CU’s Magic Lantern Film Society sets slate of classic films for screening

The Magic Lantern Film Society, a Cameron University student organization, has announced a slate of 10 films to be screened during the 2026-2027 academic year.

The films run the gamut - from cinema classics and political intrigue, to animation and foreign imports. A couple fit into the theme of Cameron's 13th academic festival, "Being Human in the Age of AI."

"Once a year, usually in February, the society's student officers and I gather and put together the films we'd like to show the next season," said faculty advisor Dr. John Morris. "We solicit requests from those who attend films, both students and members of the community, and we try to honor them even if we can't do so for a season or two.

"We try to show films in different genres - westerns, comedies, dramas, film noir, and so on - and we range from more popular films like "The Nightmare Before Christmas" to those that appear on lists of the greatest films ever, such as "The Bridge on the River Kwai," by great directors like Lean, Lubitch and Zinnemann," he added. "We like to believe that we have something for everyone."

The society attempts to show movies that fit with the mood, whether it be Halloween or Valentine's Day. This year, two of the films - "The Imitation Game" and "Her" - are the Magic Lantern's Festival XIII offerings and touch on subjects that deal with artificial intelligence.

This season's offerings

• Leading off the season is the 1997 biopic, "Selena," starring Jennifer Lopez and Edward James Olmos. The film will be screened Sept. 11 and chronicles the life of the Tejano singer who topped the Latin music charts and performed in the Astrodome before she was tragically murdered. The film was directed by Gregory Nava.

• On Oct. 2, the Magic Lantern will screen "Bicycle Thieves," a 1948 Italian film directed by Vittorio de Sica. Starring Cesare Azvattini, Luigi Bartolini and Oest Bianocli, the movie tells the story of a working-class man whose ability to make a living in post-war Italy is endangered when his bicycle is stolen. The film is presented in Italian with English subtitles.

• "The Nightmare Before Christmas," featuring the voices of Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon and Catharine O'Hara, is the society's Halloween feature on Oct. 30. Directed by Henry Selick, the 1993 claymation fable tells the story of Jack Skellington, King of Halloween Town, who discovers Christmas Town, but creates confusion by trying to bring Christmas home.

• The society's first Festival XIII event is "The Imitation Game" on Nov. 13. English mathematics genius Alan Turing enlists the aid of other mathematicians to crack the Enigma Code during World War II while he tries to navigate his troubled private life. The 2014 film stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightly, and was directed by Morton Tyldum.

• Having fled to Monte Carlo on her wedding day, a countess is courted by a count posing as a hairdresser. That's the plot of "Monte Carlo," a 1930 romantic comedy directed by Ernst Lubitsch, one of the great directors in the history of cinema. "Monte Carlo" stars Jeanette MacDonald, Jack Buchanan and Claud Allister and will be screened Dec. 4.

• David Lean's 1957 classic, "The Bridge on the River Kwai," starring Alec Guinness, William Holden and Sessue Hayakawa, will be screened on Jan. 15, 2027. In this stirring drama, the commanding officer of British prisoners of war battles the commandant of a Japanese prison camp over the building of a railroad bridge across the titular river.

• Shifting gears, the Magic Lantern presents another Festival XIII event on Feb. 12, just in time for Valentine's Day. In "Her," set in the near future, a lonely writer develops a relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need. Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Scarlett Johansson star in this Spike Jonze film.

• Denzel Washington directed and stars in "Fences," based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by August Wilson. Also starring Viola Davis and Stephen McKinley Henderson, this 2016 film tells the story of a working-class African-American father and former baseball player attempting to raise his family in the 1950s. "Fences" will be presented Feb. 26, 2027.

• "Black Orpheus," a 1959 Brazilian creation, tells the story of Orfeo, a tram conductor, who falls in love with Eurydice, a young woman from the country. He sets out to find her when she disappears during Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Bruno Mello and Marpessa Dawn star. The film is presented in Portuguese with English subtitles and will be screened on March 26, 2027.

• Rounding out the season is "The Day of the Jackal," a 1972 film starring Edward Fox, Terence Alexander and Michel Auclair that will be screened April 16, 2027. Following Algiers' independence in 1962, resentful French veterans hire an assassin to kill President Charles de Gaulle. Taken from a novel, the film is based on historical events.

This is the Magic Lantern Film Society's 44th season. The society draws its name from a pair of historical references; it was the name given to early film projection instruments, and was also the name of a California theater.

The society started in the spring of 1982 with Cameron professors Mark Stegmaier and Marilyn Beaney as the first faculty advisors. Two 16-mm films were screened that semester. These days, movies are on DVD.

All films during the 2026-2027 season will be screened at 7:30 p.m. in Room 114 of the Communications Building. The sole exception is "The Bridge on the River Kwai," which will start at 6:30 p.m.

Films are presented free to movie lovers, although donations are gratefully accepted. Funding for this year's series is provided by the CU Lectures and Concerts Committee and the Foundation Account for Classic Film.

"Because our film distributor does not have the rights to many international films and because there were a number of persons who wanted aid Lectures and Concerts on years when funds were short, I created a Foundation Account for Classic Film," said Morris. "Others have contributed to it, and for the second year in a row, Magic Lantern will use the funds generated by that account to license two additional international films."

This year, those films are "Bicycle Thieves" and "Black Orpheus." Both will be screened in their original language with English subtitles and appear on lists of the greatest international films ever made.

For more information about the Magic Lantern Film Society and this season's films, visit its website: www.cameron.edu/magiclantern.

PR#26-084