

A Film Society For The People
Cultivate Cinema Circle was conceived in 2015 as Buffalo’s premier film series for new and classic art films and documentaries in the spirit of traditional community funded film societies like Amos Vogel’s groundbreaking Cinema 16 or Richard Linklater’s massively successful Austin Film Society. Since then we’ve hosted 80+ screenings at nine venues around the city of Buffalo including North Park Theatre, Amherst Theatre, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Burning Books and the Mason O. Damon Auditorium at the Buffalo & Erie County’s Downtown Central Library.
Our Mission
Our mission is to help foster a healthy, fervent film culture in the Buffalo area by presenting the best that cinema has to offer—works selected for their excellence, cultural diversity, political relevance and historic value. In doing so, we hope to provide a space for public engagement, community discussion and celebration of empathy via the seventh art.
Stay tuned here and follow us on Twitter at @CultivateCinema and Like us on Facebook for future announcements!
Cultivate Cinema Circle is curated by:
Jordan M. Smith (Director)
A Buffalo-based film critic who writes for Influence Film Club, Stranger Than Fiction, and is a social media coordinator for DOC NYC and STF. He is also a member of the Online Film Critics Society and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association. Follow Jordan on Twitter @Rectangular_Eye.
Jared Mobarak (Artistic Director)
A Buffalo-based film critic and graphic designer who writes for The Film Stage and BuffaloVibe. He is also a member of the Online Film Critics Society and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association. Follow Jared on Twitter @jaredmobarak.
PRESS:
9/17/15 – “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” by Jordan Canahai – link
9/21/15 – “Cultivate Cinema Circle’s fall season starts with ‘Cleo'” by Christopher Schobert – link
12/29/15 – “Returnings to Life: The Apu Trilogy in Buffalo” by Girish Shambu – link
4/1/16 – “Cultivate Cinema Circle Spring 2016 Season” by Robert Creenan – link
4/15/16 – “Herzog and a silent classic highlight Cultivate Cinema’s spring season” by Christopher Schobert – link
6/5/16 – “Classic films harken back to Buffalo’s first art theaters” by Jeff Simon – link
12/29/16 – “Cultivate Cinema Circle” by Buffalo Rising – link
8/23/17 – “From noir to Cultivate Cinema, local specialty screenings are big” by Toni Ruberto – link
1/8/18 – “Cultivate Cinema screens film debuts from female directors” by Christopher Schobert – link
1/2019 – “Cultivate Cinema Circle tackles Post-Colonialisms” by Christopher Schobert – link
4/2019 – ‘Original, funny, inventive’: Cultivate Cinema Circle presents Tabu by Christopher Schobert – link
9/28/21 – A list of the horror films returning to Buffalo cinemas in October by Toni Ruberto – link