Goya Dmytryshchak
Williamstown Film Society is celebrating 25 years since it restarted in 1996, with some original faces among its membership.
The society started in 1949 as the Williamstown High School Ex-students’ Association Film Group after funds were raised to buy a 35 millimetre projector, said president and member since 1997 Michael Slee.
In 1952, a contingent from the group attended the Olinda Film Festival, which was the forerunner of the Melbourne International Film Festival.
This resulted in an ASIO probe into members for possible Communist influences.
By the mid-50s, the society had formed and was meeting monthly at the Williamstown Mechanics Institute.
However, membership declined partly because of television and the society “went into recess”, Mr Slee said.
In April 1996, Pam Trustrum invited a few people to her house and resurrected the society.
Mr Slee said about 35 members were currently meeting – COVID restrictions permitting – in the Williamstown Town Hall supper room.
“If you love movies, you take any excuse or any reason to go and see a movie, and it’s always nice to watch films with like-minded people, I think,” he said.
“People who love movies look at them and appreciate them probably on a little bit of a deeper level than going off to the movies as a Saturday night’s entertainment.
“We have a criteria for selecting our films for each year. We cover different genres and different eras and we do a documentary.
“We like to represent different languages, so explore cinema from different countries.
“Our membership is really willing to give anything a go. They’re pretty happy to take a risk.”
The society meets on the last Wednesday of each month at 7.30pm.
Details: williamstown-film-society.org
