbey.ac/web?film=64f853c8f4e9775d2f5e6c13

Then select 7.30pm Guildhall

where you can make your booking.

More information about the booking process and our current programme schedule can be found by searching under ‘About Us’ on the ABCD website, https://abfilms.org.uk

For this screening, a member of our Front of House team will be on hand to assist anyone who wants to see the film but has not been able to book online.

A Programme Note for the film has been produced and is attached to this Newsletter-it can be accessed via the link at the botton of the page, and provides a descriptive context to film you are about to see. Please print the Programme Note if you wish to retain a paper copy.

Reaction slips, for comments on the film and any other points about ABCD you may wish to make, will be available at the screening. Please use them freely-your comments and scores will be publidhed on the Website in due course.

Note:

if this is the first time you have received an ABCD Newsletter and would like to find out more about the Film Society, please contact our Membership Secretary by Emailing info@abfilms.org.uk

http://abfilms.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ABCD-Prog-Note-Luzzu-ex-MJ-301123a.pdf