Film Fanatics—There’s A Club For You Now At Kendall Campus
By Nikole Valiente and Olivia Valkenburg
Keelan Machado has always displayed a flair for the arts.
His passion for theater was sparked at Wesley Matthews Elementary, where he starred as the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz in the fourth grade.
In high school, he fed his passion for creative writing by playing Dungeons & Dragons—a fantasy story-telling game that allows the Dungeon Master to build the world through which the players engage.
Machado’s latest artistic endeavor blossomed this past summer when he studied film production in Prague through Miami Dade College’s study abroad program.
“I got to learn about directing, editing, screenwriting, cinematography, sound, light and equipment,” Machado said. “The combination of all of these art forms, which is truly what they are, coming together to make one singular piece of art just fascinated me so much.”
That experience inspired the 19-year-old Honors College student to start Finn’s Film Fanatics, a club geared toward the analysis and appreciation of cinema, this semester.
“I think it’s fantastic [and] long overdue,” said Paul Klein, the manager of the speech and debate lab at Kendall Campus, who serves as the club’s adviser. “And I think it’s gonna open up different kinds of movies to students who are interested in the art of film, specifically.”
The club, which held its first meeting virtually on Sept. 27, will meet every Wednesday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.—members can join in-person in the speech and debate lab in Room 2207 or online via Zoom—to discuss movies the group votes on.
Before the meetings, attendees must watch the selected movie through Kanopy, a free video streaming service for public academic institutions, and answer a Google form with questions analyzing the plot, characters, dialogue, camera shots, sound design and music.
Each month, the group will focus on a specific genre. September featured the action movie Mad Max, October will concentrate on horror flicks, November will dive into romantic comedies and December will be potpourri-style, allowing members to make a case for their film. At least one international film will be screened per month.
“We want our members to become fanatics, and by fanatics I don’t mean, crazy, pretentious film Redditors out there, you know, who say they watched a movie but don’t actually know why they loved the movie,” said Dylan Masvidal, the club’s vice president. “We want people to appreciate [film], understand it.”
Masvidal inherited his passion for movies from his grandfather, Mario Masvidal, who is a film and entertainment lover. When Masvidal was 13, they watched The Godfather—the 1972 classic mob-drama—and he realized the impact of cinema. But it wasn’t until his freshman year of high school after watching Kill Bill Vol. 1 that he became truly immersed.
In 2022, Masvidal served as the arts and entertainment editor at The Reporter from September through November, concentrating on album and movie reviews. The nineteen-year-old also has a medium-page, Dylan Masvidal aka DYLANDOOM, where he posts film, music and wrestling reviews.
“If [members] look passionate about what they just saw, [if] they want to speak about a specific scene or details about the movie, that’s when I’ll know that Keelan and I did our job,” Masvidal said. “[That] we executed what we wanted—[seeing] people excited about [a] film because of how important it is to humanity.”
For more information or to join the club, contact Keelan Machado at keelan.machado001@mymdc.net, or visit the club’s instagram page @finnsfilmfanatics.
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