Film Selection
Stage one
Each audience member and all who live or work in Rusthall or the surrounding area are encouraged to suggest films by completing the contact form. Each person may submit up to 6 films. Anonymous submissions are not eligible. Please include the year the film was made (or director's name) if you want to suggest a specific release. These suggested films are then passed on to a selection panel for consideration.
Stage two
Twice a year all all volunteers, sponsors, Facebook followers, and those on the (now obsolescent) members list are invited to consider the long list created in stage one. Each receives the list of nominated films a week before votes are cast so that trailers may be watched and research completed. Voters are asked to assign 100 votes each. After prelimary validation to confirm that media and licenses are likely to be available, the films with the most votes move to the second ballot in stage three.
Stage three
The short list that comes out of the second stage is then sent to all those on our newsletter distribution list. Recipients are asked to select their films of choice by allocating 100 votes split between any number of films (maximum 40 votes per film, active volunteers are weighted by 133%). The most popular films (subject to confirmation of media availability and suitable license permissions) are then chosen to form the basis of the next season and will be screened in the six months following. Any films not selected are then open to be put forward to the following long list - the top few films that did not get voted onto the play list are automatically carried forward.
Short films
Before the main Saturday evening film we usually screen one or two short films or arrange other entertainment themed to complement the main feature - typically totalling 20 minutes. While all members are welcome to submit suggestions using the contact form, the choice of which film(s) to be screened in this slot rests with the volunteer impresario. The shorts are intended to be an interesting surprise. They are often films that deal with a controversial topic, could be in a subtitled foreign language, possibly a documentary, perhaps locally made, and are usually not from the main stream production houses. They are hoped to give the discussion group something to compare and contrast with the main feature at the post-film discussion group.