The Society started life in 1951 as the Pinner Film Society, changing its name to the Pinner Cine Society two years later as members became more interested in making, rather than just watching films. For many years we met every Monday evening, originally in The Studio in Nower Hill, Pinner, moving in 1972 to the old British Restaurant in Pinner which occasionally became flooded, had little security and was gradually disintegrating.
16mm film , initially black & white and later colour, was the format used for Society and private productions, and one film called "Trial and Error" won a coveted ACW Ten Best Award in 1956. With the introduction of Standard 8mm and later Super 8mm, together with improvements in film stocks, these gauges became an acceptable cheaper alternative and they became very popular formats.
Towards the end of the 1980's, advances in the field of electronics made it possible to produce video cameras for the domestic market, capable of producing videos of acceptable quality, and our members gradually turned to this new medium. We had been making videos for the Harrow Council and associated Societies for some years and in 1988 the Council opened the Harrow Arts Centre in Hatch End, Harrow. We were offered facilities in this new venue so, with sighs of nostalgia, we left our rapidly decaying home in the old British Restaurant in Pinner and moved to the new premises.
As most of our members lived outside the Pinner area and we now had prestigious new facilities with secure storage for our growing number of films, videos and associated equipment, we decided to change our name to the Harrow Cine & Video Society.
In 1994 when Edgware and Kingsbury Movie Makers (formerly Edgware Amateur Cine Society) finally closed its doors, several of their members joined Harrow, bringing with them not only their expertise, but also the 'Joe Kay' interclub competition with Borehamwood Cine and Video Society.