1) What’s a movie everyone should see before they die?

Katie: Frances Ha.

Josh: Fanny and Alexander.

2) What’s your least favourite movie?

Katie: I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and it was just too much time travel and Pythagoras randomly appears and it just didn’t make sense.

Josh: I’m going to annoy you a lot here but I’m going to say The Grand Budapest Hotel. Controversial I know, sorry.

3) What’s your favourite upcoming project?

Katie and Josh in unison: Take in 8...

Katie: It’s where we shoot analogue film on Super 8 cameras and it’s great because there’s no editing, no retakes, it gets done during term time. The cartridge is four minutes and so you don’t think about it for terms and terms on end – you’ve just got to make the film.

Josh: It’s all being done in the first eight weeks of Michaelmas term. Anyone can get involved.

Katie: People think films are such an ordeal to make but actually you can make such short films so quickly.

4) Why should people join CUFA?

Katie: Great screenings, great speakers, great filmmaking.

Josh: It’s the works. Anything film related that you’re interested in is here.

5) How is CUFA evolving from last year?

Josh: CUFA had a lot of difficulty in lockdown which is completely understandable and we also struggled with financial difficulties, but we’ve managed to resolve them all this year which means we’ve got more money, more time, and better people. We have so many ways to elevate this to the next level and get filmmaking properly on the Cambridge stage.

Katie: The last presidents were really lovely in doing the handover earlier than normal so they really helped us over Easter term to get to grips with it. Over summer we’ve been consolidating this whole plan.

“People probably made films when they were younger in iMovie or whatever and it’s the same, it’s just a step up and it’s not a daunting thing. People can make films”

6) What’s your favourite speaker coming this term?

Josh: Adiescar Chase. She’s a composer and she worked on Heartstopper.

Katie: Catherine Goldschmidt. She’s the cinematographer of House of the Dragon and Doctor Who. I feel like cinematography is so interesting and a lot of people get it confused with directing so it’ll be great to talk to her.

7) Varsity called the film scene in Cambridge a “black hole”, do you agree and what are you doing to fix it?

Katie: Yeah, I agree it has definitely been a black hole. At the Freshers’ Fair loads of people were saying they didn’t even know we were here. Cambridge is definitely dominated by theatre but that’s just because there’s not the same infrastructure or opportunities advertised. In Cambridge Theatre you see about a billion plays advertised so we’re really just trying to make it easier to find opportunities for actors, producers, etc.

Josh: The interest is definitely there.

Katie: There’s so much crossover between different societies and we’ve been trying to do a lot with theatre like the ADC. There are so many people in theatre who are interested in trying film out. Black hole no longer.

8) The film scene is difficult to break into, especially learning skills like editing; what does CUFA do to try and help?

Josh: We’ve got plenty of workshops coming up! We’re testing the water this term with one on screenwriting for aspiring writers, and one on self-taping, focused on actors who want to break into the film scene. We’ve also got a lot of speakers coming in to give their own industry expertise. We don’t just want people to learn on the job, we also want these filmmaking initiatives to provide a more didactic approach!

Katie: In the same way that Cambridge Theatre has elevated and promoted getting involved with the technical side of things, we really want to show that there are so many roles beyond directing and acting – things like editing, cinematography and sound design.

9) What differentiates CUFA’s film club from the other film clubs in Cambridge?

“There are so many people in theatre who are interested in trying film out. Black-hole no longer”

Katie: The great thing is that we don’t have a particular specialism, so we’ve got a really varied roster. We’re also trying to do a lot of collaborations – one with Pink Week and one with Blue Screen Film Society. We want input from people too, so we’re going to run a weekly poll and see exactly what people are interested in!

Josh: Our film club officer is just amazing. His roster this term has been so impressive, I can’t wait to see what he’s got in store for the rest of the year. He’s got great taste – the first film we’re showing is Badlands!

10) Most student actors in Cambridge head to the theatre to perform – why do you think this is and what are you doing to bring more actors into film?

Josh: They just have a simple and easy to use infrastructure. Their pitching is easy, Camdram is easy to use so it’s easy to get auditions, roles, very quickly. Film doesn’t have the same infrastructure which is why we’re in the process of working on something new. We’ve got a pitching scheme that we’re going to release in Lent term which is going to work in a similar way to the ADC pitching scheme and hopefully will draw people into the film scene in the same way, so that they feel it’s easier and more approachable.

Katie: Also I think with student theatre people just have a better sense of what that is. It can be amateur. With films, people go to the cinema and see these big blockbusters and obviously that’s not what you make as a student. People probably made films when they were younger in iMovie or whatever and it’s the same, it’s just a step up and it’s not a daunting thing. People can make films.