Travel down to the Davies Student Center on a weekend evening, and you will find anything from a cult classic to a student-created film playing in the Woodland Theater. Free of charge to students (with complimentary popcorn, too) the University Activities Commission, as well as other various groups, always have an exhilarating array of films playing throughout the semester.

For students who do not own a car on campus, the theater provides an easily accessible method of entertainment. Many enjoy the option of going from the film to the live music at The Cabin coffee shop. It’s also an opportunity to make new friends with people who have similar film taste.

The University Activities Commission and International Film Society carefully selects and vies for films each year prior to the next. They fit right into the changing atmosphere of the semester with an early 2000s comedy to start off the school year (hint: it’s exceptionally grool). New faces to the UWEC campus may be grateful for Mean Girls’s new-kid storyline and humor.

There are plenty of different genres. Dramas include the historically relevant film Selma, whose story is especially prevalent seeing as this year was the fiftieth anniversary of the march. Haunting horrors will play, such as The Conjuring the weekend of Nov 20-22.

Gone Girl, a film whose popularity was undeniable, will addle minds the weekend of Sept 25-27.

Childhood favorites Matilda and Back to the Future will be sure to bring laughs and memories.  

Come Halloween, a double-feature of Frankenstein and Nosferatu will play. The score to the ladder, a 1922 German film, will be performed live by The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra Minnesota at the Friday showing, adding to the eerie atmosphere. Nosferatu, according to the International Movie Database, initially was decreed to be destroyed for its clear plagiarism from Dracula. However, a few copies survived, adding to the rare antiquity of the film.

Several of the films share unique stories.

Take The Salt of the Earth – a documentary sharing Sebastião Salogado’s photographic tributes to earth’s ever changing beauty. In the wake of photographing disasters seen worldwide, Salogado aims to capture images of nature’s purest vistas and details. Or Timbuktu, which explores the challenges of a family living under Jihadist control. Of course, there’s always the cult classic The Graduate – a post-college existential comedy/drama.

UWEC’s campus is the proud home of the Eau Queer Film Festival. This year’s theme, “Beyond Binaries,” will exhibit films and shorts meant to challenge both sexuality and gender norms found in mainstream cinema. Their mission statement promotes the idea to embrace “difference, promote equality, challenge and educate through the powerful medium of film.” More information is available on this transcendening event at their website www.eauqueer.com

Also shown on the schedule is the 48 Hour Video Project — a project in which videographers of the university and surrounding community are given a theme, prop, line of dialogue, character, and a single week to complete a film including all these parts. Last year, the theme was “Heroes and Villains.” The year prior’s theme was Monsters and Magic. The films will be presented October 29, and are sure to be nothing short of an amazing exhibition of campus and community talent.

Whether you see film as an entertaining escape, or a powerful medium, this semester is sure to provide plenty of options. So grab some popcorn, meet up with friends, pick a night, and go.