If you’re an American River College student looking for a film-fueled space filled with community and passion, the Film Club may be the perfect place for you. The club is one of the many student-run clubs on campus and can be broken down by three main activities including watching films, talking about films and even making films.
The club itself was started back up in 2024 by former president Luna Diaz after years of inactivity. Now the club continues to focus on their three main aspects as well as building a welcoming community in the process as they meet every Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in Room 514 of the Fine and Applied Arts Building.
Lucas Cabrera, a film major at ARC, is the current president of the Film Club and joined in the spring of 2024 to find a place where he can use his major and have conversations with likeminded film lovers pursuing the same major. In addition to the connections he’s built through friendships and community he feels the club has provided for him, it’s also helped him more actively pursue the activities and career he desires.
“I came here because it’s helped me learn, it’s helped me make my first short film and it’s just given me a lot of opportunities,” Cabrera said.
However, the club isn’t just for film majors or those who have a specific desire to create films. The other aspects including talking and learning about the film processes is just as prominent in the club as the film creation aspect. This includes everything from group workshops on screenwriting to off campus movie watching events.
Brandon Ayala, a film major at ARC, is vice president of the club and joined for similar reasons of finding a community where he can take his passions for film more seriously as well as have fun doing so.
Ayala emphasizes the importance of the film discussion aspect of the club both in the personal and technical sense for the members, as well as why people in general should find value in these conversations.
“I think part of it is just how powerful storytelling is as well and how universal it is. It can be something as simple as entertainment or to have a deeper meaning, so I think it’s really nice to give everybody a platform to learn more about it,” Ayala said.
He goes on to share that these discussions of film are a way to learn from the meaning and representations that these films present to their audience. Cabrera adds to this sentiment by stating that film is a form of art that reflects human experience, so in the discussion and dissection of these films people can learn and share human experiences on a bigger scale.
“Films are about the human experience and they go through all different types of things, movies have been there to help you when you’re sad or happy, you relate them to different parts of your life,” Cabrera added.
Catering to the more personal side of film and people’s thoughts around their experiences surrounding film is part of what makes the community in this club that much stronger. Students may join the club in the hopes to discuss and learn more about the process but leave with a different viewpoint or desire in their connections to film.
Sarah Aldabbagh, a communications major at ARC and soon to be ultrasound tech major upon her transfer, is one of those students whose viewpoint on creating films was changed when joining the club. Aldabbagh describes seeing the poster for the club on her first day of school at ARC, and she initially knew it was something that she wanted to be a part of. Her love of film and the hopes of making more friends with the same passions drove her to attend the first meeting and although she desired to make a film, the process seemed initially daunting.
“I had no idea how to write a script, how to film a film, what goes behind it, no camera equipment that was nice, and no actors,” Aldabbagh said. “So if it weren’t for this club and working on this film I would have no knowledge on how to make one at all.”
However her ambition to create a film and the collaborative sense of community she found in the club convinced her that her dream could become a reality.
When the inspiration for her upcoming film “The Bucket List” initially struck, she got to work with the help of club members in every step of the process. Starting with the scriptwriting, she describes presenting her pitch deck to the former club president, which led to the long process of writing and rewriting the script, as well as outside help from other writers until they were all happy with the results.
From there it took the help of a majority of the club and outside aid to bring her vision to life. This group effort included everything from long days of figuring out sound and lighting to cold nights where production crew used candle light and blankets to provide warmth as they kept pushing on. Even though a majority of the directors, writers, camera help and film editors were club members, the movie creation process isn’t limited to club members and outside participation is highly encouraged. In this film, a lot of the actors were members of the theater department or “friends of friends”, especially as casting calls for their movies are open to anyone with no experience required.
Aldabbagh encourages anyone who feels they have a skill to offer like writing, camera work, or even lighting to join in the process regardless of whether someone is a club member. This collaborative process took a lot of work and time, making it the longest movie the club has created.
“The Bucket List” is presented as a coming of age movie that follows a friend group and their story about reuniting after separating due to a falling out. During their former friendship they created a bucket list which they now revisit and go down the list, checking each box off while becoming closer in the process. This vision was brought to life with a cast comprised of members and friends of the club as well as theater students who showed interest in the casting call, and on September 27 audiences will be able to experience this collaboration for the first time. Aldabbagh describes wanting this movie to feel like the audience is watching their younger self grow up, so she makes a point of featuring relatable friendship issues and romantic interests sparking in order to emulate the typical teenage friend group experience.
“You know the drama, even when you’re fighting you still love each other so much and I really wanted that to be shown,” Aldabbagh said, “That’s my favorite part of my film I would say, how the friendship comes back everytime.”
With artistic influences like A24 coming of age films and “Lady Bird” by Greta Gerwig as well as Aldabbagh’s expressed passion for a romanticized aesthetic over all else, she strives for her movie to prioritize pleasing visuals and relatable experiences.
Students and community members of ARC may attend the premiere of “The Bucket List” hosted by Aldabbagh and the film club on September 27 at 1:00pm in Room 512 located in the Fine and Applied Arts Building. The premiere itself will be decorated with a birthday party theme, made to simulate the birthday party scene presented in the movie, which means that they will also be giving out free cupcakes to those in attendance.
Regardless of someone’s objective with the knowledge and skills they may learn from attending the club, its doors are open to all whether it’s a professional or causal love for film.
“It’s a super inviting and lovely community, and everybody just has a great time, regardless of your background,” Ayala said. “If you just want to stop by and make some friends, you’re going to find a lot of them here.”
To keep up with the club, their events, future premiers as well as future casting calls people can follow their instagram @thearcfilmclub. As of now the club is focusing on preparing for the premiere of its second film ever made, “The Bucket List”, as well as working on the premiere for Early Evening Lullaby which will be on October 29th.
