CineClub promotes film culture on campus.
Cinema has its own space in the Gandia Campus of the Universitat Politècnica de València thanks to CineClub. This Spontaneous Generation Group UPV has been bringing together students and spectators for years around films that invite them to discover new cinematographic visions.
A consolidated cultural proposal
“It is difficult to specify the exact date of the beginning of CineClub -explain its current coordinators-, since during its first stages the screenings had a much more informal character”. However, they add that “the first official records of the activity date back to the 2018-2019 academic year. It was then when the project began to consolidate as an institutionalized student organization within the EPSG and Generación Espontánea UPV”.
Since then, the initiative has evolved thanks to the work of different generations of students, who have contributed new ideas and new approaches. Beyond screenings, CineClub seeks to bring to the public films that are far from the usual commercial circuits and to promote a different way of understanding cinema.
Thematic cycles and alternative cinema
Currently, the organizing team stresses that the main objective of CineClub is to promote “the value of cinema as a means to stimulate critical thinking, beyond mere commercial entertainment”. In addition, “from this platform” they also disseminate “other alternative proposals to the conventional ones”, such as the cycle of Cinema en Valencià which is held monthly at the Teatre Serrano in Gandia.
Over the years, and through thematic cycles and alternative programming, CineClub has established itself as one of the most active cultural spaces in university life on campus. The programming is designed jointly by its coordinators and is usually organized “around monthly themes related to outstanding cultural or social events”.
During the month of April, for example, CineClub prepares a cycle dedicated to film adaptations of literary works in collaboration with the Gandia Campus Library. Horror film sessions are also common in October or cycles focused on female directors and filmmakers during March, coinciding with the commemoration of International Women’s Day.
Sessions open to the public
The screenings, with free admission, take place every Thursday -and some Tuesdays- at 8:45 p.m. in classroom 16 of building A of the campus. Although the initiative is designed especially for students, the sessions are open to anyone interested. In fact, the organization highlights the increase of external visitors and adult audiences, an aspect they consider very positive to continue expanding the cultural and social dimension of the Cine Club.
“We are very proud to welcome an increasingly diverse audience,” the coordination team says.
With this proposal, CineClub continues to consolidate itself as a cultural meeting point on the Gandia Campus, encouraging debate, reflection and the discovery of new cinematographic views among students and spectators of all ages.
Check the CineClub’s billboard at: https://www.instagram.com/cineclubupv/ and in the Gandia Campus web agenda.