By Rose Finlay, Film Group president
OVIES
Films have a special place in the hearts of many people, and our club has a long history of supporting the film industry through the Film Group. Our members go to the press screenings of upcoming films and write reviews each month. For over thirty years, the Film Group has been an active part of the AWC Hamburg, and our members are passionate about film in all of its forms. Originally started in 1993 by Neptune Ingwersen with her Flick Picks reviews in
Currents, it evolved into its current form in 1995 under the organization of Becky Tan.
In addition to publishing regularly in Currents, the Film Group has for the past twenty years enjoyed publishing on our self-funded website, Kinocritics. com. We have also had reviews published in the Hamburg Guide, Angloinfo. com, and on the AWC Hamburg website, awchamburg. org. Not only do our members regularly go to press screenings in Hamburg, they also go to world-renowned film festivals, such as the Berlinale, Sundance, Tribeca, BFI London, and more. Several times a year, we also self-publish our own special edition of Currents, The Film Supplement, which is all about the various film festivals our members attend around the world each year.
It’ s not just all hard work though— we try to let loose a few times a year as well. Nancy Tilitz hosts an annual Oscar Party with a Governor’ s Ball buffet, and whoever predicts the most winners gets to take home an Oscar statuette of her own. In years past, our members have also hosted dinners, teas, film viewings, and discussion events.
Perhaps the best part of the Film Group are the friendships we build. I have personally made some life-long friends through the group, and it was here that I first felt welcomed when I moved to Hamburg back in 2012. I still remember it like it was yesterday: Becky and I went to see the press screenings of the rather mediocre The Expendables 2. I was only twenty-four years old and very nervous to be attending a press screening, feeling very much like an imposter within the crowd of older professionals. Becky, in her usual cheerful way, showed me what to do and who to know, and I soon came to learn that our group was well known amongst the Hamburg film critics. I moved away from Hamburg in 2014, but even though I live far away, I have still remained a member of the AWC Hamburg, in large part due to the Film Group. I have been happy to continue to contribute and run the group for many years. And I know I am not alone: several of our members continue to write and help out years after leaving Hamburg, a testament, I think, to the enduring strength of the friendships and experiences we enjoy from this unique group.
I hope to perhaps inspire some of you other film lovers to consider joining our wonderful group! AWC Hamburg members are lucky to have such a unique opportunity to attend press screenings and be regularly published. If you would like to learn more, please do not hesitate to contact me at filmgroup @ awchamburg. org. I look forward to hearing from you soon!
CURRENTS 35