Are film societies still relevant: ask experts

After the film society movement enabled a wide audience to see good cinema from the world over over five decades, film buffs are divided on the relevance of the movement, pioneered in the country by legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray.
While film scholar N Balagopal and film personality Santhosh Echikkanam argued that Film Societies have become redundant in the fast evolving technological scenario, former Kerala minister Jose Thettayail, who is closely associated with societies, is a strong believer of its continuing relevance.
Recalling the golden days of the Film Society movement in Kerala in 1970s and 1980s, inspired by Calcutta Film Society founded by Ray, Balagopal said it has become "irrelevant gradually" with the arrival of television and internet through which people could enjoy both commercial and serious movies.

"Film Societies are almost dying institutions. These were relevant in those times when people did not have much avenues to watch serious movies. During that period, film societies provided them better platform to enjoy good movies.
"Now all movies are available abundant just a click away. So in my opinion, film societies are irrelevant... It is dying," said Balagopal, who was an active member of a film society in Vatakara in Kozhikode.
Ray founded the first Indian film society, the Calcutta Film Society in 1947. Twelve years later, in 1959, under his leadership, Federation of Film Societies of India was formed as a central organisation combining film societies of Calcutta, Delhi, Bombay (now Mumbai), Madras (now Chennai) and Patna.

Balagopal said televisions started influencing the audience in the late 1980s when Film Society Movement was in its peak in Kerala.
According to film buffs, there were more than 60 film societies in the second half of the 1980s in Kerala, when the Left political ideology was influencing the minds --mostly students and youth.
Film buffs recall serious movies such as "Battleship Potyomkin"-- a 1925 silent film directed by Sergei Eisenstein, "Wild Strawberries"--a 1957 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and "Bicycle Thieves" -- a 1948 film directed by Vittorio De Sica used to be exhibited and discussed through film societies across the country.