By Travis Johnson
After over three decades, Melbourne’s 3RRR community radio station is pulling the plug on the Saturday afternoon film show, Film Buff’s Forecast, citing a decision to switch to an all-music format on Saturdays.
Host Paul Harris has let it be known that the final episode will be broadcast on March 25.
A veteran of Melbourne’s film community, Harris is also the director of the St. Kilda Film Festival and a former columnist for The Age. 3RRR reportedly offered him a one hour slot on Sunday afternoons, halving his airtime, but Harris declined, preferring to wrap up the show on his own terms.
3RRR posted a statement acknowledging the show’s cancellation and thanking Harris for his service, saying, “Paul’s enthusiasm, dedication, hard work and enormous film knowledge will be greatly missed and Triple R would like to thank Paul for his massive contribution to the station over the last 30+ years.”
Naturally, fans of the show have taken to the net to voice their displeasure, launching a petition on Change.org calling for its reinstatement.
This is not good for film culture.
Hope the 1000s of local film folk who have been featured on the program are going to support the effort to have Paul reinstated.
Does filmink have a position on 3RRR’s decision? It would be brilliant if the major voices within the film community could get behind this show – one of the few, if not the only of it’s kind. If we care about film culture and the ongoing relevance of filmmaking to society and this nations identity then we must put up a fight for FBF as it exists in its current form. Is filmink prepared to argue it’s case? If it doesn’t, the question must be asked. What institution will be next to go?
Yours sincerely
Colin Cairnes
So here we are, more than a year on. FBF seems well and truly gone now replaced with a music program which is a at best just a curation…nothing groundbreaking about it. Forgettable really. Nothing much more than a loud whimper from the film community. I cancelled my RRR subscription in protest, declaring I would not reinstate it until FBF was. Management will change at some stage soon, I’d reckon. Dust off your shoes Paul Harris.