KOCHI: When Satyajit Ray and team founded the Calcutta Film Society (CFS) in 1947, the aim was to inspire a culture of cinema. The decades that followed saw film societies treating enthusiasts to their film fodder that also became food for thought and often, inspiration. Result was India’s arthouse films that have gone down in history as textbook works.
Parallely, cinema appreciation also grew, and film societies became to a serious movie buff what library was to a thinking reader.
Zoom into the digital age where OTT platforms are taking over the movie-viewing experience in a manner unique enough to be termed tech-savvy. The old-timers saw this change with a tad bit of suspicion, especially regarding aesthetics and the creative criticism.
Seems like the new age has answers for that as well. On air are some platforms where films are not shown but also talked about, pondered over, discussed and reviewed. The platform is digital, but the emotions are in quite a la film society mode.
“Film societies earlier catered to an educated minority. The post-digital film culture has redefined this,” says N P Sajeesh, film critic and deputy director Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.
“An audience acclimatisation of sorts started with Rajesh Pillai’s 2011 film ‘Traffic’ that introduced masses to the heterogeneity in Malayalam cinema that was to follow.”
As digitisation raged and offline film societies began dwindling in member strength, cinephiles were quick to regroup on social media. The new film societies formed, well structured within the digital swathes, functioned in two distinct ways.
The online streaming platforms like Netflix and Mubi provided accessibility, and social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and X took over the discussions and awareness about cinema. The latest hot topic in some such platforms is the Hema Committee findings and the way it can shape the working of the field.
An example of such a community is the Cinema Paradiso Club aka CPC. The Facebook collective has over one lakh followers and develops a new wave of cinephiles and filmmakers.
“In earlier times, film societies educated people in serious movies through discussions on the movies they sourced. Here, the internet makes films accessible but the discussions are mostly on social media chat rooms,” says Anoop V P, admin of CPC.
“We grabbed the opportunity to reach out wider, transcending socio-cultural boundaries and be a safe space for film enthusiasts to engage in discourses and to provide upcoming filmmakers a platform to share their works.”
The CPC’s wider digital presence helps it to influence different narratives on socially dichotomous tendencies that films portray. Even otherwise, accessibility through OTT platforms have allowed gradual shifts in audience sensibilities as could be seen in films such as Blessy’s Aadujeevitham that doesn’t fit into the conventions of a commercial film yet the story of survival is a high-grosser.
“In the digital space, we focus on multidimensional aspects of film analysis such as artistic value and technicality, while promoting the language of cinema among our followers and thus help in an all-around appreciation,” Anoop says.
Movie Street is another such group, with more than 1 lakh members, founded by Nishan Krish and Athul Thankachan. Nishan speaks about the group’s humble origins: “It was established in 2013 by 10 Facebook friends to discuss cinema. Those were the times when fan fights ruled most social media talks on cinema. But we focused on creating hearty discussions,” says Nishan.
The group soon observed a surge of new members. To maintain decorum, the group emphasised on quality posts, reviews, and discussions. Soon, members began checking the group’s movie reviews before moving to watch the films. Over time, the group organised annual meetings and conclaves in Kochi.
They also conducted Cine Awards, although these were paused due to COVID-19 restrictions. Plans are now under way to revive the ‘Movie Street Cine Awards’. “Three editions were already held and the fourth one in the works,” Nishan adds.
Instituting awards are another way to show the seriousness of the group in its appreciation, and hence CPC also has to its credit the CPC Cine Awards. The sparkle of the CPC awards is the constitution of its jury.
“We form a committee of the most active members, and after several discussions, we decide on the nominees and winners. It is a democratic process, and makes the CPC Cine Awards unique,” says Anoop.
The virtual spaces are also frequented by the latest who’s who of Malayalam cinema looking for a wider reach to connect as well as to announce their new projects and titles.
Notable directors like Jithu Madhavan whose Aavesham and Romancham became talks of several south Indian towns, and Nahas Hidayath, the maker of RDX, are part of Movie Street. Filmmakers active on CPC include Shyam Pushkaran, writer of Kumbalangi Nights and Maheshinte Prathikaaram; Girish A D, director of Premalu and Thanneer
Mathan Dinangal’; and Midhun Manuel Thomas, director of Abraham Ozler and Anjaam Pathira, among others.
The platforms have also seen the growth of some of the names making waves now. Directors such as Hidayath had shared his first short film in the group.
Platforms such as Instagram, on the other hand, take appreciation a notch different, making film aesthetics a pop culture and blurring the distinction between arthouse and commercial cinema. Highlighting this trend is Shan who operates the @laurapalmerinteexboyfriend handle.
“Awareness is my focus. Film culture is not new to Malayalis but I find the distinction between arthouse and commercial films unnecessary. What I do is bring arthouse films from an elite plane to a relatable one through memes and edits,” says Shan.
“It is a gratifying feeling when my followers enquire about where to find the arthouse films I have made memes on. We also help to reduce the confusion that OTT platforms bring about on what to watch.”
Hussain S of @fansassociation_ , a film aesthetics page on Instagram, also has a similar aim. “My account’s primary objective is to introduce film works through an aesthetic that appeals to young audiences. The idea of film culture that film societies nurtured was not on a relatable sphere. But social media is a liberal space,” he says.
“We introduce films of auteurs like Adoor Gopalakrishnan or Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami but also encourage our audience to not restrict themselves to any kind of films. We feel even hyper-masculine pop flicks like Pushpa or KGF can reflect on caste and class politics. So, the definition of high or low art is subverted on social media platforms.”
Film societies like Film Lovers Cultural Association (FILCA) and Banner Film Society belong to a minority who were able to transcend the challenges of digitalisation to stay relevant by simultaneously adapting to the changing milieu.
Sabu Shankar, general secretary of FILCA, reflects on its journey, “It had its share of inactivity post 1999 after the death of its founder P K Nair, archivist and film scholar. What kept us afloat is its ability to revamp according to the current film zeitgeist,” he says.
“FILCA publishes a monthly digital magazine and a series called ‘Cinemayude Vishwajaalakam’, which introduces world cinema to the public. This series will soon be released on the KSFDC OTT platform.”
Banner Film Society in Thiruvananthapuram is another among the film societies that withstood the test of time. “In the past, accessing cinema was challenging. Now, that is not a problem,” says R Biju, founder and organiser of Banner.
“Also, information is at our fingertips. We can use social media platforms like Instagram and blogspot to promote our initiatives and updates.”
The love for cinema is never to die and this is what urges film communities to thrive in a new format. Yet, serious film lovers feel discourses should step out from the social space and be face-to-face at times. A sense of community, in any social sphere, is a human need and cinema too needs it. Time and technology should not kill that, they say.