Editing Doc Films

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'''Doc Films''', formerly the '''Documentary Film Group''', is a student-operated [[film society]] at the [[University of Chicago]]. According to a 2007 ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' article, it is "the longest-running collegiate film society in the country" and may be the oldest film society of any kind in the United States.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2007/may/18/entertainment/chi-0518_docfilm_jumpmay18 | title = Keeping students in the dark for 75 years | last = Shaults | first = Jane | work = [[Chicago Tribune]] | date = May 18, 2007 | access-date = 2009-07-07}}</ref><ref name=FilmNews>{{cite journal | title = Film News | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GAsdAAAAMAAJ | author = Educational Film Library Association, American Film Center | volume = 11–13 | quote = At the University of Chicago the Documentary Film Group, probably the oldest US film society, has been operating continuously...since 1932. | publisher = Film News Co. | pages = 628 | year = 1950}}</ref> Formed in 1932 as a group of students who gathered to screen [[documentary film]]s, it officially adopted the name International House Documentary Film Group in 1940. It has since expanded both the genres it screens and the activities it sponsors.

==History==
Doc Films began in 1932 as the Documentary Film Group, as the students involved collected money to pay for documentaries they would screen.<ref>{{cite book | title = The film snob's dictionary: an essential lexicon of filmological knowledge | last = Kamp | first = David | author2 = Lawrence Levi | publisher = Broadway Books | year = 2006 | isbn = 0-7679-1876-2 | page = [https://archive.org/details/filmsnobsdiction00davi/page/26 26] | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/filmsnobsdiction00davi/page/26 }}</ref><ref>Educational Film Library Association, American Film Center. "The group first pooled funds informally to screen documentaries."</ref> In 1940, it officially became the International House Documentary Film Group.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://docfilms.uchicago.edu/dev/about/ | title = About Doc Films | publisher = University of Chicago | access-date = 2011-06-06}}</ref>

==Activities==
As the student organizers realized that they could not sustain the organization on documentaries alone, they expanded to incorporate [[Fictional film|fictional]] and [[experimental film]]s. While the University's classes are in session, Doc Films hosts nightly screenings of films selected from one of these categories at [[Max Palevsky]] Cinema, located in [[Ida Noyes Hall]]. Doc's screening selection is eclectic. Each quarter of the academic year, students and members of the public propose series of nine films that are somehow related to each other (filmmaker, actor, language, genre, era, theme, etc.). The Programming Committee, which consists of any interested students or members of the public, then chooses among these proposals to schedule a different series for each weeknight (Sunday through Friday).  Recent films, normally delayed one quarter from their nationwide release date, are shown on weekends. Occasionally, Doc screens films which have not yet been released to the general public in the area, including ''[[The Rules of the Game]]'' and ''[[Brokeback Mountain]]''. The daily operations of the theater are also completely run by volunteers, either students or interested members of the community. These volunteers sell and collect tickets, present films, and project the films.

Other events include showings of student films and conversations with faculty and professionals connected to the film industry. It has hosted a number of film directors, including [[Alfred Hitchcock]], [[Woody Allen]] and [[John Ford]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://docfilms.uchicago.edu/}}
* [http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/07/070802.docfilms.shtml Video profile] from The University of Chicago
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051001030107/http://docfilms.uchicago.edu/calendar.shtml Current calendar]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110720084355/http://htchem.chem.uic.edu/~steven/cgi-bin/7doc.cgi Database of Films shown 1936-2008]

{{UChicago}}

[[Category:1932 establishments in Illinois]]
[[Category:Film organizations in the United States]]
[[Category:Student organizations established in 1932]]
[[Category:Student film festivals]]
[[Category:University and college mass media in the United States]]
[[Category:University of Chicago]]
[[Category:Cultural institutions and organizations in Chicago]]