‘City Lights,’ ‘Citizen Kane’ among offerings in film series

The classic films “City Lights,” “Citizen Kane” and “Taxi Driver” highlight the offerings this fall for the 49th season of the Buffalo Film Seminars.

The popular series, hosted by UB faculty members Bruce Jackson and Diane Christian, takes place remotely, with online screenings and weekly Zoom discussions of the films. Discussions are held at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays from Aug. 27 through Dec. 3.

Jackson, SUNY Distinguished Professor and James Agee Professor of American Culture in the Department of English, notes that the films that he and Christian, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the English department, selected for the series this semester “are some of our favorites from past series.”

“We’ve had slightly over 700 screenings since we began in spring 2000; about 600 of those are films we’ve shown only once,” Jackson says. “That’s one of the reasons BFS never gets boring or stale for us. When we do repeat, the bracketing films are always different, which means the films appear in a different context, so the discussions are always fresh.” 

An email notification about each film will be sent out on the Saturday before the Zoom discussion date to students registered for Christian and Jackson’s “Film Directors” class (ENG 381), as well as to the Department of English’s Discussion List and to the Buffalo Film Seminars’ listserv (The BFS listserv is open to the public; email Jackson or Christian to join.). That notice will include a URL for the pair’s Vimeo introduction to the film and a PDF of that week’s Goldenrod Handout, which contains production details and comments on each film. The notice will also include an invitation to the Zoom discussion.

All films are available on streaming services: some for free, some with subscription (like Amazon Prime), some for rental on Prime, Apple TV+ or YouTube. Most films are available for free via the UB Libraries’ film portals, Swank and Kanopy, to anyone with a UB email account. URLs for those films that are available now are listed below, but they'll also be included in the Saturday emails. 

You can also check to find which platforms are streaming the films by visiting JustWatch. https://www.justwatch.com/

The series opens on Aug. 27 with “City Lights,” the 1931 film written and directed by Charles Chaplin. With the help of a wealthy, erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp, who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl, accumulates money to be able to help her medically. While the film has no audible dialogue, it features a synchronized musical score with sound effects. Many critics consider it the best film of Chaplin’s career, as well as one of the greatest films of all time. Watch here on Kanopy.

The remainder of the fall 2024 schedule, with descriptions culled from the IMDb online movie database and other sources:

Sept. 3: “42nd Street,” 1933, directed by Lloyd Bacon. When the leading lady of a Broadway musical breaks her ankle, she is replaced by a young unknown actress, who becomes the star of the show. The film features the famous “Shuffle Off to Buffalo” number. Watch here on Swank.

Sept. 10: “Citizen Kane,” 1941, directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles. Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final word: “Rosebud.” Frequently cited as one of the greatest films ever made. Watch here on Swank.

Sept. 17: “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” 1948, written and directed by John Huston, based on B. Traven’s classic novel. Two down-on-their-luck Americans searching for work in 1920s Mexico convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains. 

Sept. 24: “Pather Panchali,” 1955, directed by Satyajit Ray. An impoverished priest, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work. Watch here on Kanopy.

Oct. 1: “Tokyo Story,” 1953, directed by Yasujirō Ozu. An older couple visits their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention. Watch here on Kanopy.

Oct. 8: “The Leopard,” 1963, directed by Luchino Visconti. Burt Lancaster stars as an aging aristocrat who tries to preserve his family and class amid the tumultuous social upheavals of 1860s Sicily. Available for rental on Amazon Prime and Apple+

Oct. 22: “Au hasard Balthazar,” 1966, directed by Robert Bresson. The story of a mistreated donkey and the people around him. Watch here on Kanopy.

Oct. 29: “The Godfather Part II,” 1974, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The second film in the trilogy is both a prequel and a sequel to the 1972 film “The Godfather.” The prequel follows the early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City, while in the sequel, his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate. Stars Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall. Watch here on Swank.

Nov. 5: “The Mirror,” 1975, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. A dying man in his 40s remembers key moments in his life and in Soviet culture. Watch here on Kanopy.

Nov. 12: “Taxi Driver,” 1976, directed by Martin Scorsese. A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action. Stars Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster. Watch here on Swank.

Nov. 19: “Blade Runner,” 1982, directed by Ridley Scott. A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator. Watch here on Swank.

Nov. 26: “Water,” 2005, written and directed by Deepa Mehta. Set in 1938, the film explores the lives of widows at an ashram in India. Available for rental on Amazon Prime and Apple+

Dec. 3: “A Matter of Life and Death/Stairway to Heaven,” 1946, written and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. A British bomber pilot who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with an American girl.