by Curtis John
I must admit that despite having a sincere love of film
programming that I was grossly unaware of its origins. Putting together what
you hope is a solid collection of films and knowing instinctively but not truly
knowing in reality whether the audience will truly appreciate it is a difficult
thing; it mirrors filmmaking and other arts form in that way – both of which I
know from experience. But even
without that familiarity, page after page of Cinema 16’s birth, ending, and
inspirations in Scott McDonald’s Cinema
16: Documents Toward a History of the Film Society are illuminating; with
that familiarity, it opens up a torrent of ideas of how to do whatever is creatively
necessary to establish similar lofty goals. Personally, the introduction is a bookmark heavy page turner
and inspired my future programming goals and desired outcomes, especially with Vogel’s
initial notes on how show respect for your audience (while not blindly catering
to their every interest) and how to understand your members.
As important as it was for Vogel and his wife Marcia to
achieve their goals of serving a “vast potential audience”[1]
with a variety of “simple entertainment with a touch of current events
awareness”[2],
they deftly realized the political ramifications of controlling the film image
and that filmmakers needed a continuous forum to make that clear - their own society. Even if one did not care for the films at
every presentation, and as McDonald expresses this would happen regularly
(beyond the arguments between the advocates for avant-garde cinema versus
documentary as the focus of Cinema 16) their goal was to be subversive as well
as to be dialectical and create “maximum thought – and perhaps action – on the
part of the audience”[3] to show the
power of film and how it can be used to change society. But they also got the core of film
going, that beyond genre and star worship how it can be, “a means of getting in
touch with the immense and fascinating variety in the ways people live and with
the myriad ways in which individuals express their inner struggles.”[4]
Past film festivals, which are commonplace now, reading
about the array of micro and mobile cinemas in Incite issue #4 that
mirror the scope of Cinema 16 and in many respects have grown beyond Vogel and
his cohorts vision is very telling for the future of subversive and ultra-indie
cinema. Yes, the Film Society of
Lincoln Center and similar groups do this to a more
spectacular degree, but in 16’s spirit what’s really subversive about them?
If you haven't, check out the documentary on Amos Vogel, Film as a Subversive Art: Amos Vogel and Cinema 16 made in 1993. It is having problems loading so just click the link.
- Curtis John
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