Ariana Allen ’25 and Emma Rodrigues ’25 were working in the college archives, transcribing old club records and discovered a fascinating find: an alternative film club that would pop up, then disappear every few years. Following the tradition, Allen and Rodrigues are bringing back Dickincinema after 30 years, making the organization the only film club on campus.

Rodrigues was a member of the Dickinson Film Club last year, which has not continued into this academic year. Rodrigues is excited to highlight less mainstream films through Dickincinema, because, from her experience, other film clubs tend to show a majority of Oscar nominees. 

“We like the spirit of it, and also the name,” said Rodrigues. Allen agreed. In the open spirit of Dickincinema, Rodrigues said, “Sometimes it’s ok to watch a bad film that’s just funny… We want to watch good movies, but it’s OK to have fun with it too and not always be so analytical about it. Although, that’s welcome too.” It is clear Allen and Rodrigues see eye-to-eye when talking about the morals, principles and constitution of the club. 

Rodrigues said, “Trying to start a club was really difficult. There isn’t a lot of guidance on the Dickinson webpage…We were not told that to be considered for Senate recognition you need to be registered on EngageD.” Dickincinema is now an official club with an EngageD page, Instagram (@dsondickincinema), president and vice-president. Future plans include themed movie nights and an Oscar prediction party.

Neither Allen nor Rodrigues are film and media studies minors, yet they want to build a film community of film lovers on campus. “We want to get people out of their comfort zones,” said Allen, whose favorites movies include “Midsommar,” “Thirteen,” “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Donnie Darko.” “That’s the beauty of the club. No two films are going to be the same,” said Rodrigues, who has a very different taste in film than Allen. “It’s also to push us out of our comfort zones,” added Allen. Dickincinema is not just an alternative film club, since there is no club to be the alternative to, so Dickincinema is for anyone and everyone interested in film.