A 2026 to be nostalgic about
The Historic Documentary Film Society, together with Second Innings, plans to give you another year to remember.
The Historic Documentary Film Society, in partnership with Second Innings, was created for senior citizens.
Year after year, the society lines up diverse screenings, and in 2026, these will include a 90th birthday tribute to Dame Julie Andrews and a centennial celebration honouring Queen Elizabeth II.
Read more: Historic Documentary Film Society to screen The Rape of Europa
The society’s co-founders, Selwyn Klass and Henni Erasmus, draw on their background in film to source rare documentaries and features, providing a cultural and social forum for senior organisations, their members, and friends.
To open 2026, the society has secured a remastered print of Victor/Victoria, director Blake Edwards’ triumph starring his wife, Andrews, as a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman at a Parisian nightclub in the 1930s.
The film shimmers with intrigue, accompanied by a glorious soundtrack from multi–Academy Award-winning composer Henry Mancini, written to showcase Dame Julie’s former triple-octave range. The cast also features Robert Preston as the impresario who reinvents Victoria’s persona as Victor to secure her success.
To honour Queen Elizabeth II’s reign (1926–2026), the society invites attendees to experience what Klass said was ‘the way movie-going used to be when you went to the cinema, to see the news’.
Also read: Film society to screen intimate portrait of Liza Minnelli
To set the tone for the Royal Centennial Anniversary, restored African Mirror newsreels covering the historic Royal Tour of 1947 will be shown. Thereafter, Royal Family cine reels—originally gifted to The Queen on her 90th birthday—will be unspooled.
Some of this footage was filmed by The Queen herself when, as Princess Elizabeth, she and her consort Philip represented the ailing King George VI on an official Commonwealth visit to Kenya.
It was at Tree Tops Safari Lodge, in this idyllic setting, that she learned of her father’s passing and her succession to the throne.
Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates and inspiration!
