Using Facebook as a tool to engage community members, the Film Buffs Institute screened three Academy Award nominees that were chosen by the public on Feb. 21.

This event for the Film Buffs was achieved using their Facebook page.

This move to using Facebook as an involvement tool is something the institute is doing in addition with other efforts to revamp the Film Buffs.

“Our Facebook page is a big part of Film Buffs. We want people to check out the trailers and vote. ‘Skyfall,’ ‘Flight’ and ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ are just some of the popular choices. Whichever gets the most likes are the ones we’ll watch. We really want movie goers to decide,” Dittmar Dittrich, current Film Buffs director and Loyola professor, said.

Dittrich said that the program is revamped and has completely evolved over the years.

“We’ve been around for a while. The program started off showing contemporary movies for the New Orleans community. This brought huge success to Loyola,” Dittrich said.

The program morphed into a service of screening movies for Loyola classes.

“Now in 2012, we’re trying to combine the best elements of Film Buffs. We would like to attract off-campus visitors through special events, as well as continue to show movies for classes,” Dittrich said.

Film Buffs events are completely free, offering movie theater experiences, without movie theater prices.

“We even invested in an old-school popcorn machine, which we will be rolling out for all of our screenings,” Dittrich said.

Film Buffs currently has 13 work-study students and has hired interns as well. The students play a large role in the program.

English sophomore Jake Silvas spends a lot of time in Bobet 334, the Film Buffs headquarters. He does his work study as well as interns for the Film Buffs program.

While open to all genres of movies, the Film Buffs tend to screen more independent films.

“The movies we show are not really mainstream. We’re not exactly watching ‘Aladdin,'” said Silvas.

Previous Film Buffs director, the deceased Peggy McCormack’s major accomplishment was the impressive equipment she got for the program.

“Our equipment is the same quality as Canal Place. We have surround sound, HD projectors and enormous screens. The quality is exceptional,” Dittrich said.

Film and digital Media sophomore Jake Bradbury said he enjoyed many screenings for classes, thanks to this program.

“In all my experiences with the Film Buffs program, they’ve been great. The new changes they’re making seem exciting as well,” Bradbury said.

Melanie Potter can be reached at [email protected]