Calcutta Film Society was

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

’s second

film society A film society is a membership-based club where people can watch screenings of films which would otherwise not be shown in mainstream cinemas. In Spain, Ireland and Italy, they are known as "cineclubs", and in Germany they are known as "filmclubs" ...

in the city of

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

(then Calcutta),

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. It was founded in 1947, just after independence, by

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...

Chidananda Dasgupta Chidananda Das Gupta ( bn, চিদানন্দ দাশগুপ্ত) (20 November 1921 – 22 May 2011)—family name sometimes spelled 'Dashgupta' and 'Dasgupta'—was an Indian filmmaker, film critic, a film historian and one of the ...

, RP Gupta,

Bansi Chandragupta Bansi Chandragupta (1924–1981) was an Indian art director and production designer, regarded among the greatest of art directors of Indian film industry. He won Filmfare Best Art Direction Award thrice, for '' Seema'' in 1972, for ''Do Jhoot' ...

Harisadhan Dasgupta Harisadhan Dasgupta (1923–1996) was an Indian film director from Calcutta who was most prolific in the 1950s and 1960s. Dasgupta specialized in surveying subjects of fascination to the Bengali public. Dasgupta attended the University of So ...

and others. The 1925 silent film directed by

Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenw ...

, ''

The Battleship Potemkin '' Battleship Potemkin'' (russian: Бронено́сец «Потёмкин», ''Bronenosets Potyomkin''), sometimes rendered as ''Battleship Potyomkin'', is a 1925 Soviet silent drama film produced by Mosfilm. Directed and co-written by S ...

'' was the first film screened at the film society, which over the years developed the reputation of having the "most cine-literate audiences in the country". It was revived in 1956 with the efforts of stalwarts like Dasgupta, Vijaya Mulay, Diptendu Pramanick and Satyajit Ray. CFS revival-1956

Today it is seen as an important harbinger of New Wave cinema in India, as it allowed first hand access to world cinema to local viewers and in time started the film society movement in India.

History

Although a film society was formed by documentary filmmakers in Bombay in 1942, this was the first film society dedicated to feature films. Satyajit Ray then a young aspiring film maker provided film books and magazines, while

offer a room in his home for the meetings. And despite tough censorship policies, under the "Indian Cinematograph Act 1918" of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, which still in enforced censorship rule to all gathering for cinema viewing, they survived low membership during the first five years viewing mainly Russian and European films. The society also started a bulletin designed by Ray, and several of his article were later published in the book, '' Our Films, Their Films'' (1972). Noted film personalities were invited to speak at the society which they did on several occasions, including Russian actor,

Nikolay Cherkasov Nikolay Konstantinovich Cherkasov (russian: Никола́й Константи́нович Черка́сов; 14 September 1966) was a Soviet and Russian actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1947). Career He was born in Saint Petersburg (lat ...

, directors

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...

. Ray later recounted his meeting with Renoir as an important turning point in shaping his cinematic vision of his first film, ''

Pather Panchali ''Pather Panchali'' (; ) is a 1955 Indian Bengali (language), Bengali-language Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray and produced by the Government of West Bengal. It is an adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Ba ...

'' which he explained to Renoir when he was visiting India to look for locations for his film '' The River'', in which Ray assisted Renoir. In the following years, when the first

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common pla ...

was organized in 1952, the society was extensively consulted for the films to be invited to the festival. The festival according to film historian,

Jerzy Toeplitz Jerzy Toeplitz AO (24 November 190924 July 1995) was a Polish film educator and theorist. He was the co-founder of the Polish Film School, and later took up an appointment in Australia for the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Bet ...

became a turning point in the history of

Indian cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

as it was first time, Indian audience had access to

Italian neorealism Italian neorealism ( it, Neorealismo), also known as the Golden Age, is a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class. They are filmed on location, frequently with non-professional actors. They pri ...

as well as new Japanese cinema.

References

{{Reflist Culture of Kolkata Film organisations in India Arts organizations established in 1947 Organisations based in Kolkata Cinema of Bengal 1947 establishments in West Bengal