Harris Cinema flickered back to life last spring after years of darkness. Before COVID-19, the College ran weekly film screenings in the 400-seat theater, but that programming disappeared. Now, a student-run Film Club is working to restore the space as a community gathering point, one Tuesday night screening at a time.
This week’s screening was “Hundreds of Beavers,” a 2022 independent film produced by Mike Cheslik. The choice reflects the club’s commitment to balance blockbuster crowd-pleasers with smaller indie discoveries.
An earlier Film Club existed during the 2022-23 academic year but faded away in fall 2023. COVID and Student Government Association (SGA) funding issues contributed to its decline. Mitch Paiva `27, the current president, remembered the situation when as a first-year student. “I remember when I came, there was a film club, but it was kind of, to put it bluntly, dying,” Paiva said.
Vice President Sophia Vikesland `27 recalled receiving emails about screenings but never attended. The club showed many films but struggled to build consistent attendance.
The current Film Club relaunched in fall 2024, inspired partly by Titular Head, Grinnell’s experimental student film screenings the previous year. “I honestly think they did an awesome job with [Titular Head] last semester, and just seeing the community of Grinnell celebrate film, especially student made films, inspired us to say, there’s definitely a demand for student run organizations around film,” Paiva said.
The club started cautiously with four screenings last semester to build attendance numbers. This semester, with increased SGA funding, they expanded to eight screenings. SGA has been consistently supportive, Paiva said, partly because the College used to have weekly Harris Cinema screenings before COVID. The club is working to bring that tradition back.
Curating a semester’s lineup begins with one or two blockbuster titles to draw crowds, then a selection of smaller independent films.
“Showing these smaller indie films is super important because it kind of exposes people to film that they haven’t heard of,” Paiva said. “‘Hundreds of Beavers’ I know from experience that I really hadn’t heard of it before, and it honestly wouldn’t be a film that I chose. But it’s important to listen to other people’s voices and show these smaller films, because it helps people get deeper into the world and genre of film.”
Last semester’s lineup included “Superman,” which had recently left theaters, “Get Out,” which drew 76 attendees for a Halloween screening, “The Phoenician Scheme” and “The Holdovers” for the winter season. Vikesland said, “’The Holdovers’ deserved more attention as a newer indie film that many students hadn’t discovered.”
“Hundreds of Beavers” represents the club’s evolution from that cautious first semester. Film Club secretary Maya Comer `28 advocated for the film in the curation process. With eight screenings this semester instead of four, the club could take more programming risks.
“I had someone the other day mention how happy they were that they actually came to ‘Hundreds of Beavers,’” Paiva said. “They’re like, I went to ‘La La Land,’ and okay, why not see ‘Hundreds of Beavers’ as well? There’s free snacks, fresh popcorn. Why not? Worst case I can leave in the middle.’ And they ended up actually really enjoying the film.”
Securing screening rights proved more complex than organizers initially understood. A common misconception is that the club can simply stream films from platforms like Disney+ or Netflix. “A lot of people think that you can start a film club and just show something off Disney+ or Netflix,” Paiva said.
Public performance rights law requires the College to work through a licensing provider called Swank Motion Pictures, a distribution company. The club leaders said last semester focused largely on learning that process. The club works with Dean of Student Involvement Michael Sims, who manages Harris Cinema and has experience with cinema rights. Sims helped negotiate bundled deals with Swank for eight screenings this semester, allowing the club to show more films for less money.
Swank has limitations as not every requested film is available through the distribution company. The club is currently seeking approval to screen “Listers,” a documentary about extreme birdwatching, in collaboration with Birding Club. That requires reaching out directly to independent filmmakers, something the club is exploring as it grows more comfortable with licensing procedures.
Collaborations with other student organizations have become central to programming. An upcoming screening of “City of God” will involve partnering with other clubs. Vikesland expressed particular interest in international film programming, potentially collaborating with cultural organizations like the Korean American Student Association to expose students to films from directors in Korea, China and other countries.
The club welcomes collaboration requests from any student or organization, regardless of film expertise.
“Just email us, even if you don’t know what film you want to show,” Paiva said. “I know as someone who has worked through this process of getting to Harris Cinema, which is notoriously a hard space to get booked on campus, and getting these film rights, it can be intimidating. Just email us. We are looking forward to collaborating.”
Beyond the films themselves, the club tries to recreate a full theater experience. Screenings have brought back the Harris Cinema popcorn machine and provide free snacks tailored to each screening, like hot chocolate for “The Holdovers” and pretzel bites for “Hundreds of Beavers.” The club hopes to eventually add a slushy machine or fountain drinks, amenities the venue had before the pandemic.
The communal viewing experience matters as much as the film selection. “Watching and observing experience is always heightened when you’re seeing a film in a cinema, because that’s how they’re designed to be shown originally,” Vikesland said. “Everyone’s feeding off everyone else’s enthusiasm, and that makes the viewing experience that much more powerful.”
