The University of Minnesota’s Film Club offers community through film with its meetings and film-centered events.
The club, which meets weekly on Saturdays from 5-7 p.m. at Coffman Union, discusses a variety of movies and themes. From animation to thrillers and French new wave movies, there is something for everyone, and the club offers ways to expand its member’s tastes.
Club President Adam Meyers said club members vote on a film for the club to watch on their own time and then come together during the meetings to discuss it.
Meyers helped found the club in fall 2021 during his freshman year. As a senior now, he is president and among its oldest officers.
“At the time, I was just like it seems like a fun way to come and talk about movies,” Meyers said. “And I’ve always enjoyed just discussing art in general, in movies, so I know that’ll be enjoyable for me.”
Along with their Saturday meetings, the club often partners with theaters and film studios to attend advanced screenings or get free tickets to movies. The club also hosts an Oscars watch party.
Weekly meetings frequently consist of a game led by an officer after movie discussion. Mariah Muchow, club treasurer, said there is a wide variety of games officers come up with.
“We’ve done trivia related to either the theme or maybe a specific movie or director,” Muchow said. “We’ve also done skits, and we’ve done drawing games.”
Muchow, a sophomore, joined the club last semester and decided to apply as an officer right away.
“Especially at that time, I was very consistently going to meetings, like almost every week, and I really enjoyed it,” Muchow said. “I honestly saw it as a way to maybe get even more involved in the club.”
Since then, Muchow said it has been a way to become better involved with the inner workings of the club. She added she enjoys being able to choose themes and movies for members to vote on.
“I do have friends that enjoy movies, but it’s not always their main thing, like it is for me,” Muchow said. “So I feel like in the club, I meet a lot of other people who like movies as their main interest.”
As someone interested in movies, Muchow said she is grateful for the opportunity to watch movies she has never gotten to see and discuss them with other members of the club.
“It’s been kind of a nice side thing to have,” Muchow said. “I have my friends who maybe don’t want to always talk about that, then I always know when I’m going to film club, that will be the opportunity I get to kind of just talk about movies for like an hour and a half.”
