by Jake Roslin
Aberdeen University’s Cineclub has in recent years had something of a low profile. Showing movies in a New King’s lecture theatre, it had a loyal but small following. But all that has now changed with a new deal with the city’s legendary Belmont Filmhouse, where the society has snagged the trendy basement Kino Bar, where they will present an thrilling programme of term-time screenings each Monday night. Indeed, such was the excitement at their first free screening of Greta Gerwig’s coming-of-age comedy Lady Bied last week that the event was oversubscribed four times.
‘The popularity of the screening of Lady Bird really took us by surprise,’ Erika Friman, Cineclub’s President told The Gaudie. ‘Belmont offered us a chance to upgrade the viewing experience and create a more comfortable atmosphere for film screenings.’
And it’s not just about watching the movie. The committee went out of their way to welcome the packed student audience individually before the showing, and there’s to be a regular pub outing afterwards too. ‘Often times we have members come in and tell us that they are passionate about films but “don’t know much about them”’, continued Friman. ‘We want to encourage people to talk about movies in their own words, without the fear of sounding dumb’.
While screenings are free, a £5 membership fee means access to Cineclub’s Facebook group and voting rights on future films. ‘The committee chooses a theme for the week,’ explained Friman, ‘and each of the committee members nominates a movie for that week. We then publish the event on Facebook and include a poll. The film that gets the most votes is the one we watch that week.’
Members will also be first to hear about the revitalised society’s trip to Glasgow Film Festival next semester, and other events planned include pub crawls and collaborations with RGU’s Film Society.
Cineclub meets at 7pm every Monday at Kino Bar, Belmont Filmhouse, Belmont Street, Aberdeen. The venue seats 60 and entry is “first come first served”.
