Dear CFC Members
It is now more than three months since I wrote you all, so the first thing to say is that we on the Committee hope you are all in good health and coping with – should I say ‘enduring’ – the strictures imposed by ‘Lockdown Mk.2’.
In August I had hoped that by now, as we approach Christmas, there would be some good news to report on the prospects for planning a further season of CFC. Sadly, this is not the case. The Cramphorn Studio, our venue, is still closed and looks like remaining so in to the New Year. But it is not all gloom and doom. As you know, this month heralded the prospect of a vaccine which could be rolled out in early 2021 and which might well mean that our club, and the Arts in general, could start to flourish again. Let’s live in hope!
The on line streaming platforms which I mentioned in August are still providing a rich diet of recent films. The BFI player is particularly rewarding. There is now another service, Your Screen, aimed at audiences such as ourselves, which is being provided by the Electric Picture House of Wotton. It costs £9.99 a film (£2 discount if you use the code WOTTON20) and the revenue generated is to be shared with independent cinemas. Go to www.WOTTONCINEMA.com and explore! This does put the CFC subscription of just over £4 a film into perspective!
I note also that some cinemas have (had) opened, such as the Odeon in Chelmsford, for limited bookings and reduced audience numbers and will, I assume, be open again after December 2. Terrestrial TV, especially the BBC, continues to make extra efforts to show classic movies and, albeit late at night, some recent independent ones. Another useful on-line tool is tv-films.co.uk which provides a comprehensive list of films for the coming week and shows the IMDB rating as well as other helpful information.
The Club’s collection of books, DVDs and CDs which many of you so kindly donated for our Foyer stall has been languishing in my garage since March and, as the winter comes upon us, was in danger of becoming damp and mouldy. I can therefore report that it has been donated to charities, including Oxfam and Books to Africa. Again, optimistically, a new collection will be needed when, not if, we start a new season of the club.
It remains for me to wish you all a Merry Christmas, hoping that we can spend it with friends and family, and a better New Year.
Take care.
Peter Bunyan
(Chair of Chelmsford Film Club Committee)