Top honours for film club

Oct 9 2009 by Stuart Wilson

FILM buffs are celebrating after their club was named best of British.

The Ayr Film Society landed a distinction award at the industry’s top night.

Gongs were handed out by the British Film Society to the best groups in the land.

And Ayr maintained its reputation as of the country’s leading film societies with the coveted award.

Treasurer Ron Currie revealed: “These are very important awards which recognise excellence in cultural and community cinema.

“We have a good record at the awards and won quite a few in the 90s.

“We decided to enter again this year and won the distinction certificate in the best programming category.”

The Ayr society showcase films from years gone by in a theatre at the University of the West of Scotland’s Craigie campus.

The membership-only club stands at more than 120 people, who regularly pack out the screenings of contemporary films.

Ron added: “We screen 18 films per year and usually get 90 to 100 people coming in for each film.

“The audience tends to be older people at the moment, but we’d love to see younger people coming along – especially with us being based at the university – and we do offer a student rate.

“It only costs £55 for the year, which works out at less than £3 per film.”

The BFFS grant awards to societies who deliver a service of premium films to their communities.

Seasons under consideration may be themed or streamed, but all should offer choice and quality.

Ayr’s society kicked off its 2009/10 season last week and will continue to show a wide range of cultural films each Thursday.

For more information on the schedule, or how to become a member, visit www.ayrfilmsociety.co.uk