As we head towards their 30th anniversary celebration at Broadway Cinema & Theatre, we spoke to Peter Griffiths, about the changes since the group was founded in 1987 and their plans for the future.
How long have you been involved with Letchworth Film Club?
I’ve been a member of the audience from the start (1987) but I wasn’t part of the committee until 1995, and didn’t become the chairman until 1997 (I’ve just realised that is an anniversary too!)
How many members are there?
At the end of last season, we had 89 members. But in addition to this, there is a steady stream of guests who pick and choose individual titles that they want to see from the programme chosen by members. Two pioneers from ’87 are still members today. William Armitage, who set up the original Letchworth Arts and Leisure Group (LALG), which the original Letchworth Film Group was a part of, and Sean Boughton from our original committee.
What do you remember from the early days when the group first started?
In the beginning, the Broadway Cinema was still a single screen cinema, so at that time we were housed at Plinston Hall, which had projection equipment to show 35mm films. We were then invited by the Heritage Foundation to transfer to the Broadway Cinema in 2005, which was excellent for the group as we got to watch the films with the state of the art facilities available there.
What is your favourite film of all time?
I don’t know if I’d be able to answer that, but the period when I discovered cinema was in the late 50s to early 60s, and some of the names from that period made a big impression: Nouvelle Vague in France (Truffaut, Demy, Resnais, Varda); the equivalent in Italy (Antonioni, Fellini); the homegrown Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson; the American mavericks Welles, Losey, Kubrick & Cassavetes; Ray from India... it's hard to stop!
However, I don't live in the past and try to keep up: recent names I do not want to miss are films by Sofia Coppola, Wes Anderson, Coen bros, Haneke & Lynch.
Raising Arizona (the film screening at their anniversary celebration) is an early example of the Coen bros. They are highly sophisticated in their humour these days (think Fargo or Hail Caesar). This was only their second feature; made in 1987 it is rather wackier than their style now, but interesting to see where they have come from.
What are your hopes for Letchworth Film Club’s future?
I hope the group will continue to grow. We have also been fortunate in having excellent support from Jason Valentine at the Broadway Cinema. Far from thinking “who are these people running a Film Club?” he has fully backed our operation in many ways, which has been great. The difference between when we started and where we are now is quite amazing and I hope to see that continue.
Tickets are still available for the screening of Raising Arizona on 14 September. To book, visit the Broadway website or call the box office on 01462 681088.
