With a rich legacy of movies, there’s been no dearth of dedicated film societies among Malayalis. However, over the years, some of them have faded away, giving way to a culture of individual consumption of cinema. Banner Film Society, one of the relatively new entrants, continues to keep the banner flying high with regular screenings of movies.
Launched by six film lovers in 2004, Banner has been active in both introducing the world of good cinema and promoting a culture of film appreciation. “We started at a time when there were about 30 film societies in the district. Since Chitralekha (the first film society in Kerala launched by auteur Adoor Gopalakrishnan in 1965), we had a culture of forming such collectives. But some of them started dying out, slowly eroding appreciation for ‘serious’ cinema. Our idea was to keep the flame burning,” says R Biju, a co-founder and secretary of Banner.
R Biju, Secretary of Banner Film Society | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Biju reminisces about the society’s first screening at Ponnara UP School, Muttathara, when the Iranian drama Children of Heaven and Hindi film Mr. and Mrs. Iyer were shown. The society has since grown, serving as a conduit between film lovers and frontrunners in both mainstream and art-house scenes. It has close to 300 active members. “The endeavour is to show the best films, especially as you face a problem of plenty. Often we pick the ones our core team feels are must-watch ones. There were occasions when we watched close to 100 films to pick just four,” explains Biju.
Banner conducts “one-day film festivals” under the 'My Favourites' series under which a reputed film personality would cherry-pick his/her top films for screening and interact with the viewers, explaining the choices. Screenings are also organised thematically or to pay homage to a cinema great. Banner, which has its office at Bakery Junction and organises screenings at Lenin Balavadi, Vazhuthacaud, also serves as a platform to showcase indie films. On September 29, Prathibhasam by Vipin Vijay and Sleeplessly Yours by Goutham Soorya will be shown. K J Siju, president of the society, says that for screening world cinemas, most of the films are sourced from private collections and Kerala State Chalachitra Academy’s library.
A poster of the documentary Nalla Cinemayum Oru Manushyanum — MF Thomas | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
To mark 15 years of its existence and 60 years since the formation of the Federation of Film Societies of India, Banner today (September 19) organises a “get-together” of film lovers at Lenin Balavadi at 5 pm. Nalla Cinemayum Oru Manushyanum — MF Thomas, a documentary directed by Biju on film critic MF Thomas, will be premièred.