Campus Cinema: The up Film soCieTy

Rebecca van Besouw

The brand new UP Film Society hosted its first screening on 14 March in the Humanities building. The society was founded by Lathan Dooms, an English Honours student, who stated that his goal for the society is to “set up a space where students, alumni, faculty, whoever, can just come through and enjoy a movie together, and then they can talk about it afterwards”. He continued “I really believe in the communitybased bonding experience that a lot of movies can be, especially the more out-there movies. When you witness something maybe strange or interesting together and talk about it, it’s a great bonding experience.” Dooms also added that the society will be “putting priority towards

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older films, non-English-language films, and weirder filmscontent and form-wise… The kind of things that a lot of movie theatres in South Africa wouldn’t show because they’d be afraid to offend their audience.”

The film shown at the first screening was Punch-Drunk Love, a dark romantic comedy directed by acclaimed filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson. Adam Sandler stars as Barry Egan, a lonely man who meets his perfect match and finally has a chance at love but must first atone for a past mistake in order to be with her. The film not only accepts but revels in contradictions. Equal parts sweet and slightly unsettling, it hinges on a masterful and unexpected performance by Adam Sandler and was a hit with the society as a whole. Max Milella, a member of the society, said about the