It’s 17:50. It’s a Tuesday. It’s cold it’s wet and it’s dark. November has arrived.
My flatmate, Fred, and I are hovering around the Strand about to attend an evening with the KCL film society.
Fred and I have never been to the KCL film society. Nor did we ever plan on going. I didn’t even know there was one.
That’s because as a general rule we don’t really do societies. So tonight marked a special occasion. This was our first night with a society in three years at King’s. Our first night ever. Fred and I were about to lose our KCL society virginity.
However, to our nervous relief, the KCL Film Society is a compassionate lover, an intriguing companion and a very good night.
Our evening menu kicked off with an oriental starter. A short documentary made by a King’s MA student Yinon Beeri: ‘Tana – The Girl from Kangbashi’. We were then graced with hearty main course, a Q&A with the chap himself. From this we learnt Beeri’s tactical use of cinematography and visual communication to tell a story of a young girl consumed by urbanism. Deeper than this we learnt how the documentary is really a story about a young girls triumph over the oppression of economic depression and sprawling urbanism. Beeri then explained how he went into the project not knowing how to make a film about happy people and yet it was the aurora of positivity that his protagonist exuded that eventually taught him how to capture happiness, even in spaces void of any form of joy or pleasure.
Finally, for pudding we hunkered down on Ana Lily Amirpour’s ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night’. Vampires in Bad City Iran. What’s not to like? All of this interspersed with an amuse bouche of, my favourite, Butterkist popcorn.
This format, it turns out, is a weekly phenomenon for the society. There was us thinking the society had brought out all the stops and whistles when they found out two virgins were coming.
But no, without fail the KCL Film Society brings in a new and exciting short films to be enjoyed every week.
If you’re asking me this is pretty impressive. It’s a student run organisation. They pick the films, find the film makers, ask intelligent thought provoking questions, and even lay on the popcorn.
This is far more than I could ever dream of achieving. Personally, I struggle picking films for myself to watch. My own personal film pallet does not extend to a grandiose composition of flavours. I cried last week to ‘Angus Thongs, And Perfect Snogging’. It’s beautiful. I loved it, if you haven’t watched it: get on it.
But my night in with the KCL Film society was, without question, an eye opener. If you haven’t been: go.
Rex.
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