Calling all Letterboxd users! A new club on campus is bringing movie-loving students together. Started by Maia Kesler ’27, Grace Kelley ’26 and Nea Hochman ’27, the club aims to host community screenings, lessons on film techniques and guest speaker events.
Kesler and Kelley have been interested and involved in film their whole lives: Kesler ran her high school’s film festival and Kelley has worked in film since she was 9 years old. Coming to Lewis & Clark in 2023, they were disgruntled with the lack of film programs easily available to students on campus, the last film club having disbanded in 2019 and a film major not being offered by the school. Both considered transferring before deciding they were going to make an effort to bring film to LC themselves.
“Maybe we can make this more appealing for us, and we can somehow incorporate film into school,” Kesler said in an interview.
The club plans to be very democratic in deciding what direction it is going to go, using surveys to determine what movies to watch and what the members want to get out of the club. Kesler expects a share of “film-bro movies” to come out of this recommendation system.
The club has no plans to make their own films, instead they aim to uplift the student filmmakers on campus and, according to Kelser, make a place where student filmmakers can find people to collaborate with, providing them with the necessary resources to start their own productions. The organizers anticipate starting with film screenings and working up to hosting guest speakers in their second semester.
The opening meeting of this new club took place the night of Sept. 12 with a turnout of excited and engaged students. Members expressed their desires to explore movies across different genres as well as different cultures while engaging in analysis and conversation about the films.
Paige Wilcox ’28 and Julia Meyers ’28 are new members and movie enthusiasts who are excited to be a part of the future of the club.
“I’m so excited to watch awesome movies and be able to hang out with other people who enjoy films as much as we do,” said Wilcox.
The founders and officers of the club were glad to be met with lots of enthusiasm from the first meeting’s attendees. They expressed their excitement for the future of the Film Club and the community it has the potential to create.
“I just want it to be a place where people can share a common interest,” said Kesler.
The next event will be a screening toward the end of September, with the movie soon-to-be announced. Anyone interested in becoming involved can email films@lclark.edu or find them on Instagram @lclarkfilmclub. Although they are still in pre-production, this club has lots of potential to become a blockbuster!
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