Conferences

80 years of Xanadu: The Legacies of Citizen Kane

Orson Welles’ first motion picture, Citizen Kane, has marked the history of film, becoming a landmark movie for generations of filmmakers and cinephiles for eight decades. The narrative deployments and technical innovations, among other celebrated achievements of a film that has long been known as the “greatest film ever made,” make it a fascinating object of analysis and revisitation. On its 80th anniversary, we have invited faculty, undergraduate and graduate students from UMass Amherst and the Five Colleges to submit their academic paper, creative project, or video essay on Citizen Kane.

Join us for this one-day conference, with Keynote Address by Will DiGravio, followed by a free screening of Citizen Kane, introduced by Nefeli Forni.

Date: Friday, December 3, 2021
Location: Integrative Learning Center S240, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Format: 2 sessions of 90 minutes each, followed by a film screening 

Schedule: 

Session 1 - 2:30pm - 4pm (Panel Chair: Daniel Pope)
Emily Su Bin Ko, “Citizen Kane: Transcending Bazin’s Dichotomy” (video essay)
David Bendiksen, “Kane: Still on 35 through 25 at 80”
Grace Burnes, “Rosebud” (short film)

Session 2 - 4:15pm - 5:45pm (Panel Chair: Barry Spence)
Asha Baron, “The Legacies of Kane: Citizen Kane in the Age of Trump”
Robert Louis, “America’s Most Mediated Man: Charles Kane and the Limits of the Medium”
Kate Edwards, “Jouissance of the Gilded Cage: Marion Davies, Susan Alexander, and Citizen Kane

Break: Light refreshments

6:30pm: Keynote address:  
Will DiGraviofilm critic, researcher, video essayist, and podcaster
"Rosebud Remixed: The New Media Epoch of Citizen Kane"

followed by

Screening of Citizen Kane, introduced by Nefeli Forni

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Presented by the Interdepartmental Program in Film Studies. 
With support from Comparative Literature, Bachelor's Degree with Individual Concentration Program, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, English Department, and the Department of Communication at UMass Amherst.
Co-organized by Nefeli Forni and Daniel Pope
 

The event will be held in person and is free and open to the public. Attendees will need to wear face coverings and follow the Covid-19 regulations of UMass Amherst. 

See the Poster and the Program.