GUWAHATI, May 16 - The Shillong Film Society initiated the cine club movement in the State. The movement, which started in France in April 1907, is basically aimed at educating the people on the effective use of the medium of cinema. In India, renowned filmmaker late Satyajit Ray founded the first Indian film society, the Calcutta Film Society, in 1947.
The Federation of Film Societies of India was formed in 1959, as a central organisation combining the film societies of Calcutta (now Kolkata), Delhi, Bombay (now Mumbai), Madras (now Chennai) and Patna. Satyajit Ray was elected its founder president.
The Shillong Film Society was founded in 1962 and since 1963 it started functioning in a full-fledged manner. It was followed by the formation of the Gauhati Cine Club in 1965. The founders of the Shillong Film Society were encouraged by the Calcutta Film Society.
Speaking as the �Guest of the Month� of the Guwahati Press Club here today, founder treasurer of the Shillong Film Society, Trinesh Barua, said noted educationist Suresh Rajkhowa was its founder president, while Md Sadulla was its founder secretary. Its other members included Trinesh Barua, Padum Barua, Bhaben Mohan Barua (novelist Kanchan Barua), Dwijen Sarma, Ram Goswami, former DAVP Director Pulin Behari Barthakur and Ramen Phukan.
Addressing the function as another �Guest of the Month�, founder secretary of the Gauhati Cine Club, veteran singer and journalist Apurba Kumar Das said that legendary musician and filmmaker late Dr Bhupen Hazarika encouraged them to form the Gauhati Cine Club. Its founder members included Dr Hazarika (patron), former Sahitya Akademi chairman Dr Birendra Kumar Bhattacharyya, Prof Anandeswar Sarma, Bhupen Barua, Phani Talukdar, short-story writer Nirode Choudhury, noted singer-actor Kamal Narayan Choudhury and noted singer and academician Birendranath Datta, among others.
Das narrated how they managed to screen films with the help of the hired cinema projector operators. The Gauhati Cine Club had no permanent office and till date it has no permanent office. They used to borrow films from various sources, including the Federation of Film Societies of India and the foreign embassies. But both Barua and Das maintained that their organisations led to the rise of a number of filmmakers like Jahnu Barua, Hemanta Das and many others.
Late Padum Barua, who was associated with the Shillong Film Society, could carve a niche for himself as a filmmaker with his Ganga Chilonir Pakhi, Trinesh Barua said.
