Dartmouth is a small town around 6500 people, and lies at the mouth of the beautiful River Dart. Some years ago the local cinema was pulled down with a promise to relocate, which of course never materialised.

Five years earlier, the Dartmouth Film Society was conceived, and with an Arts Council grant - enough to buy a cranky 16mm projector and speakers, films returned to Dartmouth. With no permanent home, films were taken to restaurants, hotels and the highlight, a showing of Jaws on a local beach. Things were rolling, and we were honoured with the British Federation of Film Societies Best New Film Society Award.

Alan Parker presented the award.

We then found a new home in the Town Council Guildhall, a much larger space with a stage, but how were we to create an atmosphere and fill the space and make some money - as the coffers were dwindling?

We had acquired a much used video projector which we installed in the ceiling, but setting the video & mixing board & CD player out on tables was still an onerous task, we obviously needed a equipment rack/flight case. We started to run our own bar to provide additional funds, glasses of wine & beer, tables set out with candles and dishes of nibbles, and a speciality of the night e.g. Hot chocolate with marshmallows for the film Chocolat, Caribbean rum punch for Buena Vista Social Club, mind you, Virgin Suicides caused a bit of a problem, as did What Women Want!

To generate up-front income, the committee agreed that a one-off payment of £20 at the beginning of the year was to include membership and a years viewing for all films except special events. No more the hassle for members of having to get tickets in advance and for us, an end to the interminable time and cost of printing and distributing tickets and then collecting all the money. This was an instant success, and we now have over 270 paid up members.

Thanks to this initiative, we now have Surround Sound, and - our pride and joy - a new Hitachi Data Projector.

At Easter, we held a free children's showing of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone with an evening performance for members, a total audience of over 220 people. That year in May, to mark the opening of the Dartmouth Music Festival, we held a special event - the showing of Moulin Rouge in an open-air National Heritage fort on the water's edge - a magnificent venue. Tickets were sold at £3.50 for members with a one-off membership for guests at £5. There were 200 seats available and we were sold out two days before the event! Everyone had a fantastic evening, great picture, great sound, amazing atmosphere, it made all of us who put in hours and hours of time and hard work realise why we are involved in a film society.

- words by Marilyn Bird
- pictures by Anna Uhr Deli