Journals

The Film Scene At Hamilton College

December 3, 2006   

Whether you’re a casual movie fan or a serious student of film, there are loads of different opportunities at Hamilton. I just plain love movies, so I take advantage of many of these options. I would say that I go to at least one film-related event every week.

There is one major group dedicated to cinema on campus called the Samuel Kirkland Film Society. They sponsor the showing of a movie every weekend, typically a recent release. This weekend they showed Superman Returns. Some other movies I have seen this year include The Proposition, Brick, and Thank You for Smoking.

SK Films also sponsors a few other events. Early in the year, they held a movie trivia contest. Not to brag or anything, but I did quite well in the competition (I won nine DVDs and about 20 movie posters that night). And, just this weekend, they had their annual 24 Hour Movie Contest, in which participants are allowed 24 hours to write, shoot, and edit a movie without any preparation prior to the event.

Hamilton also sponsors a great series called F.I.L.M. (Forum on Image and Language in Motion). The series specializes in less mainstream forms of cinema, such as independent, documentary, and avant-garde films. Quite often, the actual filmmakers come to campus to present there works, and numerous film scholars have come to offer analyses on their areas of cinematic interest.

In addition to these two major offerings, almost all campus groups routinely sponsor the showing of films relating to their causes. For example, this week the Amnesty International group will be showing movies about Latin American political disappearances on Tuesday, and movies about women’s rights in Afghanistan and the world on Wednesday.