First comprehensive account of the seven-decade long journey of Film Society Movement in India, and how it helped Indian cinema come into its own.

Till 1950s, 80 % of the films screened in India were from abroad. Today, only 10 % films shown in India are of foreign origin. This massive transformation is credited to the historic Film Society Movement in India, which became a catalyst to a new film culture as we see it today.

"Cherian faithfully follows the progress of the movement with utmost care … [he] seems to have achieved the impossible."
-- Adoor Gopalakrishnan (From his Foreword)

[This] book is a valuable addition…and certainly among the very rare ones written about the Film Society Movement.
-- Shyam Benegal (from his Note inside the book)

Cherian has meticulously documented evolution of films in India …. The amount of effort that has gone into this work is colossal.
-- Vijaya Mulay, Founding Joint Secretary, FFSI

When I finished the book, I realised that what I had done was an enquiry into the deep passion and world view that I carried all my life, on good films and appreciation of art in general. The book indeed is a look at the social, political, systemic, personal influences, and a movement which forced me into such a passion. In the process, if I can get to the origin, progress, decline, trials and tribulations of the Film Society Movement, with its players and their success, failures and survival tactics, I have achieved my goal.
-- VK Cherian, Author

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Review in Newspaper
The Hindu - A window to the world - VK Cherian on the incredible journey of India’s Film Society Movement

Table of Contents

• List of Abbreviations
• List of Photographs
• Foreword by Adoor Gopalakrishnan
• A Note from Shyam Benegal
• Message from Gautam Kaul, President FFSI
• Preface

Chapter 1: A Nation Awaits a “Pather Panchali”

• Introduction
• History of Film Medium-Studies and Appreciation
• Calcutta Film Society and Search for New Idiom in Films
• Chalachitra Akademi - An Unrealised Dream
• Arrival of the Evangelist Marie Seton
• Pather Panchali - A Toast of Times for the Country, Defining India’s Idiom in Films
• Raising film as a new art and defining its aesthetic contours

Chapter 2: The growth Path—From Calcutta Film Society (CFS) to The Federation of Film Societies of India (FFSI)

• The Nascence and Revival of CFS
• Film Societies in Other Cities
• Delhi Film Society
• Bhopal’s International Film Club
• The Lucknow Film Society
• The Madras Film Society
• The Bombay Film Society
• Patna Film Society
• The Roorkie Film Society
• Agra and Faizabad Film Societies
• The Political and Governmental Patronage
• The Excitement of the Success of Pather Panchali
• Towards a Federation of Film Societies
• The Spread of the Movement with the Government’s support.

Chapter 3: Visionaries of the Film Society Movement and the new film culture.

• Satyajit Ray
• Indira Gandhi
• Marie Seton
• Chidananda Das Gupta
• Vijaya Mulay
• Khwaja Ahmad Abbas
• Ammu Swaminadhan
• Anil Srivastava
• P K Nair
• Professor Satish Bahadur
• Jean Bhownagary

Chapter 4: The Networks of Films and Film Buffs

• Films as An Art and Its Appreciation
• Sourcing Good Films - Pre FSSI and NFAI days
• The Central Film Library to NFAI
• Entry of Eastern Bloc and others—Non English Films
• FTII and FFC Films Make an Entry
• Creation of Alternate Network of Film Screening
• Organising the Right Audience
• Film Appreciation as a Class Act

Chapter 5: The Driving Forces behind the Film Societies Movement

• Who Were The Film Society Members? A personal account
• How did They Begin It?
• A New Nation’s Yearning for A Place under The Sun in films
• The Political Patronage
• The Academic, Artistic Interventions
• The University Film Council of UGC and FTII-NFAI Summer Residency
• Uncensored Films
• Extension of Other Movements—Literary, Library and Leftist

Chapter 6: The Great Fall and Resurgence through digital mode

• Chitralekha — The Best Experiment of the Film Society Movement fails
• The Emergence of National TV, Video Libraries, Satellite TV and fall of Eastern bloc
• Film Society Movement at Crossroads
• The Format Changes — Video, DVD and Internet
• Advent of Internet
• Enter the Digital Mode
• Film Societies Enters Digital Era
• Regional Response to Crisis

Chapter 7: The Star Film Societies and the Survivors

• The Calcutta Film Society
• Cine Central, Calcutta
• Cine Club of Calcutta
• The Delhi Film Society
• Film Forum—Bombay
• Prabhat Chitra Mandal, Mumbai
• Suchitra Film Society—Bangalore
• Chitralekha Film Society—Thiruvananthapuram
• Chalachithra Film Society, Thiruvananthapuram
• Aswani Film Society—Kozhikode
• The Madras Film Society, Chennai
• International Cine Appreciation Foundation, Chennai

Chapter 8: The Policy Shift and Waning Political Patronage

• Policy Paralysis
• FTII, NFDC, NFAI, Identity Crisis
• Policy Initiatives by State Governments
• Waning Political Patronage
• Government as a Cheer Leader for Box Office Films

Chapter 9: Towards a New Film Culture — from Crass to Class!

• Cinema from an Uncultured to a Classic Act
• Margi Impregnating The Desi
• Positioning of the Film Society Movement
• Not “Organized But Widespread”
• FFSI’s Makeover Plans
• Focus on State Units, Universities
• What Filmmakers say about FSM
• Indian Films and Film Society Movement in Transition

Annexures:

• (Chapter 1) Genesis of Indian films.
• (Chapter 3) The Memorandum of Association of FFSI
• List of FFSI Presidents from 1959-2015

• About the Author
• Index