Film-lovers in and around Macclesfield can thank a small band of enthusiasts for first forming what is now a thriving society dedicated to enjoying many of the best films in world cinema from one year to the next.
Silkscreen Film Society, like a host of other societies around the country, occupies a special and much valued place in the community – one which is way beyond the limits of multiplexes and cinema chains.
Each season we feature a new programme of selected films designed to offer members the chance to regularly see a range of high quality, original works which normally never feature in other cinemas.
Films are shown fortnightly in the auditorium at the Old Sunday School – twice a night, normally at 5.30pm and 8pm, to accommodate all our members. Each film is introduced by a short talk from a member. The season also usually includes a ‘short film’ evening and an evening talk about some aspect of film, and the AGM is held each March.
Everything to do with the running of the Society is carried out by volunteers, from main committee to film selection committee to stewarding, projection, finance and publicity. The people to contact for most questions are currently:
| Ruth Simms | Chair and Film Selection |
| Ruth Smith | Secretary |
| Tim Marten | Membership |
| Richard Wilson | Treasurer |
| Roger Noble | Technical & projection |
| Mary Amis | Rota Organiser |
| Paul Simms | Website admin |
High quality projection
Silkscreen updated its projection equipment to high-definition in 2010. We play films on a cinema-sized screen from high-definition Blu-ray disc, or when not available in that format from DVD.
Blu-ray provides significantly better picture quality than DVD, but our Blu-ray players will “upconvert” DVDs to provide improved pictures from this lower-resolution source. Projection is through a Panasonic high-definition digital projector which retains the full resolution of the Blu-ray discs.
The sound uses a digital sound-processor providing full surround-sound for films which support this. We use three stereo amplifiers driving three front loudspeakers, two rear and a separate bass loudspeaker.