Cinema Canada (Feb 1977)

The screening room showing Arthur Lamothe answering questions wise be perceived by the audience to be obscure and inaccessible. Kirk Tougas: “People have to be willing to take a chance on experimental films, or the films of a director with whose work they may be unfamiliar; and then different types of films attract different audiences. The films of a director like JeanPierre Melville, or Robbe-Grillet for example, will tend to attract the French community and those people who are familiar with Robbe-Grillet’s work as a novelist. Yet other people, unaware of his tremendous influence upon French cinema, may stay away. “It is most interesting when you get many different perspectives in a single audience. At one of the silent film showings, for example, an elderly woman, who had seen the film as a child, came with her granddaughter and both of them enjoyed the film in their different ways.”’ Although Vancouver-based, the Cinematheque has extended its exhibition services to other areas of the province. Kathy Razutis, as extension co-ordinator, is in charge of a program which enables libraries, community centers, and interested groups in the smaller towns of B.C., to show films ranging from Charlie Chaplin shorts to Ten Days That Shook The World, to Cul-de-Sac. Kathy Razutis: “The reception given to the films we send varies from town to town, and depends on the films involved. Some are more popular than others. However, in general the series have been quite successful, and the program is now entering its third year.”’ The Cinematheque has also assembled the beginnings of a film catalogue through which it is now possible to rent west coast films in 30/60/90-minute units. According to Dave Tompkins, who is in charge of film distribution, this will allow individuals or groups to book a film package consisting of films that are unified stylistically, thematically, or in terms of a particular genre. In their new office ‘1616 W. Third Ave., Vancouver) the Cinematheque has also started a small film study center and‘a film archive. The film library contains film periodicals, books, and catalogues. The archive contains a collection of the work of west coast filmmakers (covering a ten-year span and numbering approximately 100 titles) including the work of filmmakers such as Al Razutis, David Rimmer, Byron Black and Al Sens. Tony Reif: “Tt is a fairly comprehensive anthology of west coast films of artistic merit, ranging from Denis Wheeler’s Potlatch to films by promising unknowns who are encouraged to bring in their prints.” The other section of the archive is comprised of prints which have been scrapped by the NFB, and which the Cinematheque wished to keep available on the west coast for reference and study. A small circulating collection of film classics has also been started. The Cinematheque is now offering the use of its film archives and screening facilities to students, teachers, and organizations interested in film education projects. Special showings of regular Cinematheque programs will also be available, providing a basis for discussions concerning film aesthetics, the socio-cultural aspects of film, and film his tory. At present, the only factors restricting the Pacific Cinematheque’s activities are the lack of space in the comfortable but small (82-seat) NFB theatre, and the absence of 35mm equipment, which in turn limits what can be shown. There is a growing audience for Cinematheque showings and extra late-night screening have had to be added for some films. Typical programming includes: a series of Quebec films, American comedies (1948-1966), a Mizoguchi retrospective, a Rossellini series (emphasizing period films concerned with historical figures), an early Renoir (1930s) program, a Fassbinder series, and ethnographic films. Tony Reif: “In presenting the ethnographic series we are trying to provide a view of other cultures and cultural groups which is different from that traditionally shown in both commercial ‘documentary’ film and on television. We hope the series will provoke some thought in terms of the responsibility of the western world towards these cultures vis-avis cultural maintenance and ecology. In this fertile environment, a tremendous resurgence of interest in film has developed. Film societies have been organized at all levels and are now viable. The awakened interest in film has spread and there is now some kind of film society or group at every junior college in the Vancouver area,as well as public libraries and art galleries. This in turn influences the programming presented by the Cinematheque. All in all the situation for the filmmaker, film student, and the general audience has brightened considerably with the coming of age of the Pacific Cinematheque. February 1977 / 49