Being among strangers is an exploratory experience. To get to know a yet unmet friend is a turn-based game of social maneuvers; two or more codebreakers attempting to break a cypher that gives way to common interest. Often, no matter the person or place, to talk about movies is to resort to a robust master key. After that it’s only a matter of level of interest: self-proclaimed kinophile, passing aficionado, or casual moviegoer. What unites all, however, is a love of the silver screen and an intelligence in discussing cinema that makes every person a bearer of compelling insight simply waiting to be heard.
I have observed this bond at Osgoode as I have anywhere else: The pages of this esteemed newspaper are themselves often the medium for many pieces on new releases or beloved classics. Film has been a groundbreaker for many a good friendship and delightful conversation during my time here, as it has no doubt been for many others. Last year, a few newly minted 1Ls struck up that much common bond in passing on a post-lecture afternoon. This humble seed of an idea, invoked in passing after a quick chat over some anticipated new releases, matured into a project student organization which hopes to become another yet new ceramic within the resplendent mosaic of Osgoode’s student club heritage: The Osgoode Hall Film Society.
Last semester, this newly christened student club ran its first event: a humble screening of 1992’s A Few Good Men—a courtroom drama which interrogates questions of justice in the context of a court-martial of two US Marines. For the organizers, it was an exciting affair whose humility reminded us of our modest foundations as much as it drove an ambition to drape a wider projector screen over a bigger auditorium the next time around. It was a cozy gathering, as much enjoyable in the casual banter and gathering as it was in the viewing experience. It was also a reminder of the power of film which had been the impetus for the club’s creation in the first place: To create a space within which film finds itself as a social adhesive, and brings together strangers and friends-in-passing under common schedule to cherish a collective love for the great cultural unifier.
There is—of course—the natural air of intellectualism you’d expect from a student club run at a university: Critical discussion and thematic depth are still calling cards of the orthodox film club. But past all the critiques and talk of intersections between law and cinema is a root desire to create gatherings that just involve eating some popcorn, kicking your feet up, and enjoying a night with friends.
Every once in a while, we’ll be cashing in our memos for scripts, and PowerPoints for 35mm projectors. The Osgoode Hall Film Society requests your company for its movie nights. Keep a lookout this semester and join us some time. Good times await.