If you did not attend the annual general meeting of the Bowen Island Film Society on May 26, 2011, you may be unaware of some very important changes. Due to declining numbers in audience, volunteers and board of directors members the society had reached a point where to continue monthly screenings would put an onerous burden upon a skeleton crew of volunteers all of whom had served for many years to bring quality films to the island. Also, it was clear that audience numbers would continue to decline, eventually causing us to close the doors anyway. So the decision was made by the membership to quit while we were ahead.

It has been our distinct pleasure to serve the community in this way. We on the board and all our loyal members love good movies and particularly enjoy seeing them in the company of our fellow islanders. However, our limited population base, the advent of Netflix (which offers inexpensive movies in the comfort of your home) and a variety of other demographic, taste and financial factors have conspired to bring the society to the brink of anachronism. But, out of the ashes new possibilities arise. This may be best expressed in the resolution which was adopted by the membership at the aforementioned meeting:

Be it resolved that the Bowen Island Film Society will dissolve and reform as a not-for-profit association dedicated to staging “special-event” screenings under the oversight of a Director and a Secretary-treasurer.  All assets of the BIFS will transfer to this new association so they may be used for the community good. A volunteer committee will form to give guidance.  The membership gives the Director and Secretary-treasurer the discretion to formulate the new entity, informed by the principles of non-profitability and benefit to the Bowen community.  If such new entity is not activated within six months, all assets will be dissolved and the proceeds devolve to appropriate non-profit groups on Bowen Island.

The new entity will function much like Bowen Island Music Arts, staging “special event” as opposed to monthly screenings and making our equipment resources available, on a discretionary basis, to support other non-profit community organizations and initiatives.   In other words, the as-yet-unnamed entity will put on screenings, often in association with other groups, which will promote the film arts, as well as assist other groups in their aims. To that end, we are undertaking an exciting change of venue which is still in the planning stages. After considering the various options, it became clear that the only Bowen venue that makes sense at this time is the Tir-na-nog Theatre School auditorium with which most of you are familiar. With 75 (padded) seats it is equal to Collins Hall in capacity while offering improved sight-lines, better parking and the opportunity to permanently install our projector and an improved sound system. Permanent installation is important in that it will reduce the wear and tear on the high-tech gear as well as on those who will operate it.  The objective is to make it a “turn-key” setup, reducing personpower needs while offering an improved viewer experience.  Jack and Julie Headley are very welcoming to this new addition to their facility and the prospect of screening films there.

Hard costs will accompany this transition and we feel fortunate that there is a positive bank balance of about $1900 which should cover expenses thanks to the generous input of volunteer labour and consulting. Audio expert Curtis Wright is designing the new sound system while BIFS member extraordinaire Reed Bement is facilitating the installation in a number of key ways. Keep an eye pealed for announcements regarding this transition.

As the anointed Director of the new offspring of the film society, I am grateful for the trust placed in me by the membership.  My objective is to continue the BIFS tradition of service to the community through the exhibition of films which enlighten, entertain and seek to improve our world one frame at a time.

There are a few wind-up legalities relating to the dissolving of the Bowen Island Film Society which are underway and should be complete in the near future.  FYI, the BIFS library containing DVD’s of most of the films shown over our eight year lifespan will be donated to the Bowen Island Public Library.  If you are overdue with a borrowed DVD, please return it SAP to the drop box at Collins Hall.

Many decisions, changes and mistakes are ahead and I thank our members and film society supporters for making possible this new beginning.  More specific thanks to those who founded and generously contributed to the functioning of the society over the years are included in a separate file.

Feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions or queries.  Email preferred: mrmagneto@shaw.ca

Your humble servant,Cordell Wynne

Film Society President and Director of the As-Yet-Unnamed

Almostgreen and Cleanbin

Summer is spent and  BIFS kicks off its new fall season with “Cooking with Stella”, a  comedy set in exotic New Delhi, India.  Newcomers Maya and Michael arrive to join the Canadian Embassy and inherit an expert cook, Stella, who has served many predecessors.  The comedy issues from Stella’s  wily strategies for lining her pockets with domestic graft.  A mutual love of food comes to bond her with her new charges even as her schemes teeter on the brink of exposure.  Lots of fun in this fully-cooked tale directed by Dilip Mehta and written by him and his renowned filmmaker sister, Deepa (“Water”, “Heaven on Earth”).  Important note: this screening is on Sat. Oct. 2, a break from our usual “last-Saturday-of the-month” practice.

Oct 30 marks the arrival of “Last Train Home”.  A work both epic and intimate in scope, it documents the spring tidal wave of millions of migrant factory workers returning home for the Chinese New Year.  Grounded in the lives of the Zhang family,  “Last Train Home” portrays a changing nation discarding its traditional ways as it hurtles towards modernity and global economic dominance.  Breathtaking in scale and beautifully crafted, the film has earned numerous prizes as well as being nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Festival.

November brings an eco-extravaganza evening which includes the premiere of “Almost Green”, a comedy set on Bowen Island starring James Glave, resident writer and dedicated, if oft-thwarted, “Greenie”.  Witty, ironic and charged with closely-observed Bowen idiosyncrasies, “Almost Green” is nearly golden.The evening will continue with “The Clean Bin Project” which turns on a competition between environmentalists  Jenny Rustemeyer and Grant Baldwin. In a year long challenge, the couple battles to see who can swear off consumerism and produce the least landfill garbage. Their light-hearted rivalry is set against a keen examination of the large-scale environmental impacts of our “throw-away society”.
BIFS is pleased to welcome the makers of both films who will take questions and doubtless spark lively discussion.