Though Creek offers numerous opportunities to be involved in academic clubs, it also allows students to create organizations to pursue interests and share passions. The Foreign Film Club offers Creek students a chance to experience different cultures and ideas than those in American films, and to be enriched by the experience.

Senior Jonathan Valdez started the Foreign Film Club at the beginning of the year as a way to show movies with messages and subject matters that he doesn’t feel are apparent in American films. He said that foreign movies are more “intellectually vibrant” and that they offer multiple cultural perspectives.
“American films are usually concerned with box office results. Foreign Films are more concerned with the story and the moral point,” Valdez said.

Students attend the foreign film club for a variety of reasons. Senior Joshua Cordova helped Valdez start the club in an effort to allow other students to see the films he loves. Another student, Justin Wells, said he has enjoyed the change of pace these deep and provocative films have provided. He has been able to meet people that share similar interests, and see movies with unusual messages.
“Mostly, the movies I have seen have been American films, and I wanted to broaden my categories,” he said.

At a typical meeting, the students will get together to watch the movie and discuss it as they watch if they need help understanding it. Some of the films they have viewed have included Breathless, The Seventh Seal, The Bicycle Thieves, 8 •, The Seven Samurai, and The 400 Blows.

Nancy Schwab, an English teacher at Creek, sponsors the club. She enjoys working with the organization because she majored in radio, television, and film in college and has had much experience in foreign film analysis.
“I like that the kids are really interested in understanding the movies, and that there is an appreciation for different types of movies and that they’re expanding their horizons,” she said.

One favorite film among many club members has been the Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman, a black-and-white film dealing with a knight returning from the crusades who plays a game of chess with death. Though the main character knows he can’t ultimately win, he still tries to prolong the game. Valdez said he enjoyed the film because of its universal themes, confessional monologues, and how it brought a wide range of personalities to the club.

“It forced the viewers to think about death in their own way,” he said.
Ms. Schwab hopes to see the film club continue and to continue to broaden their experience.
“I would like to expand and maybe include some sort of discussion, either before or after the movie or both. I’d like to see it continue next year,” she said.