At the annilal meeting of the New Zealand Film Institute at Hamilton in January, delegates honoured the Wellington Society by electing its president, Mr Dennis Garrett, president of the Institute.
In the past the office of president of the Institute hss been conferred as an honour for service in raising the standards of films screened in this country or for particular efforts in furthering the Insttute's aims in the community. Few Institute presidents have actually resided in Wellington - the headquarters of its working comittee. Undoubtedly delegates had this aspect well in mind when they elected Mr. Garrett president but, unfortunatel for Mr. Garrett, he will not be able to sit back and rest on his well-earned laurels - and he's not the person to do that.
The delgates at Hamilton agreed on a very strenuous programme for the coming year and had plenty of good constructive criticism to make about Institute programmes. This will all have to be faced by the working committee In Wellington this year. Having the president in Wellington will mean a lot to the members of this committee. It means that they will be able to call on him to make public statements at the proper time and whenever necessary. He is handy too for deputations and should be able to confer with other committees of national bodies who may assist film societies achieve their aims. The strong working committee which was elected at the meeting augurs well for the future.
Following a discussion on censorship regulations it was proposed that the Institute should join forces with the National Council of Women and interested educational bodies for the purpose of considering the new regulations and perhaps take part in a combined
deputation to the Minister of Internal Affairs about their implimentation.
Elections resulted:
President: D. Garrett;
Chairman of the Working Committee: W. Scott;
Programme Organiser: R. Hayes;
Two Committee members:
H. Power (proposed by Auckland) and L. Barrett (proposed by Wellington);
Treasurer: R. Ritchie;
Secretary: D. C arey.
The location of the next annual meeting of the Institute was fixed for Wellington.
by Hilton Power
The Institute Working Committee is already making good progress with the large number of recommendations from the annual conference. A special committee has been asked to draw up proposals and recommendations in consultation with other interested groups for a film festival.
The Working Committee decided to approach the National Film Library and the National Film Unit about the important question of imported films which merit preservation for artistic or historic interest. The approaches will be made with a vieiv to working out a practical policy and then seeing what may be done to persuade the authorities to adopt the scheme.
The New Zealand agency for Sight and Sound will probably be taken over by the Institute on behalf of member societies and this should make it easier for an all-out drive for subscribers to this journal which deserves the widest possible support.
One of the most far-reaching recommendations of the conference concerned the future policy of the Institute and it has been decided to first obtain as much relevant information from member societies before proceeding with the consideration of possible future developments.
It is interesting that the Institute doesn't automatically receive the annual reports of societies, nor do the societies table any information about their operations at the annual conference. Possibly this may be remedied, if it is considered necessary, when the Working Committee has redrafted the rules of the Institute as they were instructed by the annual conference.
The Censorship Regulations are long overdue and the Institute has decided to place its views before a number of influential and interested national organisations as well as members of Parliament in anticipation of the question being discussed during the next session of the House.
Max Riske was elected president of the Wellington Film Society at the annual meeting in February. Although the meeting was poorly attended some good questions were asked by members and some excellent suggestions were made about how the Society could improve and extend its activities.
Mr Douglas, who was elected later to the committee, suggested that the Film Society should make block bookings and have film evenings at local theatres when there was a particularly good film. This suggestion was noted and will be considered by the committee at its first meeting.
The vice-president, Mr Ron Ritchie, who took the chair in the absence of Denny Garrett who was ill, expressed concern at a big fall in membership last year. He appealed to members to approach as many of their friends as possible who might be interested in joining the Society, He said he hoped, if there was enough interest in the city, that a new society would be formed in the Hutt Valley this year but that this would only be possible if the Society could raise an initial membership of 100.
The resignation of Denny Garrett from the office of president was received with regret and he was elected vice-president. Mr Garrett said his added duties as president of the Institute may prevent him from taking as active a part in the Society's affairs and for this reason he was standing down.
Peggy Wiltshire's resignation from the committee was also received with regret. Peggy had been a stalwart in the organisation of the special group meetings at the Library committee room and the responsibilities she assumed were very considerable.
Hilton Power reported on the work of the special constitution committee and said this work had proved bigger than had at first been expected. The draft of the new constitution would soon be circulated to members.