This year, senior Ella Pritchett has started Linganore High School’s first Film Club. The club meets during PREP on A rotation days  in room D101. The first meeting took place on September 2.

Teacher Angela Smithisler is the adviser for the club. She also serves as the school’s current Film Studies teacher.

“My favorite thing about film is the twists and turns, like how [the] Shawshank [Redemption] was that we watched today. Film can take you to different places and build your imagination,” said Smithhisler.

Pritchett has always been passionate about film; however, the Film Studies class she took at Frederick Community College (FCC) really piqued her interest about the art and technique behind the industry.

“I’ve always been interested in what happens behind the scenes in film, but when I took a film and production class, we talked about how women and LGBT people are represented in film, and that made me care more about it,” said Pritchett.

The club worked to prepare for their first meeting, where they discussed their favorite kinds of movies and got a feel for what movies and topics they wished to discuss or watch later.

“I think it’s a cool idea for students to appreciate the art of film. [They can] watch a good movie and pick it apart or watch a bad movie,” said Smithhisler.

It is a priority of the club to make its environment as interactive, fun and inclusive as possible.

“I feel as someone who is apart of many clubs, a lot of them feel like another class. I want there to be open discussion and everyone to feel included, like an equal member. I don’t want it to be so structured. I also want to talk about how different groups are represented in film with my peers; that is really important to me,” said Pritchett.

Members of Film Club are excited to open discussions and be exposed to genres and perspectives they would have otherwise not explored.

“I’m interested to see how people are represented and hear people’s different opinions on film,” said senior and club member Timmy Strasburger.