Crank up the speakers and get the popcorn ready; students and staff now have a chance to catch more movies after Film Fridays at the Varsity Center for the Arts by going to the Big Muddy Independent Media Center.

Husni Ashiku, a senior from Polo studying cinema and photography, said he plans to complement Film Fridays at the Varsity with his own program, which also focuses on films that may fly under the radar.

Friday nights at 7:30, students and staff are welcome to meet at the Big Muddy IMC if they want to continue watching movies after Film Fridays at the Varsity, he said.

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“We’re trying to complement their films by showing films afterward,” Ashiku said.

He said the program began at the end of December under the name Free Film Fridays. Ashiku said to avoid confusion with the also-free Film Fridays at the Varsity, he will change the name of the program to Occupy Carbondale Movie Nights at the IMC.

“We want to show quality films and have space for people to discuss them,” he said.

Susan Felleman, associate professor of cinema and photography and organizer of Film Fridays at the Varsity, said there are similarities between the programs.

“We’re both bringing more opportunities to see more non-mainstream films to the community free of charge,” she said.

Felleman also said there are some differences between the programs. Film Fridays at the Varsity is organized through the university, while Ashiku’s program is not, she said.

Ashiku said Occupy Carbondale Movie Nights at the IMC are affiliated with the Occupy Carbondale movement, which provides Ashiku with a place to show films. Ashiku said he is on the Occupy Carbondale Committee and does movie nights on Fridays to help bring the people of Carbondale together.

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He said the affiliation with the Occupy movement does not have an effect on the films he shows.

Ashiku played the movie “The Pornographers” last Friday to a small audience.

Audience member Hannah Gassmann, a junior from Olney studying accounting, said she wasn’t aware of films being played on Fridays at the IMC until her roommate told her.

Gassmann said it was an interesting movie.

“It was an experience,” Gassmann said. “This definitely isn’t something that most students would do on a Friday night, or would consider doing. It was definitely just something out there that was good.”