Purchase College To Host 'Citizen Kane' Screening, Talk

PURCHASE, N.Y. – Purchase College will host a free screening of the 1941 classic "Citizen Kane," followed by a discussion of the film by three people connected to Orson Welles, who starred in and directed the movie.  

The panel consists of director, actor, writer and film historian Peter Bogdanovich, film scholar James Naremore and Oscar-winning filmmaker and professor Chuck Workman.

“We wanted to have an event that would take advantage of the beginning of what they’re calling Alumni and Friends of Film and Media,” Workman said of the school at SUNY-Purchase. “So we thought wouldn’t it be a good idea to show a really interesting film and maybe have a guest or two.”

The event “is the first in the 2012-13 Great Films, Great Directors series hosted by the School of Film and Media,” a statement said. It was made possible through a grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Workman had been directing a film on Orson Welles and was looking to interview Bogdanovich, which made it easy for him to invite "The Last Picture Show" director to the event.  

“It was kind of a natural for him to talk about 'Citizen Kane,'” Workman said of Bogdanovich. “I’ve known him for many years. He’s very well-known, maybe not to the general public, but to people who work within the industry as someone very close to Orson Welles and very identified with Orson Welles’ career.”

Bogdanovich struck a “lifelong friendship with Welles while interviewing him on the set of Mike Nichols’ 1970 film adaptation of 'Catch-22'” and also wrote a book about the Hollywood icon, the statement said.

Naremore, professor emeritus at Indiana University and a Guggenheim Fellow in Humanities, has conducted research “on classic Hollywood cinema and modernist literature” plus he “is currently the editor of the Contemporary Film Directors series and a writer-at-large for Film Quarterly,” the statement said. He also wrote a book on Welles entitled, "The Magic of Orson Welles."

Workman, who has more than 30 years of experience in film-making and theater as a director, writer, editor and producer, is excited about the event.

“I think it’s the best American film ever made,” he said of "Citizen Kane." “I think the audience will be surprised at how great a film it is.”

The free event will take place Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the PepsiCo Theatre of the Performing Arts Center. It is open to the public. 

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