Dalhousie Film Society creates community among campus cinephiles

By: Alyssia Halvorsen and Jack Wolkove

The Dalhousie Film Society premiered eight short films starring and produced by students to a sold out audience of 300 at the Joseph Strug Concert Hall on Nov. 27. 

Since its inception four years ago, the film society has ballooned from three people screening a short film in a dorm room to an operation of 72 members. 

Connor Scida, the society’s co-president and a fourth-year commerce student, says high demand from Dalhousie University students is to blame for the quick growth. 

“I think there’s a lot of people who are super passionate about film and want to make films,” Scida says. “As we continue to grow, word of mouth keeps spreading.”

The audience at the premiere wasn’t just Dalhousie students. Attendees also included staff from the Atlantic International Film Festival and William Lahey, the president of the University of King’s College.

Deniz Mutlu, one of the society’s founders, says a higher-up in the film industry posted a video on LinkedIn about the premiere and made a “very generous” donation to the society.

She says it’s special that “industry professionals come and see how much we’re trying, and how we really care about this.”

Getting started

Deniz Mutlu and Allie Vahramian, fourth-year commerce students, founded the society in their first year. Three years later, they say they’re surprised how far the society has come.  

“The thought of a sold out show at Joseph Strug was something everyone always dreams of and envisions, but it wasn’t the goal of ours at the beginning,” Vahramian says.

What started out as a creative outlet for the two commerce students became a space for students to come together and collaborate. 

“I think what people find so special about this society is we have people from all different degrees,” says Vahramian. “We have someone from almost every program at Dal.”

Student filmmakers

John Ashworth, a third-year finance student at Saint Mary’s University with a film studies minor at Dal, says he couldn’t have produced and directed a short film without the society. 

Ashworth says creating films “with people your age who want to also do that … it’s probably the best experience.”

Film production began at the beginning of the semester: society members formed teams and produced projects alongside weekly film society meetings. 

Ashworth had to find a balance between school and filmmaking, often working on his film’s post-production into the night.  

“I would have to finish my work at midnight and then edit for like two hours … you have to love it if you’re going to put the time into it.” 

The society receives operational funding from the Dalhousie Student Union, which pays for renting the concert hall and submitting films to festivals, but the films are produced without society funding.

Vahramian says creating a film with no budget seems like an “impossible task,” but the society comes together to bring members’ ideas to life.

“You ask a friend to borrow equipment one day, you make your own tripod with cardboard boxes … you figure it out,” Mutlu says.

Membership accessibility 

The society welcomes students of all skill levels. 

“We want every single person with every single level of experience because we truly feel like [that is] the heart of this society and why we feel like it’s become what it is today,” says Mutlu.

“I don’t get fulfillment if I see a shot that’s extremely cinematic, you know? I get fulfillment when I see a returning member, or when I see a group get really close and hang out outside of the society.”