This is a brief summary of the history of the Australian Widescreen Association, and the Committee decided recently that a much fuller account should be compiled. We would appreciate any comments, reminiscences or the loan of photos which could assist in this project.

TWENTY - FIVE YEARS OF THE

AUSTRALIAN WIDESCREEN ASSOCIATION

A Brief History - 1972-1997 by Tony Andrews (©1997)

ON Tuesday 12th December 1972, ten widescreen enthusiasts, Tony Andrews, Jeff Cox, Wade Hatton, Maurie Higgins, Geoff Hill, Trevor Letty, Ken McLeod, Les Rechter, Joe White, and Lloyd Wilkins, met in a small theatrette at the rear of Ken McLeod’s home in Box Hill, Melbourne, and founded the ‘Widescreen Association - Victorian Branch’ (later to become the Australian Widescreen Association). Also included in this group of ‘founder members’ is Brian Beatty who was unavoidably interstate with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra on that date.

This brief history of A.W.A. has been written to celebrate a quarter of a century of friendships and Widescreen. Brian, Geoff, Les, Tony and Wade are still members, while sadly Joe, Ken, Maurie and Trevor have passed away.

The history of amateur widescreen in Australia dates back a few years prior to the founding of A.W.A., when Geoff Hill, then farming in the country town of Colbinabbin Victoria, formed a company called "The Australian Widescreen Centre". He imported anamorphic lenses and equipment from Tony Shapps of the Widescreen Association in England, and also made and sold screens and lens mounts. Geoff held the first Widescreen Festival in 1971, with a second one the following year. Screenings were held in the Shire Hall at Colbinabbin and also at the VACS (later VMM) theatrette in Fitzroy, Melbourne. Tony Andrews and Ken McLeod, both members of MEMC, purchased Kowa anamorphic lenses from Geoff in 1972.

While Ken, Geoff and Tony were members of the Widescreen Association based in U.K., which had a world-wide membership of some hundreds at that time, we decided that it made sense to form a local branch of the Association so that enthusiasts could meet to share ideas and show their work. Ken, who was a skilful handyman, had modified his backyard theatrette, extending it in width to accommodate an 11ft wide CinemaScope format screen. He offered the theatrette as a meeting place for the proposed branch.

Geoff supplied a list of enthusiasts who had contacted him, and Tony wrote to 37 individuals and seven movie clubs inviting them to the inaugural meeting on Tuesday 12th December. Tuesday was chosen as a day which did not clash with the meeting days of other Melbourne movie clubs, to which a number of the potential members already belonged.

At the meeting, the ten attendees elected a core committee comprising Geoff as President, Tony as Secretary and Ken as Treasurer; a $2 joining fee was approved, and a decision made to meet bi-monthly on the first Tuesday of each month, the next meeting to be 6th February 1973. Following the meeting, Tony produced ‘Bulletin No 1’ which was sent to all the people who had made contact, and also the other local movie clubs. This was to be followed by regular bi-monthly bulletins (issue 142 completed our 25th year).

The second meeting was a great success with thirteen more members joining. A programme of widescreen films was shown - ‘Box Hill’ by Ken McLeod, ‘Persistence’ by Trevor Letty, ‘Victorian Riviera’ by Geoff Hill, and a trailer for ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’. Brian Beatty showed some Widelux slides - a revelation to most people present who didn’t know such cameras existed. Lloyd Wilkins showed some stereo slides in a hand-held viewer.

At the 1973 MEMC Moomba ‘Ten Best on Eight Millimetre" Festival, widescreen was given a boost with a dramatic Western called "The Wedding" by Wal Thornhill of Canberra gaining a place in the ‘Top Ten’, with subsequent screenings in Nicholas Hall. This was the first widescreen film to be seen at 'Ten Best' show.

One aim of the WAVB was to assist Geoff Hill in the running of the annual Australian Widescreen Festival. Wal Thornhill’s ‘The Wedding’ was the winning film in 1973, and Wal attended the premiere screening in Colbinabbin to receive his prize. Unlike most movie club festivals, the Widescreen Festival has always been screened at several locations, and in 1973, these included Melbourne (two screenings at VACS), Geelong, Canberra, Sydney (2), and Adelaide.

Three widescreen films, ‘Niagara Falls’ by Joe White, ‘Classical Gas’ by an OMC Group, and ‘Inspiration’ by Trevor Letty, gained awards in the VACS (later VMM) Festival. Widescreen had definitely arrived! The first A.G.M was able to look back over a very successful year, and the three office-bearers were re-elected unopposed. Following the screening of several films, we concluded with supper. Dulcie McLeod, Ken’s wife and Olive Audish who lived at their house presented a special Christmas supper, and were in turn presented with flowers in appreciation.

The international Widescreen Association, based in U.K., held an annual "Widex", a day of widescreen demonstrations and movie and slide shows, and in 1974, it was decided that Australia should support the competitions, with instant success. "The Wedding" won first prize, with second place going to Joe White’s 16mm "New Zealand, South Island".

The Australian Festival was won by Trevor Letty with "The Little Ship", the first of many wins for Trevor. Membership had risen to thirty-four by the time of the AGM. The American Widescreen Association (AmWA) was also holding a Festival and this was successfully supported by Australian entries, with a third place for Geoff And Bev Hill with "The Swagman". In 1975, "The Little Ship" won the competition at Widex, with "Exit" by Ron White coming second. The bi-monthly newsletter had a new name - "SCOPE", which it bears to this day.

By 1977, such was the enthusiasm of members, that it was decided to meet monthly from February to December. Australian films won four prizes at Widex, and Trevor Letty was there in person to receive his prize for anamorphic photography for "Up To Banff". This film would go on to win the Australian Festival. Later in the year, we entered films for the Federation Shield competition to be held in conjunction with the biennial convention of the Federation of Australian Amateur Cine Societies, and the combination of "Up to Banff", "Hothamitis" by Keith Head, and "At the Top End" by Joe White resulted in a win for WAVB. The Convention, which was held in Melbourne at Easter in 1978, had a widescreen emphasis, with a whole session on panoramic film-making. The Federation Shield was presented to us for display at our theatrette for the next two years.

In April of 1980, it was decided that with a number of interstate members, we should change our name to the "Australian Widescreen Association". "Scope" had a facelift, and for the first time the logo of "Widescreen" across a map of Australia appeared at the masthead. An electric typewriter and photocopying also lead to clearer print than the old Gestetner duplicator.

Success continued in local and overseas competitions, and new members continued to arrive, amongst them, one of our most active members, Graham Smythe in 1982. That year, Trevor Letty left IBM and realised a life-long dream to open a photo shop in Bentleigh, with a heavy emphasis on movie making, including widescreen. The New Zealand Widescreen Association was formed the following year, and we kept a close connection with it for its brief existence.

We continued meeting at Ken McLeod’s theatrette for thirteen years, and we were shocked when he died suddenly in mid 1984. It was Dulcie’s wish that we continue to meet at Box Hill, but there was further sad news early in 1985 when Trevor Letty who was only in his mid-fifties, died of a heart attack. Both these members had contributed enormously to the Association, and their loss was immense. In early 1991, Dulcie McLeod became seriously ill, and she passed away later that year. Our final meeting at Box Hill was held in December, thus ending a nineteen year era. From the start of 1992, we found a new home at the MEMC theatrette in East Camberwell. Although a little large for our needs, it has the advantage of a full projection setup and a wide screen. The recent sale to a developer of the land on which it and an adjacent bowling club stands, caused concern that another move might be needed, but it now appears that the theatrette will not be affected, and there may be improvements in kitchen and parking facilities too.

Unfortunately, our move from Box Hill seemed to result in a loss of a number of regular attendees, although most maintained their membership. Long-time members such as Joe White and John Vincent passed away in recent years. The International (U.K. - based), American and New Zealand widescreen associations have all now ceased to exist, leaving A.W.A. as the only remaining Widescreen Association. As a result, we have picked up members from a number of other countries - New Zealand, U.K., U.S.A., Portugal, Estonia and Finland. Our current membership stands at fifty three.

The Australian Widescreen Festival has continued for twenty-eight years. In recent times a wide slide competition was added and widescreen video is also accepted, but numbers of entries continue to decline, and unless more support comes quickly, it is hard to see it continuing for much longer. AWA is not unique in finding it hard to attract new members, although we are managing to hold onto those we have. The many other interests, especially computers, for young people, has seen the ‘greying’ of movie club membership, and this in itself makes it hard to attract the younger age-group. Ironically, panoramic photography has never been more popular, and Tony Shapps’ Widescreen Centre in England continues to thrive with a second shop opened in recent years.

We are not averse to new technology, and in 1997, a new member, Tony Rees enabled us to get a place in ‘cyberspace’, with a Web site, only the second Federation club to do so. Tony has also taken an active role in the production of 'Scope', which has undergone another and very successful facelift. Meanwhile, a small band of widescreen enthusiasts continue to enjoy each other’s company each month and hope that they may long continue to do so. Their main regret is lack of more active participation by local members.

A "Happy Silver Anniversary" to the Australian Widescreen Association.