The Asian Culture Club hosted a Lunar New Year movie night celebration Wednesday, March 2 at Pascack Valley. After paying the admission cost of $2, viewers were treated to free snacks including fortune cookies, chips, Hi-Chews, and cookies.

“This movie night was a fun way to immerse the student body in an event, but at the same time, make it informational,” Kareena Shah, junior and president of the club, said. “We plan on talking about the Lunar New Year and its significance is not just in Chinese culture but also in all the different countries that celebrate it.” 

According to History.com, the holiday is among the most important celebrations in East and Southeast Asian cultures. The Year of the Tiger began on Feb. 1. This year’s symbol represents strength, action, clearing evil away, and bravery.

“The Lunar New Year is this time where family and friends come together to celebrate this new beginning that ushers in prosperity and good luck,” Shah said. “Good luck is what the color red signifies and children are traditionally given different red envelopes with money in them to bring in good luck to this new year.” 

As the Lunar New Year is a time for people to come together, the movie night was an opportunity for the PV community to come together by watching the 2008 film, “Kung Fu Panda.” It was selected to watch based on a vote from ACC members. 

“I think with COVID-19 kind of declining now, we want to immerse the student body as much as possible in these fun events, and celebrating the Lunar New Year was a great way to do that,” Shah said. 

In years past, the club hosted movie nights featuring movies like “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Raya and the Last Dragon.” And unlike other meetings, all PV students were invited to this event, expanding the club’s usual audience. 

“[We chose to open this event to all PV students] because the Asian Culture Club isn’t just exclusive to the members in the club,” sophomore and secretary of the club, Nicole Choi said. “We want to spread Asian culture and awareness to the whole school, not just for people who are interested in the club.” 

ACC board members have worked hard to improve PV’s environment surrounding inclusivity through other educational meetings.

“This year as president, I’m trying to bring this club to a larger scale and really dive deep into Asian cultures that as a club we’ve never explored before,” Shah said. “We’ve had meetings about Malaysia and Singapore. So again, [we are] really trying to make this community more diverse and inclusive.”