NEWS

Davidson Film Club, in their 12th year of offering award-winning international films, draws record audiences

On Saturday, August 17, at 7:00 p.m. there was a packed house at the Armour Street Theatre in Davidson. Nearly every one of the 84 tiered seats in the theater was filled, and several rows of folding chairs had been added to the front of the house to increase capacity. The audience sipped wine, noshed on salty snacks, and chatted with their seat mates. There was a buzz in the room.

The crowd was not there to see a new play. The attendees were international film devotees—members of the Davidson Film Club plus several dozen walk-in viewers who were lucky enough to claim the seats left free by members who could not attend that evening.

The film club was screening the 2023 Wim Wenders film, Perfect Days, filmed in Tokyo. Commentary and discussion after the screening was led by award-winning former Charlotte Observer film critic, Lawrence Toppman. While the Armour Street Theatre was particularly full on this night, the Davidson Film Club has been consistently filling seats for 12 years.

The flourishing local film club has successfully filled a gap felt by many cinephiles. Despite the difficulties of a pandemic and waning ticket sales at large, commercial cinemas, there is a continuing local interest in viewing and discussing meaningful and thought provoking films in an intimate theater setting.

History of the Davidson Film Club

The Davidson Film Club began screening international films in 2013. In the beginning, the film club was helmed by a small group of devoted cinephiles who recognized a real desire for an art house theater experience in Davidson.

One of the founders of the Davidson Film Club is Robert Maier, a Davidson resident whose career in film and filmmaking includes work as producer, writer, and director of a wide range of documentary, corporate, and public television productions. Maier’s early career in his home town of Baltimore, MD, involved working as a production manager with acclaimed director John Waters on such notable films as Polyester, Hairspray, and Crybaby.

In an early post on the Davidson Film Club’s Facebook page, the club announced the screening of their first film, The Screaming Man (France/Chad, 2010), on January 26, 2013. The post explained that the club “was formed in an effort to create a local opportunity for people who enjoy film as art to view and discuss unique and thoughtful cinematic works.”

The discussion of The Screaming Man on that first evening in 2013 was led by Dr. Alan J. Singerman, Richardson Professor Emeritus of French at Davidson College. Singerman taught French Cinema at Davidson College from the late 1980s to his retirement in 2007, was the organizer and first coordinator (2004-2007) of the Film & Media Studies Concentration at Davidson and has taught Introduction to Film and Media Studies there.

Also one of the founding members of the film club, Singerman now serves as the long-time President of the Board of Directors of the Davidson Film Club, helping to guide and support the successful club, now in its 12th year of providing films from around the world to eager audiences from Davidson and surrounding areas.

The films selected for screening are always absorbing and sometimes challenging and even painful to watch. The members of the Davidson Film Club do not shy away from difficult, even traumatic topics. They are not daunted by subtitles. They enjoy discussions of theme, subtext, color, scenery, dramatic silences, and cultural nuance.

“It has been a privilege and a duty to provide critically acclaimed international films to our community,” said Singerman. “The film club is a service that enriches the life of the community. There is a thirst to experience meaningful, thoughtful films and to engage in discussion and analysis of films and filmmaking with experts or knowledgeable community members to help guide the conversation.”

Film Series and Club Memberships

The film club offers memberships to two series each year: Winter-Spring, and Summer-Fall. Each series requires a new membership that is offered to the public when the films for that series have been selected and the dates for the screenings have been set.

While the current 2024 series is sold out, there are often opportunities to see a film as a walk-in if a film club member cannot attend a screening. Walk-ins must reserve their seat in advance, and walk-ins are limited by availability. To find out how to subscribe to future series of the film club or to inquire about walk-in seating, visit the DFC website.

Each film series features 5 or 6 international films reflecting a variety of subjects, languages, and countries of origin. To review a list of all of the films that the Davidson Film Club has screened in previous series, click here. The impressive list of films demonstrates the variety and the quality of the films that are being screened and discussed.

Singerman credits a large share of the film club’s success to finding a perfect venue in the Armour Street Theatre. “The theater is large enough to comfortably fit over 100 viewers, but small enough that the discussion feels intimate and everyone who wishes to make a comment or ask a question gets an opportunity,” he explains.

Singerman says that Matt Merrell, the former Executive Director of the Davidson Community Players, and Steve Kaliski, the current Director, have been invaluable partners in helping to make the theater available to the club. The Armour Street Theatre has been the permanent home to the Davidson Community Players since 2008. DCP works with the film club to find one Saturday evening each month to make available for a film screening. Davidson Community Players also staffs the projection booth in the theater to make sure the projector, sound, and lights are working properly for each screening.

While most of the films screened by the Davidson Film Club are not difficult to rent or purchase on many streaming services, Singerman stresses that there is an emotional element created by watching a film with other people that cannot be replicated by watching the same film alone. He suggests that it is a matter of the group dynamics created by the ability to experience the immediate reactions of others: laughter, tension, shock, heartbreak.

Singerman relates that because he has often viewed a film several times prior to the screening, he can take a moment to look around at the audience during critical moments of the film. “It is remarkable,” he says. “There are times when the entire audience is completely transfixed, when between 80 and 100 people seated together in a small space make not one sound, when silence permeates the whole room. You can feel it.”

Respecting filmmaking and the legal rights of artists is important to the film club. Singerman explains that the club pays a performance fee to the U.S. distributor of each film they screen. Because it can be difficult to determine which of many distributors has the rights to a given film, since studios and distributors are often sold several times, Singerman often spends a considerable amount of time tracking down the current distributor of certain films, so that the club can pay them for the rights.

A Working Board of Film Lovers

The all-volunteer board of the Davidson Film Club serves several critical functions. Board members help with reviewing and selecting films for each upcoming series. They also assist in identifying and inviting subject matter experts to lead the discussion sessions. On screening nights, board members help set up the theater, assist with seating, check memberships, handle walk-ins, and serve concessions. Board members have also been recruited to lead discussions in their areas of interest or expertise.

Dr. Peter Thorsheim is currently serving as Vice-President of the Board of Directors. Thorsheim is a professor of modern British history at UNC Charlotte, where he has taught since 2000. A longtime film lover who particularly appreciates the intersection of history and film, Thorsheim has also taught a popular series of three courses on the Cold War and the Silver Screen for DavidsonLearns.

Thorsheim says that his introduction to the Davidson Film Club occurred when he was approached by a friend who learned that the club was looking for a discussion leader for King of Devil’s Island, a 2010 Norwegian film based on a historical uprising at a brutal reformatory for boys on Bastøy Island, Norway. Thorsheim has Norwegian ancestry and has traveled frequently in and around Norway, so he agreed to lead the film club’s discussion. Later, he led the club’s discussion of the acclaimed version of Richard III, starring Sir Ian McKellan.

Thorsheim shared that while historical studies and analysis of world events often present a perspective that can seem distanced and removed from the humans involved, “film offers a way to view historical events at a human scale, to bring the story down to the individual level.” As a board member, Thorsheim enjoys the opportunity to experience the wide range of cultures, languages, and people that are represented by the films selected for screening by the club.

“Each season is carefully curated. The work of selecting films begins with an enormous amount of effort by Alan Singerman,” Thorsheim explains. “It seems that Alan must be viewing and researching films constantly to be able to identify and present such a strong group of options to the board.”

Prior to each new film series, Singerman begins the selection process by previewing dozens of films. He pays keen attention to the major international film festivals including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto, and BFI London, to name a few. The board members are asked to recommend films for consideration as well. Singerman then narrows the long list of films that he has researched and previewed down to a shortlist of 10 or 12 outstanding films. Singerman presents that list to the board along with a summary of each film, a list of awards the film has won, and several critical reviews.

From there, says Thorsheim, the board members do their own research and review of the recommended films. The board ranks all of the films on the short list, and the highest ranked ones become the films shown in the next season. This process has consistently provided a great variety of films, including many from under-represented areas in Africa, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Central and South America, and Asia.

On screening nights, there is often a line of film club members standing outside of the doors of the Armour Street Theatre when the doors open at 6:30. Long time members have their favorite seats in the Armour Street Theatre and like to arrive in time to claim them.

Check-in at the door to the Armour Street Theatre is low-tech. It involves a volunteer standing near the door with a clip-board and another volunteer sitting at a folding table and folding chair. You’re either a member or a walk-in, and a sorting happens upon entry to the theater.

Members are directed to the Secretary of the Board of Directors, Tracy Grimm, who is the keeper of the film club members list. While she recognizes all of the regulars, Grimm jokes that she can’t always remember everyone’s name automatically. Members are fully prepaid, but they stop at the door and give their names to Grimm, who dutifully crosses them off the list.

Walk-in viewers proceed to the folding table to speak with board member and Box Office Manager, Lydia Lorenzin, who takes their name and collects the nine dollar ticket price. “The process of checking in is very social and personal and kind of folksy. It really is the most Davidson thing ever,” says Lorenzin.

Lorenzin recalls that her longtime interest in viewing international and independent films often required driving with her late husband from Mooresville down I-77 to the Manor Theatre in Charlotte. “We were accustomed to driving down to Charlotte for unique artistic experiences and entertainment,” she said, “and we made many trips to the Manor Theatre.” The closure of the Manor Theatre in Charlotte in 2020 was a great loss to local film lovers. For 47 years, the Manor Twin Theatre in Myers Park was beloved for providing a venue for independent and foreign films.

When Lorenzin discovered the Davidson Film Club, she was excited to have such a “jewel here in Davidson.” She loves the variety and artistry of the films, but is most drawn to the wonderful human stories that are being told. “It’s entertainment but at a different level. You’re learning, you’re experiencing a different culture or a different part of the world.”

Lorenzin says that sometimes the subjects and themes addressed in international films are not necessarily ones she would naturally select to view alone. However, because the film club provides an opportunity to watch with others and then discuss and process the film together, it makes the challenging issues easier to handle.

“I look for at least one film that is high-quality and has a beautiful setting or a more light-hearted theme for each film series,” she says. “I think people need that break in between some of the more difficult films.” One such film that she recalls fondly is Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom,  a 2019 film about a young Bhutanese teacher who dreams of leaving his country to pursue a singing career. The film was shot on location in a remote village in Bhutan. “I remember that the film was so unusual and beautiful and uplifting,” Lorenzin said.

Lorenzin shares that she sometimes wonders if the club needs a larger space than the Armour Street Theatre, simply because there is so much demand for memberships. But she acknowledges that it is hard to find fault with the layout and intimacy of the Armour Street Theatre for viewing and discussing films with such a joyful and close-knit club.

On Saturday, September 14, the film club is screening and discussing the Oscar-winning Italian film Life is Beautiful. Discussion of the film will be led by Dr. Scott Denham, Charles A. Dana Professor of German Studies at Davidson College and Holocaust specialist.