In the vast expanse of internet streaming today is a little gem for film lovers. Deep in the depths you can find a website called Le Cinema Club. This website features one film a week to be streamed for free. Typically, these are short films from directors of all walks of life. Now, I must confess, I first heard of Le Cinema Club in an article in the NY Times which would make one think it isn’t much of a secret anymore, yet, I keep finding more and more people that consider themselves film lovers that have never heard of this site. My firm belief is that if you call yourself a film lover, you will love this streaming site. Oh yeah, and did I mention it’s free?

The first great feature is that it only streams one film a week. Many people may take this as a dramatic shortcoming in the world of Netflix and Hulu that have hundreds of titles available all at once. Though, this one film a week set up makes sure the focus is solely on a director and film that deserve the attention. Sometimes the featured film is an early work from a well-known director such as Alfonsa Cuaron, the director of the recently released Roma that’s garnering attention from the Oscars rumor makers. Others feature directors that are less well-known such as Khalik Allah (seriously, go watch his film “Field Niggas,” it’s wonderful.)

Even though there is a week to watch each film released, it’s still possible to miss some of them. Don’t worry though, Le Cinema Club has another cool feature called the archive. I’m sure you could guess what that entails. In the archive is a list of past films featured on the site and their directors. In this section there isn’t a link to the films if they are available elsewhere online for immediate viewing. This can be fixed though with a quick Google search of the title of the film and the director. Most of the films are available on other sites, but it would be almost impossible to find them or know to look for them if not for Le Cinema Club. Unfortunately, some titles are not available elsewhere and if you miss it on the week it’s released you simply miss out. All in all it’s nice to know what films have been featured on the site because at the very least it may make you recognize a director’s name later on and you may pay more attention to an underrated director’s work.

One feature that sticks out to me is their section called In the Cinema Club of… In this feature there will be an actor or director listed on the side of the screen and if you click on their name it will show you five films that these people have chosen as some of their favorites. This section does feature links to the films if they are elsewhere online. Not only that, but this section isn’t full of slouches in the world of film. They are selections from the likes of Jonah Hill, Robert Pattinson, Bong Joon-Ho, and Wes Anderson. This gives another large amount of films to be watched that aren’t featured on the site, but may not have been recognized by a wide audience if not for this section of the site.

While those are the main physical features of the site, I feel it’s important to mention that this site features many films and directors that belong to diverse groups. If you’re looking for representation you’ll likely find it here. The Oscars have nothing on Le Cinema Club regarding diversity. Plenty of the films feature people of color, LGBTQ+ characters, and directors of the same. In fact, many stories of the films revolve around these types of characters and situations specific to those people while others prominently feature them in a story that could about nobody and everybody all at once.

Basically, if you claim to love film and you aren’t checking Le Cinema Club every Friday for the new release, you shouldn’t be calling yourself a film lover. Of course some are better than others which is the situation everywhere, but each film featured is so different from the others that everybody will be able to fall in love with at least one film on the site. In case you’re wondering, my personal favorite is “Atomic Tabasco” directed by James Cox. What are you doing still reading this? Go! Go to lecinemaclub.com and get to watching!