Film Society Welcomes New President

The Film Society tries to imitate the movie-going experience with stadium seating and popcorn.
Photo Courtesy of Savannah Cooper

With the new school year comes a newly elected president of the Film Society. The fall 2018 president is Rachel Pitcher, a senior at Concord University.

Pitcher plans to switch up the film selection previously laid out by retired professor Dr. Charles Brichford. Although she plans on keeping the classic movies in the movie schedule, Rachel is throwing in more modern movies to give the schedule and students more variety.

One movie that is included in the schedule is The Legend of the Drunken Master. This movie, starring Jackie Chan, mixes comedic flare and martial arts. Wong Fei Hung, portrayed by Jackie Chan, must decide between saving ancient Chinese artifacts by using drunken boxing or obeying his father and restraining from fighting altogether.

Occasionally, the Film Society shows movies in their original language. Experiencing a movie in its original language engages the audience in a completely different manner.

This movie, like others shown by the Film Society, delivers cultural diversity and differentiating worldviews to the students of Concord and members of the Athens community. Individuals who attend these movies will have exposure to different cultures and time periods while being entertained.

Pitcher says, “We like to represent a wide variety of genres and backgrounds. We like to show a lot of foreign films, we show romance, we show comedy, we show action, we show weird stuff like surreal stuff, we show everything.”

Pitcher wants to share the importance of these films by promoting the Film Society and encouraging more students and residents of Athens to attend screenings. The films are open to all students and community members.

The films are held in A227 of the Administration building. To replicate the experience of going to a movie theater, Concord spent a large amount of money to specifically design the room for movie showings.

When describing the room, Pitcher says, “What a lot of people don`t know is this room was specifically set up for showing movies. It is supposed to be like a theater experience. They spent a lot of money on this room back in the 90s I think.”

She goes on to express her desire for more students and people in the community to get involved with the Film Society. As of now, there are not many members in the society. In fact, only one or two people have attended the showings since the new school year has begun.

Because the room has been specifically designed to replicate a movie theater, Pitcher thinks it is “sad” that people are not taking advantage of what Concord is offering.

If more people come to the movies and get involved, more people can be instructed on how to work the projector and screen. Pitcher says that this will allow the Film Society to offer more show times and show dates.

She explains, “I would like to do a Friday and Saturday showing, but I can’t do all three by myself.” People getting involved will allow more show times to be introduced to the Film Society schedule.

A few movies Pitcher is excited to show include “Shape of Water,” the original “Halloween,” “Some Like It Hot,” and the original “Godzilla.” These movies, some familiar and some foreign, all have a place on the showing schedule because they have important themes, tropes, and life lessons that can be discovered.

Pitcher explains that students can find the movie schedule on the third floor of the Administration building and on bulletin boards across campus. The English department’s bulletin board displays a poster board that has upcoming movie showings and their descriptions.

Free popcorn and a night of entertainment can be gained through attending a movie from the Film Society. Pitcher informs, “If anyone is interested in being in Film Society or they are interested in being a projectionist then they can talk to me about that. If anyone is interested in suggesting a film that they would like for us to play, then they can get to me about that.”

Any questions regarding the Film Society can be sent to Pitcher, or the English Department secretary