On January, 29th Pathé Schouwburgplein welcomed nearly 350 EUR student to the special screening of a geeky comedy drama Frank, jointly organized by the IFFR and SG Erasmus.
Not a single vacant space and the hall is bustling, with the boys laughing loudly at the back. The sight is indistinguishable from the Aula at Woudestein, only now the festival director comes up to the stage to introduce the programme of the evening.
Extracurricular activities
Apart from the screening, the organizers prepared some extra treats for the students – a free drink at the after-party at Schouwburg and two sets of tickets for the closing night. Mind two things: the event was sold out long ago and the only thing students had to do was to come (the winner was picked randomly by the sit number).
The winner doesn’t take it all
“I did not know about the lottery, so I am as happy as surprised. But it feels good to win something for once”, admits one of the lucky students, Marcel Post, 34, Bachelor at the Erasmus School of Economics. There’s still a price to pay for him, though, “I guess I will have to skip my mom’s birthday party, but my girlfriend and I are definitely not missing out on this”.
Even if without a special prize to take home, other students were also rewarded. “I would not normally pick such a movie, I love action films. But this one looks interesting”, Olivier Hagenbeek, 24, Erasmus School of Law. “It’s been great. It is my first time at the festival, even though I’ve lived in Rotterdam for 5 years. Plus the tickets were half-price”, adds his fellow student, Laurens Dormans, 23.
The choice of the film
The film of the night is Frank, starring Michael Fassbender and Maggie Gylenhaal. This is a prominently peculiar story of a musician who wears a wooden head, while striving to record an album with his band. As Rutger Wolfson remarked, “I thought it was an original choice to get one of the most cash-making playboys in Hollywood and make him walk around in the mask for 95% of the movie”.
Recognizing themselves in characters obsessively documenting their lives on social media and putting hashtags on every imaginable action, students seemed pretty enthusiastic about the film. Monica Del Pozo, 21, student at RSM, voices the opinion of the majority, “It was a bit too open-ended and weird at times. But it’s different and I liked it”. KS
