CWRU Film Society Endowment

Last Updated: May 6th, 2022

Message from Charley Knox

Current Progress

ENDOWMENT HAS BEEN FUNDED AND CREATED!

As of the last update, we have raised a total of $27,167 which is 108.7% of the required to create the endowment. We are extremely greatful for all of your generous donations and hope to see you all back in Strosacker!

About

At 50 years, CWRU Film Society is one of a handful of remaining collegiate film societies in the United States, and one of even fewer capable of screening 70 mm film. During its time on campus, it has been instrumental in the founding and development of local cinema culture. The Cleveland International Film Festival was founded by Film Society alumnus John Foreman, and hosted in Strosacker for its first few years. The Cleveland Italian Film Festival and Short. Sweet. Film Fest. are closely connected to the organization, as is the local community of film projectionists associated with Cinematheque and Cleveland Cinemas.

Within the Film Society, the crown jewel of our tradition is the annual Science Fiction Marathon, now in its 46th year as the nation's longest-running annual genre film festival. Marathon is a touchstone in the lives of alumni and fans across the country, some of whom travel considerable distances each year in order to attend. A few of our dedicated patrons have attended every year since its inception, as has founding member Charley Knox of the CWRU Astronomy Department. This event is at the heart of our strong alumni network and ties to the community.

Despite the limitations of the pandemic, Film Society has been committed to showing movies in a safe and enjoyable environment to provide a fun activity for those on campus while taking every precaution to ensure safety. We also took the pandemic as an opportunity to conduct maintenance and infrastructure tasks in small, socially distanced groups. With the support of the Putnam Collection and Strosacker Family Foundation, we completed the installation of our poster gallery, featuring over a hundred original Film Society posters dating back to 1971. We conducted significant improvements in our film trailer archive, and are currently working to improve our 70mm projection capabilities through a student project grant supported by think[box].

The purpose of the endowment will be to support our programming, student projectionist program, and to preserve the art of film and long-held traditions like Science Fiction Marathon. Support Film Society and help us keep on rollin' for years to come.

Links to donate:

giving.case.edu/film
To donate to the endowment, select CWRU Film Society Endowment from the dropdown.
To donate to the annual fund, select CWRU Film Society Annual Fund from the dropdown.

Previous Campaigns:

https://www.givecampus.com/hk1hdz
- With your support, we raised $23,861 over 101 donors. Thank you all for your generocity and funding our endowment!
#GivingTuesdayatCWRU2020 Campaign
- With your support we raised $1,880 over 56 donors. Thank you all for your generocity!