HHS is a place where students can get involved in many after school activities, including clubs. Allowing students to get involved in a passion, while thinking in an academic manner. While often dismissed as something people do in their free time, Film Club was created by junior Zayn Azad. Although he is involved in a robotics team and a tutoring club, he created time to make his love for movies a part of the HHS community.
“I’ve always loved watching movies, but I found myself watching less and less over the years because of school,” Azad said. “One day I realized that if there was a school club where me and other like-minded individuals made a commitment to watch and discuss movies, I could remedy this.”
For Azad, Film club was about the entertainment, but more so about creating a community of students. Although it originated due to Azad being motivated to squeeze movie time into his busy schedule as a full DP student, it led to a structured, student-led space where movies are viewed as academic literature. Similar to book clubs, members choose a film to watch each week, view it independently, and analyze it at the next meeting.
“It’s structured a bit like a book club,” Azad said. “Each week we vote to watch a new movie, see it in our own time, and reconvene the next week to discuss.”
As president, Azad handles nearly every detail that makes Film club possible. Azad creates the options for possible films to include, holds votes to decide the film of the week, and creates slides/posters to engage the members.
“I do most of the heavy lifting,” Azad said. “I find most of the movie options and make a new slide deck every week with discussion questions and other things we might want to talk about.”
Starting the club was not easy, as very few teachers at HHS were available to sponsor the club. Since the logistics became a challenge, Azad reached out for support from teachers like Mr. Trevisan, Ms. Potocki, and Mr. Fox, to obtain an advisor to start the club.
“Getting the club organized was a nightmare in the beginning,” Azad said. “There were so few teachers available to advise.”
This persistence and dedication demonstrates Azad’s commitment to Film club. He enjoys discussions over the movies rather than a lecture, and likes club members to share their own interpretations and ideas. In addition, he views the discussion as a method where students can build their college resume while having fun.
“I personally hold the value of community involvement,” Azad said. “So I try to give other people a voice to share and discuss during the club. Leadership experience would give members reason to make time to watch movies, as it becomes a school related activity that could count for various things (college applications). Even disregarding potential extracurricular hours, I think it’s awesome to connect with other students who share a genuine interest in film.”
In addition, the creation of Film club has helped Azad with his other classes. As a full DP student, Azad writes a handful of Extended Essays, and with his film expertise thanks to the club and its members, he now has knowledge to include in his essays. Essentially meaning the club has helped with his other academics.
“Doing film analysis every week is helping me develop the skills I’ll need for my EE,” Azad said.
Azad doesn’t just watch the movies for club discussion, he often watches it for fun in his free time.
“My favorite movie of all time is Paddington 2, me and my family have seen it together many many times, and I also think it’s my mom’s favorite movie as well, so I just have good family associations around it,” Azad said.
Azad’s creation of Film Club shows how student hobbies, like watching movies, can grow into a place of ideas being shared. It gives a place for students to share opinions, debate, and connect over something they enjoy. This leadership Azad has exhibited has created a community at HHS.
