Join the Townsville Cinema Group to watch movie gold
A Townsville club offers members the chance to watch obscure, offbeat and foreign films that normally wouldn’t see the light of day in regional cinemas. HOW TO JOIN >>
Townsville
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DIVERSIFYING theatrical culture and motion picture reach in Townsville is Bill Anderson’s hope for members of the Townsville Cinema Group.
The group’s treasurer has been part of the association for 10 years and said the club aimed to showcase international movie gold in town.
“We bring to Townsville cinema films that would not normally make it into normal cinemas,” he said.
“Cinemas only bring mainstream films but we bring unusual, offbeat and foreign films to Townsville.”
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Mr Anderson said the group rented its own 190-seat theatre at Event Cinemas in the CBD and showed films that would otherwise be overlooked at regular movie theatres.
“We will show 30 films that Townsville would otherwise not have access to and we see them on the big screen and it is a congenial group,” he said.
“This brings more to Townsville to reduce the feeling of isolation being in North Queensland.”
The Canadian-born Australian said selecting the movies to feature was a “very democratic process”.
“We have a member on Magnetic Island and he sources available films and sees what is playing in Melbourne and we have a voting process on the website so that members can register their votes,” he said.
“We also have a voting system where people can fill out a slip at the end of the movie and we take that feedback on board.”
Mr Anderson said the group showcased award-winning masterpieces to stretch the minds of their members.
“Right now there is a popular film called Parasite that was made in Korea and it has won the Palme d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival and it might be the first time a foreign film will win best film at the Oscars,” he said.
“We are showing that movie at our opening night so people in Townsville have access to what is currently being rated as one of the best films in the world. But cinemas won’t show it because it isn’t a typical film because it has subtitles,” he said.
Mr Anderson said the group had some 180 active members who also enjoyed each other’s company outside the movie theatre.
“Ten days ago we had the meeting to select the films for next year’s program and we were in the pool for half the afternoon while we worked on selecting the films,” he said.
How to join
Contact: Bill Anderson
Contact number: 0402 915 275
E-mail: treasurer@cinemagroup.org.au
Website: cinemagroup.org.au
When: Every 2nd Thursday between March and October
Membership: $110 per year or $15 casual screening
Originally published as Join the Townsville Cinema Group to watch movie gold