Starting a Film Society in Victoria?
The FVFS — Federation of Victorian Film Societies — has helped hundreds of film societies & film clubs over the last 70 years to …
- get started
- solve problems of all sorts
- apply practical improvements
- find films & purchase screening rights
- put together film programs
- get registered with ACOFS
- save money
Focused on Victorians
The FVFS is your local, Victorian Film Society Federation with the responsibility of supporting Victorian Film Societies.
Because we are a local support group — run by Victorians for Victorians — we can offer member Film Societies services and facilities not available and not possible with a “national” body.
However, there are similar locally run Film Society Federations in every state (see the list of our “sister Federations” in the right-hand column) and, just like the FVFS, they focus on their state’s members. Along with the FVFS, all these state Federations are members of ACOFS — which means nation-wide cooperation and sharing, combined with highly localised support. It’s the best of both worlds.
As well as our extensive online resources …
- We offer assistance and advice tailored to our members in Victoria.
- We can offer to visit Film Societies in Victoria and meet your committee.
- We invite members to attend our regular Information Days and AGMs – in person.
- We aim to arrange at least two Information Days per year (and an AGM) at venues throughout Victoria, hosted by the many Victorian Film Societies.
Victoria is the home to more film societies than any other state and has the most effective well resourced state body to serve the needs of member societies.
Every Film Society is a Unique Vision
That’s the genius of the Film Society Movement!
Whether your Film Society specialises in foreign films, Arthouse, musical comedies, horror, fantasy, or a bit of everything … Whether you’re brand new or well-established, whether you run your Film Society in a home, a community hall, or a fully decked-out cinema, the FVFS is here to support you!
Because that’s what we do: Develop and share resources to help you get started and help your Film Society become better than ever.
Our quarterly newsletter and dozens of practical information sheets are treasure troves of ideas, problem-solving, and solid information.
What’s New on the Website?
The FVFS has expanded the section called “General DVD Library” and added a sales component.
Any member of the FVFS or of any other State Film Federation (ie all members of ACOFS) are invited to borrow or purchase DVDs from these catalogues under the “General DVD Library and Sales” section. If you then plan to screen that DVD to your members you will be responsible for seeking screening rights clearance. But to make this simpler, we have listed the last known agent handling the rights.
Each catalogue published has been presented by a different film society and therefore the conditions might vary slightly between catalogues.
Click HERE to go to the General DVD library & sales page.
Your Film Society & Success? That’s so “FVFS”!
Whether you need advice on screening rights or screening equipment … putting together your film program or putting together a film festival, we can help.
Find out more & let’s connect.
A bit more about the FVFS
Founded in 1949, the Federation of Victorian Film Societies (FVFS) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting the Film Society Movement across Victoria — film education and study, film appreciation, history, and culture. Our members are film societies as well as NPV (NonProfit Volunteer-run) film festivals and NPV cinemas across Victoria.
With 70 years experience, the FVFS is able to provide information, resources and advice on every aspect of starting and running a successful film society. We publish a regular newsletter, organize film and public liability insurance for members, and represent and defend the interests of our members when dealing with both the commercial and government sector.
The FVFS offers organizational, technical, legal and financial information and resources. For example, the FVFS can assist film societies wanting to move from 16mm film to DVD projection and can provide technical and programming advice. Under the Australian copyright laws it is not permitted to screen DVDs in public without prior permission from the rights holder and payment of an appropriate fee. We can advise you on how to identify the rights holders and apply for cost effective fees for “non-theatrical” screenings. The FVFS represents its members’ views and defends the interests of its members at ACOFS (the Australian Council of Film Societies), at the IFFS (at the International Federation of Film Societies), at film libraries, film and DVD distributors, and to State and National Government. The FVFS is a non-profit organization incorporated in Victoria and registered with the Australian Tax Office as a charity. It is run entirely by energetic volunteers drawn from representatives of member groups.
The Executive Committee
The FVFS executive committee consists of: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and up to 5 committee members. Between them, these individuals provide nearly all the FVFS services to members. Each member of the executive committee is himself/herself also actively involved in running a film society of their own.
Our current office bearers are:
Executive
- President: Henry Screen
- Vice President: Suzanne Nunn
- Secretary: Susan Davidson
- Treasurer: Ian Davidson
Committee
John Shortridge, Geoff Holmes, Kerry Deakin
To contact the committee click here.
FVFS Patron
Jake Wilson, FVFS Patron
We welcome Jake Wilson as the patron of the FVFS.
Born in London in 1978, Jake Wilson grew up in Melbourne and studied cinema at La Trobe University, where he was an editor of the student newspaper Rabelais and founded his own short-lived film society, the La Trobe Film Club, with a couple of friends.
Around the same time he began his career as a freelance film critic, serving as Melbourne correspondent for the long-running Sydney-based website Urban Cinefile, founded in 1997 in the early days of the Internet.
Soon after he began to write regularly for Senses of Cinema, one of the first in-depth online film magazines in the English language, where he became an editor in 2003.
In 2006 he started writing weekly film reviews for The Age, which are now syndicated to the Sydney Morning Herald and other Nine outlets around Australia, along with frequent feature articles including interviews with many well-known actors and directors.
Over the same period he has written for a variety of other publications, spoken publicly about film and related topics in many contexts, served on juries at international film festivals, and programmed film seasons at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image and elsewhere. His monograph Mad Dog Morgan, on the 1976 bushranger film of the same name, was published in 2015 by Currency Press as part of the Australian Screen Classics series.
Currently he teaches film history at the Australian College of the Arts (Collarts), and is among the curators at the Bulleke-Bek Brunswick Cinema (BBBC) which operates annually at GalleryGallery Inc.
At the start of 2025 he launched the Substack newsletter Moving Targets as a vehicle for his long-form critical writing, with a new essay each week at JakeWilson.com.au.
David Stratton, FVFS Patron (Retired)
David Stratton
For many years the FVFS has been privileged to enjoy the patronage of David Stratton. His knowledge and expertise on all matters cinematic is well known and he has been an enthusiastic and active promoter of the film society movement. David has now retired from public life; we thank him for his continued support and wish him well in retirement.