The Appreciation of Film: The Postwar Film Society Movement and Film Culture in Britain

This book offers the first full account of the volunteer-led film society movement in Britain and its contribution to postwar film culture. It brings to life a lost history of alternative film exhibition and challenges the general assumption that the study of film began with university courses in film studies. Showing how film societies operated and the lasting impression they made on film, Richard MacDonald also details the history of film education in Britain, along the way addressing tensions that existed within the voluntary societies between avant-garde ideals and the desire to increase membership and participation.