Calcutta Film Society was

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

’s second film society 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 fou ...

. It was founded in 1947, just after independence, by Satyajit Ray, Chidananda Dasgupta, 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, scree ...

, '' The Battleship Potemkin'' 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 Diptendu Pramanick (July 18, 1910 – December 15, 1989) was a Bengali film personality from Calcutta. He was the founder secretary of the ''Eastern India Motion Pictures Association'' in Calcutta, India - a fraternity of film personnel which ...

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 Chidananda Dasgupta 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 him ...

, 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 ''Our Films, Their Films'' is an anthology of film criticism by noted Bengali filmmaker, composer and writer Satyajit Ray. Collecting articles and personal journal excerpts, it was first published in India in 1976; an English translation was pu ...

'' (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 (la ...

, directors Jean Renoir, John Huston. Ray later recounted his meeting with Renoir as an important turning point in shaping his cinematic vision of his first film, '' Pather Panchali'' 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 p ...

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. Betw ...

became a turning point in the history of Indian cinema as it was first time, Indian audience had access to Italian neorealism 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