From dames to documentaries, film club has something for every movie fan

By Alli Palmgren and Doc Crane.

On Thursday afternoons, something curious transpires at the Weston Public Library. Around 15 to 20 people gather for the WPL Film Club. With coffee, cookies, ice cream sandwiches in summer, and of course, popcorn, they catch up and mingle until 1:30, when the host, Doc Crane, offers an introduction to the day’s screening.

When I first came to the Weston Public Library, Doc and I bonded over having watched classic musicals on repeat with beloved family members who have long since passed away. When I confessed that I cry no fewer than three times every time I watch Meet Me in St. Louis, his response of “Well, of course!” made me instantly comfortable swapping stories and opinions with him while we worked. So when I sat in for my first Film Club, I was unsurprised to find that this was much more than your standard library movie showing. It felt like being back in a seminar class with my favorite college professor, but without the homework.

With a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in filmmaking from MassArt and having curated other film venues, Crane draws on cinema history and various cultural tangents that provide context for the day’s movie. His talks are spontaneous and often humorous.

“Simply having people arrive, switching off the lights and turning on a movie can be a little lonely…” Crane said. “You might as well be at home. But I remembered when Frank Avruch on Channel 5 did his introductions before the films on The Great Entertainment. By offering backstories that fleshed out the stars and directors, he made good movies that much more engaging.”

Doc Crane has been showing films at Weston since 2017, when he opened the club with “Tea with Mussolini.” During the first year there were just eight screenings in the winter months. The next winter Film Club started running theme-related series, such as Hitchcock in the Afternoon, 641.5: Food on Film, and The Dames, which featured Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Emma Thompson and other actresses who have been awarded the Order of the British Empire.

When the pandemic struck in 2020 and the library was shuttered for three months, Crane fell back on his filmmaking skills to produce videos for the WPL website advising patrons about films available on the library’s Hoopla and Kanopy streaming platforms.

When Film Club returned from its hiatus in 2022, it moved to the Weston Art & Innovation Center. The new location came with a formidable challenge: Rather than show eight to 12 films during the winter, Film Club would now run every Thursday—48 plus films a year. With the idea of presenting four accessible films for every challenging one, Crane launched the extended series New York On-Screen, interspersing documentaries such as “Man on Wire” and “The Automat” with dramatic features like “If Beale Street Could Talk” and “Age of Innocence” and comedies ranging from “My Man Godfrey” and “The Apartment” to “Crossing Delancey” and “The Intern.”

With expanded programming and growing attendance, the Film Club returned to the WPL Community Room with new series such as Pride Summer, Presidents & Potentates and Travels & Travails, as well as Éire ar Scannán, featuring Irish films each March. While most films are shown on Thursday afternoons, Doc offers occasional evening screenings. These films are often a bit edgier or appeal to a somewhat different audience. Whenever he approaches me with an idea for a more challenging film, my answer is almost always the same: “You know your viewers best.” And he does. When he selects a film that pushes filmgoers to the edge of their comfort level, he invariably follows it with a “palate cleanser” the next week. This is just one reason that patrons keep coming back (and bringing a friend!).

By 2025 the club was able to present newly released films such as “September 5th,” the Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” and “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” with the latest Downton Abbey installment planned for a double screening in December. But just as important as the film selections has been the sense of community that has developed with Film Club.

“Back when I was in school and later on, making films…” Crane said, “Our screenings were events with people talking and sometimes arguing about what they had just seen. This is what I’ve been after with Film Club, and it feels now like we have that, especially when you hear everyone laughing during a good comedy.  And because it’s Weston, you have some very interesting, amazingly accomplished people coming and engaging in the discussions after the film—and the ice cream helps.”

Alli Palmgren is the assistant director of the Weston Public Library