'Love' the theme of Central Michigan International Film Festival opening night
An audience gets ready for the show to begin during the 2018 Film Festival on Feb. 14th at the Park Library Auditorium
To fit the Valentine's Day theme, the Film Society selected "Loving Vincent" and "God's Own Country" for the opening night of the 2018 Central Michigan International Film Festival on Feb. 14 at the Charles V. Park Library Auditorium.
Both films dealt with the theme of love, whether the meaning of love was a passion for art or a romance between two people.
The festival brought together many students. Junior graphic design major Rachel LaFrance came with a group of friends, who were all seeing "Loving Vincent" for the first time.
"My favorite Vincent van Gogh painting is 'The Night Café'," LaFrance said.
Film Society President and senior Daniel Martinez said"Loving Vincent" was the best choice for an opening feature due to its unique oil painting quality and colorful cinematography.
After working on the event for almost a year, Martinez experienced different degrees of emotion during opening night.
"At first I was nervous about what things could go wrong, but now I'm really excited," Martinez said.
With the help of various groups and student volunteers, the Film Society picked what it thought was the best format for the event.
This year, the Film Society focused on full-length feature films that were both unique and nominated for Oscars and films that hadn't received much publicity. Some movies being shown at the festival weren't playing at local theaters during the time of their release.
However, by collaborating with Celebration! Cinema, the Film Society is now able to bring those films to the big screens in Mount Pleasant.
The film "God's Own Country" capped off the festival's opening night. The movie centralizes around an English farmer with a rough past and his struggle to become a better man after he forms a close relationship with a Romanian migrant.
Showing a film that involves a romantic relationship between two men was part of the unique aspect in films the Film Society wanted to show their audience.
"The goal is to share an appreciation of film with the students and community," sophomore Film Society secretary Sophie Bates said, "and include ones that even involved some controversy in them."
These carefully selected films will be showing over a five-day period at the Park Library Auditorium and Celebration! Cinema.
