French Honor Society hosts cheese-tasting and movie night on Oct. 26

As the bell rang signaling the end of seventh period and the start of the weekend, most students left for the refuge of their homes, aside from the students in room A202. In fact, the room was filled with not only students currently in French but also people interested in sampling cheese and watching foreign films.

In the past years, La Société Honoraire de Français (the French Honor Society) has kept movie nights and the cheese and movie festival separate, but this year, the club decided to combine both events into one.

“We knew we wanted to have a Fête du Fromage, a cheese festival,” social manager junior Ambika Dubey said. “We’ve been doing that for a few years … [we] also have a movie night so that the French students can come and immerse themselves into the culture a little bit better.”

The event itself took about two weeks to plan, starting with officers bouncing ideas back and forth via email and in person. Because it was a potluck, the club incurred little cost since members and officers brought snacks such as French baguettes and Brie cheese.

Another foreign aspect of the event was the movie itself. While the idea of showing a silent film might seem to be an unusual choice for students, almost all the viewers were attentive. Audience members laughed along with the movie’s comedic tropes, ‘oohed’ at the romantic tensions and applauded the movie after it had ended.

With regards to the lack of dialogue in the movie, French 1 and 3 teacher Lohme said, “I think [it was a good choice]. I mean it’s a silent film so it’s not necessarily the best exposure to French that [the students] are going to have … maybe it’s not the best example of French language, but it’s a great example of French culture.”

Whether or not students agreed with Lohme’s advice is up in the air, but given the plaudits from the audience members after the dance scene at the end and the near demolished plates of food, it can be assumed that the club’s goal of spreading French culture was a success.