With so many clubs at CHS, it’s hard to believe that a club centered around film did not exist until now. Seniors Aubrey Conlon, Paige Zucchi, and Nora Scheuber noticed this gap and wanted to do something about it.
“During the summer we’ve all been watching movies and going to the theater to pass the time, especially because a lot of really good movies have been coming out,” Conlon explains, “we wanted a space to be able to talk about movies we watch with other people and give other people that space to do so.”
Inspired by this passion for film, the three created an application to create a new space for cinephiles. After gaining approval and finding their advisor, Ms. Kempson, the girls were officially able to start on their journey.
The club had a very successful first meeting. The advisors created a friendly, comfortable environment and took suggestions from almost everyone for the film they were going to watch for the next meeting. They presented the club as “book club but with movies.” Funny enough, two of the advisors (Aubrey and Nora) happen to be the co-presidents for Book Club this year!
Essentially, the club will pick a movie every month, usually based around a theme (for example, the first theme is mystery), and club members will watch it before the next meeting. Then, the club will discuss their thoughts, opinions, and reactions to the movie all together, creating interesting and in-depth conversations with peers. This concept allows the club to be very accessible to everyone, whether you are an avid film critic or an occasional movie watcher. As long as you watch the film of the month, you can participate!
They also attracted quite a large crowd for their first meeting, taking up almost all the space in the room. A large crowd of them, to my personal surprise, were freshman boys. I overheard one of them talking to the advisors at the end of the meeting, saying how all of his friends have a weekly movie night and love watching movies all together. Perhaps this club could be a great place for them to find new films and discuss their love of film with other peers. I love seeing communities built like this at CHS, and I hope these crowds stay consistent for all of their future meetings.
In regards to the future, Paige discussed how they have many ideas they would want to pursue.
“We want to work with other clubs to integrate their ideas into the films we want,” she shared, “like working with a language club on a foreign language film to celebrate other cultures, doing a page to screen to encourage reading in students with Book Club, and potentially partnering with GSA to celebrate inclusivity in the LGBTQ+ community in film!”
If you are interested in learning more about the club, join their Schoology Group and attend their next meeting on October 22nd, where they will be discussing Ocean’s 11 (2001) in D177. In my opinion, I think this club could become a huge hit at CHS, and you should definitely check it out.