Laura Power
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 3, 2007

HAY RIVER - Marilyn Barnes had been living in Hay River for years when she finally spoke up about her desire for a film club in the town.

Brenda Nelson, left, Mo Viellard, centre, and Marilyn Barnes along with Cameron Clement (not in picture) were the "core four" several years ago in the first years of the Hay River Film Club. - photo courtesy of Marilyn Barnes

She had been involved in one during her university years in Regina and 15 years ago, at the age of 50, she found herself in a position to form another one.

At a dinner party, she expressed her wish, and she was surprised when her friends Mo Viellard and Cameron Clement took it upon themselves to carry it out.

"They were film buffs, they just loved their movies, and they're extremely knowledgeable about them," she said. "It had always been in the back of my mind but I just didn't think it was possible."

As head librarian at the NWT Centennial Library at the time, Barnes was in a position to create a venue for the group.

"We had to use a film projector because we wanted the screen to be big enough, and of course we didn't have the technology..." she remembered.

The three friends, along with Brenda Nelson, became what she calls "the core four" in a club which started with eight members. In the first few years of the club's existence, they took the initiative and organized much of the group's activities.

The group met several times per year to watch classic movies from the 1930s and 1940s. But as she explained, the membership was not enough to keep the group running financially. They received some community funding, which helped them survive a little longer.

The transient group has changed a lot, with only a few original members remaining. The only one of "the core four" still with the group is Barnes.

Now, the group still meets once a month to socialize, eat and watch films, except for a few months of the year.

"We don't have it in the summer of course, because we can't make it dark enough," she said of the naturally-lit library where they meet.

After 15 years of movie watching, she said it's getting harder to find classic films to screen for the group. The now 12 members-strong club is thinking about mixing it up a little in the near future, with a change of pace in February.

"We're going to have a little film festival," she said. "We're going to try and take some films from the Sundance Festival."

The group will meet next on New Year's Eve at the library for a screening of the film The Sea Hawk.