In 1975 when I was 34 years old my father gave me his old cine camera, which although I did not know it at the time, was a Kodak Standard 8. I had no idea how to use it. I thought I would take a book out of the library to see if I could educate myself, and at the library I saw a card advertising Finchley Cine Society, as it was then. It seemed a good idea to join, if only out of curiosity.

It turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life, for at FCS I encountered a dedicated group of amateurs and semi-professionals who knew all about film of every description. It seemed to me that the most talented was Leo Ugo. Shortly after joining FCS I sat through an evening of Leo's films, which had the effect of opening my eyes to achieving things with an amateur cine camera which I had never thought possible. Soon after I joined FCS, Leo became chairman and I became the club's secretary. I threw away the Kodak camera and bought a Canon 1014E, which was the camera that Leo used. I eventually presented this camera to Leo as a token of appreciation for all he had taught me, so that Leo then owned two of them.

The technical side of Leo's productions, which at that time were mainly travel documentaries, was amazing in itself. The wonderful sparkling clarity of the pictures (thanks partly to the Canon camera) and the spot-on accuracy of the commentary and sound track impressed me greatly. But these films had a certain indefinable something in addition. There was a touch of humour, composition such as you would only find in a Renaissance painting, meticulous editing and wonderful music. The films also radiated an extraordinary quality of intelligent sincerity and integrity. It did not surprise me to learn that the maker was of Italian descent, and when I got to know Leo better, it was so apparent that all these qualities in his films actually reflected his personality. One of Leo's films was shot in Asisi in Umbria, and shortly after Leo filmed some marvellous frescoes there in the cathedral, an earthquake destroyed them.

In the days when we used to splice film with cement, Leo was also able accurately to cut a film to music. He was proud of the technique which he had invented in order to do this, which he ascribed to his ability to count sprocket holes. I tried to copy this on numerous occasions but completely failed and gave up. To perfect this technique it was essential to have Leo's personal quality of meticulous perfectionism, and this quality stayed with him for the rest of his life. Leo had been making films in large numbers for many years, and I recall with great pleasure the journal films he made about his family growing up, including several story films in which his children were the stars.

After many years of making successful Super 8 films, which scooped numerous awards, Leo was forced to turn his hand to video, which initially he did with the utmost reluctance and scepticism. Leo was never comfortable in the computer age and yearned for the glorious days of proper film. But eventually he mastered the new medium, and although he never became expert in video to the same extent as he was in Super 8, the basic qualities of a Leo film still shone through his video productions. He even changed his logo from Ugo Films to Ugo Videos.

If I were asked to nominate one film and one video production made by Leo which I enjoyed the most and from which I derived the most benefit I would have no difficulty in replying. Leo's Super 8 film about his pasta-making factory was to me a joy to behold. Not only was there the poetry of the pasta and noodles being cut into incredible shapes through some wondrous machine, but the evident pride which Leo showed in his family business shone through.

As to a video, his production about the African orphanage for children suffering from HIV was one of the greatest achievements of Leo's life. In addition to its entertainment value, the film enabled Leo to raise a considerable sum for the orphanage. Leo was justly proud of this achievement and many have cause to be grateful to Leo for his efforts and for his life.

Norman Saville (Chairman, Finchley Film Makers 2004-2007)

12 September 2008

Kenneth Seeger 1923-2009

Kenneth joined Finchley Cine Society (as it then was) in the late 1970's having been a professional actor. He had acted on the London stage in various productions with Robert Morley. As a professional actor Kenneth had a mellifluous speaking voice which was useful in voice-overs, and he was a convincing film actor. We don't know much about what he did but we know he did have small parts in TV series in the 50s and 60s including "Quatermass and the Pit" ' , Z Cars and Dixon of Dock Green; and were amused to discover that he played a Cyberman in The Tomb of the Cybermen a 1967 Doctor Who episode!

Kenneth retired from the acting profession and became a proof-reader working for Butterworths. He had a meticulous grasp of detail which not only made him an expert in proof-reading, being able to give long dissertations about the use and miss-use of the hyphen or the semi-colon.

It would be fair to say that our club and the IAC were a major part of his life. In 1980 the 50 th anniversary of Finchley Cine Society was celebrated, and the Society produced a booklet called 'The first 50 Years' and a film of the same title which included extracts from pre-war films made by FCS. Kenneth contributed to the printing of the booklet and the making of the film as well as writing and speaking the commentary.

At various times Kenneth was club chairman, and remained on the committee for many years.He was also able to reinstate the club magazine known as The Viewfinder, and collate and edit articles for the magazine for over 20 years. Kenneth also produced the Club handbook in his customary efficient manner.

He ran many, many club evenings including organising the Triangle and club competitions, showing selections from the IAC archives or talking about the art of acting or voice–overs. He baffled us every year with obscure questions for our annual quiz. Over the years Kenneth took part in many club films, including Isis, Hubert's Travels (2004) and most recently ‘Blue And Black - The Stephens Ink Story'(2006). He directed films as well including ‘Underground Army and ‘The search for Roger Chatto' which won a Silver Seal at MOVIE 2001.

He joined the North Thames Region of the IAC (of which he has been Chairman twice) and was later being invited to become a member of the National Council of the IAC, where he has been Festival Officer and Competition Officer, and was elected a Fellow of the Institute in 1988. He was made Film & Video Library Officer in 1997 and joined the Management Committee of the IAC. He has been a First and Second Stage Judge on several occasions for the IAC's Annual Competition, including being a Final judge on two occasions. In 1998 he completed a judging stint for the Nottingham Festival (Drama category), and in early 1999 judged the ‘ Mersey 10'. He was elected IAC Vice-Chairman at the 1998 AGM in Bournemouth , subsequently becoming Chairman (for two years) in 2000 at the AGM in Great Yarmouth.

Sometimes his judgments were regarded as controversial, but they were always well argued and interesting. Unfortunately as he grew older, his health deteriorated. The film world was his life and despite his advancing age and ill-health and non-ownership of a car he travelled to all corners of the film world both on club and IAC business, and played an active part in reviewing and judging films and videos.

Apart from his talents in the film world, Kenneth was a walking encyclopaedia of knowledge of world events and the English language as well as of the history of the professional cinema, and was always lively to converse with. He maintained his independence and retained his sense of humour and desire to live life to the full right up to end. Kenneth will be much missed in the cine and video world.

October 1st 2009
NORMAN SAVILLE/PETER KIDMAN/EILEEN KENNING