December Programming | Swank Motion Pictures

Wrap up the year with festive holiday movie nights! Check out themes, movies, and event ideas for December below!

First Day of Winter

Holiday Event Ideas:
Winter & Christmas

Transform a campus area into a Christmas market with vendors selling crafts, food, and gifts. Organize a toy drive for underprivileged children, and screen classic holiday films under the stars.
Create a winter wonderland atmosphere with snow machines, ice-skating rinks and a hot chocolate bar. Screen holiday movies and invite a local choir to perform festive songs.
Encourage students and faculty to participate in an ugly sweater contest at your holiday movie event. Host a fashion show or parade where participants can showcase their creatively hideous sweaters. Offer prizes for the funniest, most original, or most outrageous sweaters.
Set up a cookie decorating station where students can decorate holiday-themed cookies with icing, sprinkles, and other toppings before your screening. Provide a variety of cookie shapes and designs to inspire creativity and offer VIP seating for the attendee with the most creative cookie.

View More Ideas & Resources

Holiday Event Ideas:
Multicultural Celebrations

If you plan on showing holiday films throughout the season, make sure to include some diverse ones in addition to other holiday classics.
People around the world celebrate Christmas, but they don’t all celebrate it the same way. Teach students about other countries’ traditions with a "Christmas around the World" party after your screening. You can share with attendees what food is savored, day is celebrated, stories are told and songs are sung. Be sure to also share how they pass on Christmas wishes!
Collaborate with African-American student organizations to host a Kwanzaa celebration. Showcase cultural performances, music and art. Screen films that highlight the principles of Kwanzaa and hold discussions on African-American heritage.
Celebrate Hanukkah by partnering with Jewish student organizations to incorporate menorah lighting, dreidel games and traditional Jewish foods into your event.

"Hanukkah Movie Night! We rented ‘8 Crazy Nights’ and played dreidel for prizes.”

- Stony Brook University

International day of Persons with Disabilities

Event Idea:
International Day of Persons with Disabilities

December 3rd

Promote inclusivity by organizing a disability awareness fair. Offer interactive exhibits, accessible movie screenings, and invite guest speakers to share their experiences and discuss accessibility on campus.

“This event was part of our school’s annual Deaf Awareness Week and was intended to highlight examples of the Deaf community in mainstream media. We provided food and lead a discussion after the movie to discuss our thoughts and how it related to positive representation of the Deaf Community, understanding privileges, and how we can act as better allies. The student engagement was positive! We had a large turn out because both movie nights that we had, ‘A Quiet Place Part I’ & ‘Part II,’ are popular amongst our students. These movie nights were also co-hosted with our student group, Deaf Awareness Club, so they were able to get more publicity about their club activities.”

- Flagler College