Book & Film Society January Newsletter

Welcome back to the Book & Film newsletter!

My name is Pari and I’m the President of the Book & Film society. In this edition I’ll be showcasing some of the events that we ran near the end of last semester, including an exclusive sneak peek at some of our upcoming events.

I’d like to start by giving a shout out to our refresher’s socials! Upcoming we have the refreshers fair, a vision board making social and a mystery film night all for the first week back.

If you don’t get the chance to come along, don’t worry! DM us @hullunibookandfilm on Instagram or email us bookandfilmsoc@gmail.com, and you can come to one social in February for free!

Now, moving onto what we’ve been up to:

In November our monthly theme was feel good faves and in December we had a festive theme!

November

Starting with November! Here are the films that we watched:

• ‘Legally Blonde’
• ’13 going on 30′
• ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’
• ‘The Thursday Murder Club’
• ‘The King’s Speech’
• ‘Wicked: Part 2’

Plus additional socials:

• Reading week coffee social
• ‘Wicked: Part 2’ Cinema Trip
• Joint film social with Politics Society
• Murder Mystery & Book Club Social

“My favourite film of November was The King’s Speech as it was so moving and inspiring. I was absolutely hooked. I also love 13 going on 30 and Legally Blonde, but these were rewatches for me!” – Pari

Leone’s favourite film of November was ‘Wicked: Part 2’, as this was a much anticipated release for her!

A big thank you to Politics Society for our joint social where we watched ‘The King’s Speech’. It was such a wonderful film!

Next, I want to take a quick moment to shout out some recent film releases that everyone has been loving:

• ‘Marty Supreme’ – Josh Safdie (dir.)
• ‘Hamnet’ – Chloé Zhao (dir.)
• ‘The Housemaid’ – Paul Feig (dir.)
• ‘People we Meet on Vacation’ – Brett Haley (dir.)
• ‘Zootropolis 2’ – Jared Bush & Byron Howard (dir.)
• ‘Song Sung Blue’ – Craig Brewer (dir.)

“Marty Supreme was interesting in my opinion! I enjoyed it but was confused for most of it, it definitely is chaotic but the experience of seeing it on the big screen was amazing. 4 stars!” – Pari

December

In December we only had two weeks, but we got up to quite a lot regardless!

The films we watched, voted for by our members, were ‘Last Christmas’ and ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. We also watched ‘Front of Class’, which was an incredible film.

We also had a few other socials:

• Book Club for The Midnight Library by Matt Haig at Barleys on Newland Avenue. A great place for coffee and brunch!
• Film prints fundraiser for the Film & TV licence
• Disability History Month film night hosted alongside the Disabled Students Rep and the Neurodiversity Students Rep

Our event with the Disabled Students Rep and the Neurodiversity Students Rep for Disability History Month was very special to us. We watched the film ‘Front of Class’, which is about a teacher with Tourette Syndrome that had to overcome criticism and discrimination to become successful. The film was incredibly moving and important, so thank you to Sonia, Natasha and Madison for helping put this event on to spread awareness. 

We also hosted a film print fundraiser for the film & tv licence and successfully raised around £76 for this. A massive thank you to everyone who came along to support or donated! 

Finally, we collaborated with the library for their Book Lovers collection, spotlighting books for leisure reading. Thank you to all our members who submitted their favourite books for this.

We ended the year with a committee reshuffle, so here is our new committee:

• President – Pari Ali
• Vice President – Madison Newnham
• Treasurer – Leone Hill

Let’s move on to discuss the most anticipated releases for the next few weeks! Here’s just a short list on what’s coming up in the world of books and film:

Films:

• 13.02.2026 – ‘Wuthering Heights’ (dir. Emerald Fennell): this highly anticipated adaptation stars Margot Robbie as Catherine and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff.
• 20.02.2026 – ‘EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert’ (dir. Baz Luhrmann): this film features rare footage and recordings from Elvis’s 1970s Las Vegas residency.
• 26.02.2026 – ‘The Sheep Detectives’ (dir. Kyle Balda): a comedy starring Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson about a shepherd who reads murder mysteries to his flock.
• 27.02.2026 – ‘Scream 7’ (dir. Kevin Williamson): a new instalment in the infamous horror franchise.

Books:

• 03.02.2026 – It’s Not Her (Mary Kubica): a psychological thriller revolving around a brutal crime at a secluded lake resort.
• 10.02.2026 – This is not about us (Allegra Goodman): a kaleidoscopic portrait of a modern American family: steadfast, complicated, begrudging but above all – loving.
• 17.02.2026 – A Hymn to Life (Gisèle Pelicot): Gisèle Pelicot’s own story in her words, offering solace, hope and making a positive contribution to changing the conversation around shame.
• 17.02.2026 – The Astral Library (Kate Quinn): a fantastical adventure which poses the question: have you ever wished you could live inside a book?
• 17.02.2026 – Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter (Heather Fawcett): a heartwarming, cosy fantasy that follows a woman who runs a cat rescue in 1920s and decides to turn to a grouchy but charming magician to help save her shelter.
• 24.02.2026 – Young Man in a Hurry (Gavin Newsom): from California Governor Gavin Newsom comes an intimate and poignant account of identity, belonging and the defining moments that inspired a life in politics.
• 24.02.2026 – Kin (Tayari Jones): two girls with absent mothers navigate the dangers and heartbreaks of racially segregated America in this intensely powerful and propulsive novel.

Finally here’s a quick sneak of what events we have coming up in February: 

The theme of February is Romance.  

• Film Nights
• Galentine’s Cafe Crawl
• Galentine’s Film Night
• Cinema Trip – Hamnet
• Reading Social
• Book Club

Stay tuned to find out what films we watch and what our book club book is for February!

Thanks for reading! We hope to see you at our next social! – Pari

For more information or to contact us:

Email: bookandfilmsoc@gmail.com

Instagram: @hullunibookandfilm

Buy a Membership: https://hulluniunion.com/shop/product/8612-