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Expressing Love for Movies with the #cinephilephoto Hashtag

By Corey Atad | Miscellaneous | September 4, 2014 |

By Corey Atad | Miscellaneous | September 4, 2014 |

The #cinephilephoto hashtag has taken the community of film lovers on Twitter by storm. The concept is about as simple as it gets: get nominated, post a favourite image from a favourite movie, and nominate more people to do the same. In a way it’s maybe too simple, encouraging people to share shots they love, but without engaging in a critical conversation about them. Then again, sometimes a critical conversation isn’t what’s needed. The beauty of #cinephilephoto is that it’s spreading positivity and a genuine love of the medium.

I’m not sure about you, but I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Twitter. It’s an incredible tool for discovering new things online, as well as writers, and even friends. I’ve made many friends who I’m now very close with all through Twitter. But with the good comes the bad, and as we saw demonstrated earlier in the week, and throughout the summer, and really throughout the existence of Twitter, those 140 characters can be used for plenty of vile and gross conduct. It’s also a social network highly prone to piling on. Everybody has to get their snarky opinion in, and that can make a feed feel more like a flood.

Sometimes I look at my Twitter feed and all I see is ugliness and negativity. It’s possible I’m following the wrong people, but I don’t think that’s it. The Internet and social media are the perfect places to let things go viral, and few things go viral quicker than what makes us angry. It’s human. Goodness knows, I’m often prone to negativity and anger online.

Which is why #cinephilephoto is so refreshing. There’s no baggage about it. People love movies. People have specific movies they love. What better way is there to bring joy to the online sphere than to share with others the things we love? I’ve seen so many varied and interesting choices for #cinephilephoto, including picks I’d never think would be on the list of favourite movies for anybody. It’s a learning experience; a way to interact and engage with people without resorting to argument or outrage. It’s all about love. And ain’t love grand?

For my (first) #cinephilephoto, I chose a still from a French film, Robert Bresson’s L’argent.

Many others have picked great shots. Here are a few of the standouts I’ve seen:

Corey Atad is a staff writer for Pajiba. He lives in Toronto.