The School Committee voted unanimously on Thursday, April 6 to approve a student-led film club at Wareham High School. 

Students Gisella Priestley, Aiden Dillen and Kiley Sullivan said that their classmates were interested in the idea of a film club, as evidenced by the popularity of the High School’s film class.

The club would watch, appreciate and discuss movies once a week. Social studies teacher Christopher Gardner would likely serve as the club’s adviser. 

School Committee member Brennan McKiernan, a film major himself, said that he was excited to see students with enthusiasm for cinema.

McKiernan asked whether the club would focus on classic or contemporary films. Sullivan prefers the classics, but said that the entire club will vote on what movies will be shown each week. 

The final decision on all movies would fall to the faculty advisor, and any R-rated or otherwise inappropriate flicks would require a signed parental permission slip. The permission slip would include an explanation for why the movie is worth watching. 

Asked about their favorite films, the students had eclectic answers.

Sullivan loves Josef von Sternberg’s 1932 pre-Code hostage drama “Shanghai Express,” Dillen enjoys Roman Polanski’s 1968 psychological horror “Rosemary’s Baby,” and Priestley spoke up for Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s newest film “Gangubai Kathiawadi.”

The club was approved as a pilot program, and Sullivan said that the students hope to get rolling during the current school year.