Dec. 8: Movie buffs will get a chance to interact with noted director, critic and writer from Australia, John Hood, at a seven-day film appreciation course which gets under way from December 14.

Organised by the Gauhati Cine Club, the course will be conducted jointly by Hood and Biren Das Sarma, professor of direction, Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Calcutta.

The course will be inaugurated by Hare Krishna Deka, president of the Cine Club, at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra. “The experts will try to acquaint the students with the nuances of film appreciation, direction, photography, various techniques and art of film criticism,” said Kanak Kalita, secretary of the club.

It is the film societies which organise film shows and film-based seminars, symposia and workshops. They play an important role in enriching the taste of cineastes. The Cine Club, the oldest one in Assam, was set up in 1965.

A Festival of World Cinema will also be organised by the Cine Club in collaboration with the directorate of cultural affairs, government of Assam at Rabindra Bhawan from December 25 to 31. More than 17 world famous classics will be screened.

Some of the world’s rare classics by some of the finest directors will be screened at the festival, which include films by Japanese maestro Akira Kurosawa and king of suspense Alfred Hitchcock.

“A whole range of classics will be screened during the festival. It is part of our endeavour to bring good cinema to the masses. We have a whole array of films which are not readily available here,” said Kalita.

“We have an ambitious plan of screening 40 rare classics every alternate Sunday from September next year. We also plan to organise shows in the major towns of Assam,” he added.

Prior to the film festival, a German film festival, organised by the club in collaboration with the German embassy was held in November at the Lakhiram Baruah Sadan. In this festival, seven feature films and as many short films were screened.

The club has neither a permanent office nor an auditorium. “But we have started a library of films and books in our makeshift office,” Kalita said. The Gauhati Cine Club also publishes a journal on cinema, Chitra Chinta.

“We collect our films from the FFSI and from the various embassies. But as the FFSI does not give much importance to the Northeast, we get help from Cine Central, Calcutta, the largest film society in the world. We also collect films from the directors straightaway,” Kalita added.