Last Sunday saw the final OFU film of the season and so, rather than try to sell you anything, this week we are going to take a look back at a year of achievement for this vibrant society.

Oscar Film Unit is the university’s film society. In the Autumn Semester, the small but dedicated band of projectionists and stewards showed films three nights a week and through the Spring Semester, twice a week, including such gems as The Matrix, Austin Powers 2 and The Talented Mr Ripley, as well as classics like The Third Man.

The first that many students will have seen of us was when we projected South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut onto the side of the Duke of Kent Building (EIHMS) back in September. Indeed, how could anyone in Guildford have missed this unique event? In retrospect, using Stagecrew’s power amps and a radio transmitter system probably meant that more people were subjected to the delights of "Kyle’s Mom’s A Bitch" than even we could have hoped for.

Even before this event, however, we were wandering around the University with our collection of 8mm and 16mm cine cameras, recording for posterity the arrival of the Freshers, the Vice Chancellor’s welcome speech and other highlights of moving-in week. This practice, plus last year’s animations, came in useful when we made our first "feature" film since the early 1970s: Jaws In The Library. Shot on 16mm in the university library, and currently in postproduction, this looks set to be the most talked-about movie of the decade. At least, it’s certainly the movie that we all talk about the most...

Then, in October, OFU agreed to help the Odeon Guildford run its French Film Festival. This aid consisted of introducing some of the films and chairing discussions afterwards, an idea that stemmed from the university’s own Arts Cinema, whose films are always introduced by an OFU member. This co-operation with the local cinema has led to a variety of other indirect benefits, including the fact that Odeon programme leaflets are now available in departments, foyers and court receptions across the campus.

A brand-new committee was elected in January 2001, after one of the longest AGMs the Societies Standing Officer has had to sit through. This was mostly due to the outgoing Treasurer’s insistence on asking the same set of questions to every candidate, for which he apologises unreservedly. Still, the new committee were very keen and even created a special new role, that of Events Manager, who has already organised several film-related trips and visits.

Last month, two delegates from the society went to the British Federation of Film Societies’ Student Group conference and AGM. Paul Wright, OFU Treasurer, was elected to be Chair of the Student Group for the next year, so our congratulations to him.

Congratulations are also due to the members of the film society who passed the Projectionists’ Test last week. This is a test set by an independent examiner, who measures each individual’s competence at running a film showing. The eight successful candidates who passed were: James Dibley; Danny Dixon; Scott Geary; Philippe Rotsetis; Rashpal Sehmi; Matthew Sheppard; Deborah Smith; and Paul Wright.

With more than 400 members, OFU is surely one of the biggest and most exciting societies on campus. Watch out for some big changes next year, including the chance to get involved in our next exciting film project. See you then.