JFS - Who are we?

"Anyway, David, when they find out who we are they'll let us out."

f you just want information about Jersey then best ask WALLACE who also knows about cheese. Click any of the

to match the quote to the film or jump straight to the JFS today.

"In ancient times, hundred of years before the dawn of history..."

The first meeting of the Jersey Film Society took place on 11th December 1947 at the Cafe Bleu, West's Cinema, St. Helier.

Both the cafe and the cinema have long since been demolished, but the Film Society is still flourishing, and in 1996/7 it celebrated its 50th anniversary.

"Go-go is an art form."

Since it began the Film Society has been concerned with film as an art form, and it has shown literally hundreds of films that would not have been screened commercially. These films have been selected in accordance with the objectives of the Society, which are:

to encourage interest in and study of films as a form of art and as a medium of information and education;
to encourage an intelligent and discriminating attitude towards films; and
to enable its members to see films of cultural, artistic or technical merit which, owing to their age, country of origin, lack of appeal to the general public, or for any other reason, are not normally exhibited in commercial cinemas.

"There are two kinds of people in this world: Those that enter a room and turn the television set on and those that enter a room and turn the television set off."

The history of the Jersey Film Society is in many ways a reflection of wider social changes that have taken place over the last fifty years. During the late 1940's and early 1950's cinema-going was at its most popular, and in 1952 the membership of the Society peaked with 584 members. The advent of television, combined with the increased availability of other types of leisure activity, resulted in a gradual decline in the popularity of the cinema.

"This is just like television, only you can see much further."

General audience figures fell to such a level that by the early 1980's there was a real concern about the future of the cinema, and the imminent demise of the British film industry was being predicted. Despite this the Jersey Film Society showed imagination and flair and in 1987 was awarded 'Film Society of the Year' - the highest accolade for film societies across the British Isles.

"Time is like a circle. The declining arc is the past. The inclining arc is the future."

Fortunately, these predictions have not been realised: there has been an enormous revival of interest in the cinema in the last few years, and cinema attendances have doubled since the early 1980's. Even the British film industry, once pronounced terminally ill, is showing signs of health again, and it is producing films that have met with both commercial and critical success. On a local level, there has been a revival of interest in the Film Society, and membership levels are higher than at any time since 1971.

"Members are entitled to all privileges of the club, which includes dancing, snack bar, soft drink bar, and gentlemanly relaxation with the opposite gender."

he JFS today
We now show all films at the Jersey Arts Centre in the main theatre using DVD technology. From 2001/2 more films were added offering 16-17 in the season. In 2001 Phill Walkley introduced a European Movie Masterworks Day and from 2002/3 the JFS occasionally add two "masterworks" films for members only (eg My Night with Maud, Pather Panchali, but not these!) each season in the Maria Ritchie Room. Membership has increased each year and is often the highest for over thirty years.