By Tabassum Ali

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The Late Night Film Series’ collaborative movies have increased in number, even as the number of departments working with the student group has decreased, said Zach Lamb, a graduate higher education in student affairs student who manages LNFS with nine undergrads.

“Some professors came to us very early in the semester and had ambitious ideas for their series,” Lamb said.

Although the number of departments involved with LNFS has dropped from seven last semester to five, the number of movies in partnership with classes has increased, Lamb said.

“Professors are creative and fun to collaborate with and enthusiastic about what we show,” Lamb said. “We have been fortunate – as we have gotten bigger, professors seek us out to show films and documentaries related to their field.”

The LNFS team is happy to collaborate, Lamb said, and in return professors are asked to promote the LNFS productions through leaflets and during class to their students and colleagues.

LNFS has three collaborative series running this semester, Lamb said.

Five Spanish-language films will be shown, the cost of which will be split with the hispanic studies department.

The “Through the Night Vision” series and “Page and Projector” series are the products of partnerships with the fine arts and english departments, respectively.

Sarah Wylie A. VanMeter, a lecturer in the school of art and visual studies, worked with LNFS to develop the “Night Vision” series. Students in New Media Art have to choose three of the four films to see during the course and can receive extra credit for attending all of them, she said.

“LNFS has been an incredible resource for our students to see films they may not be able to see anywhere,” VanMeter said. “It’s really great to be able to bring 14 sections of students together into the same space for a shared experience.”

Although the audience in these shows consists mostly of students fulfilling class expectations, Lamb said there is still draw for other students. In most cases, the professors have complete creative control over what shows, unless there is a problem securing rights to a movie on their list.

“We’re doing this for several reasons,” said Pearl James, an associate professor in the english department. “We want english majors and members of our Students of English Association group to meet up at the LNFS and support it. We also think these are great films with a literary angle, and we think that everyone should see them. So we wanted LNFS to bring them.”

The number of students viewing LNFS movies increases significantly every year, Lamb said, even up against stiff competition from online streaming and Netflix.

“We try to make every movie a larger-than-life experience,” Lamb said.