Film Forum Presents – Details, episodes & analysis

In Part 4 of the July – September 2024 installment of UNFOLDING THE CALENDAR, Film Forum Director Sonya Chung sat down at the theater with Lana Wilson, the brilliant director of the new documentary LOOK INTO MY EYES, a revelatory portrait of psychics in New York City and the people who come to them seeking connection – on this plane or another one.  The film opens Friday, September 6 from A24. Lana has a long history with Film Forum. After working in our administrative office for several years early in her career, her bold, moving debut feature AFTER TILLER, about four of the US’s most courageous and controversial abortion providers, opened with us in 2013. Since then, she has established herself as one of the most exciting and empathetic documentarians working today with the Spirit Award-nominated feature THE DEPARTURE, the IDA-nominated short-form series A CURE FOR FEAR, and two intimate profiles of iconic women: the Taylor Swift portrait MISS AMERICANA and the multiple Emmy-nominated PRETTY BABY: BROOKE SHIELDS. We are thrilled to welcome Lana back to Film Forum. Please enjoy their conversation.

In part 3 of the July – September 2024 installment of UNFOLDING THE CALENDAR, Film Forum’s Repertory Artistic Director Bruce Goldstein has a lively, free-wheeling conversation with Odie Henderson, chief film critic of The Boston Globe, about our upcoming festival BLAXPLOITATION, BABY!, opening Friday, August 16, and continuing for a week with 16 genre classics from the early 1970s, including SHAFT, SUPER FLY, COFFY, CLEOPATRA JONES, and much more. 
The festival coincides with the publication of Henderson’s new book, Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras: A History of Blaxploitation, available for purchase at our concession during the festival.  Odie will appear in person at Film Forum to introduce screenings of FOXY BROWN, WILLIE DYNAMITE, and BLACK CAESAR – with a book signing follow Friday night’s show of FOXY BROWN. As a young man, Odie attended every single movie in Film Forum’s -- and the world’s – very first Blaxploitation festival in 1995, programmed by Bruce and pioneering author and film historian Donald Bogle, who also collaborated on the current series.  Justin Simien’s 4-part documentary HOLLYOOD BLACK, based on Bogle’s book, premiered this week on MGM+.

In today’s episode, we bring you a Q&A with filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov following the opening night screening of his film 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL on July 14, 2023. Chernov is a Ukrainian video journalist for the Associated Press who captured unspeakable atrocities committed against Ukrainian civilians by Russian troops during their siege of the port town of Mariupol in Sprint 2022. This reporting, for which Chernov and his team were awarded the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, is the basis for the film, which was produced by the AP and FRONTLINE PBS.  The Q&A included the film’s editor and producer Michelle Mizner of FRONTLINE and was moderated by CNN anchor John Berman. The screening was co-presented by the Ukrainian Institute of America, with an introduction by its executive director, Lydia Zaininger. Special thanks to Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, John Berman, Lydia Zaininger, PBS Distribution, FRONTLINE PBS, Associated Press, and the Ukrainian Institute of America for making this event possible.  Photo by Elinor Kry.

In today’s episode, we bring you a Q&A with the filmmaker Lizzie Gottlieb and her father, the legendary New York writer and editor Robert Gottlieb, following the U.S. theatrical premiere screening of Lizzie’s documentary TURN EVERY PAGE: THE ADVENTURES OF ROBERT CARO AND ROBERT GOTTLIEB on December 30, 2022. TURN EVERY PAGE is a portrait of the literary partnership between Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb, the former editor in chief at Knopf and The New Yorker. Robert Gottlieb recently passed away at the age of 92. Gottlieb was a good friend of Film Forum, introducing and presenting many classic films here over the years, and in tribute to his memory, we’re presenting four encore screenings of TURN EVERY PAGE at the theater on June 28 and 29, and posting this previously unreleased Q&A. Special thanks to Lizzie Gottlieb, Jennifer Small, Joanne Nerenberg, Sony Pictures Classics and Falco Ink for making this event possible.

In today’s episode, we bring you a Q&A with filmmaker Amanda Kim following a screening of her debut feature NAM JUN PAIK: MOON IS THE OLDEST TV on March 27, 2023. Kim’s acclaimed documentary weaves together rare archival material, interviews with art world luminaries, and mesmerizing footage of Nam June Paik’s work to create an engrossing portrait of the artist known as the “Father of Video Art.” The event was co-presented by the Korea Society and the Asian American Artists’ Workshop, with author Mary H.K. Choi serving as moderator. NAM JUNE PAIK: MOON IS THE OLDEST TV is now playing at Film Forum. Thanks for listening to today’s episode of Film Forum Presents. Special thanks to Amanda Kim, Mary H.K. Choi, Greenwich Entertainment, Cinetic Marketing, the Korea Society, and Asian American Writers’ Workshop for making this event possible.  Photo by Dora Nano.

In this episode, Film Forum Repertory Artistic Director Bruce Goldstein has an informal chat with Beatrice Welles, daughter of Orson Welles, who appeared at Film Forum in 2015 for the re-release of her father’s Chimes at Midnight. Beatrice talks about growing up with her famous father and her Italian mother, Paola Mori and shares her memories of being a 5-year-old on the set of Welles’ THE TRIAL. A stunning new 4K restoration of THE TRIAL, starring Anthony Perkins, Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider and Welles himself, is now playing at Film Forum through Thursday, December 22. Special thanks to Beatrice Welles and Rialto Pictures for making this episode possible.

In today’s episode, we bring you a conversation with Amir Naderi, writer and director of THE RUNNER, one of the most revered figures of the Iranian New Wave, and Madjid Niroumand, who was 11 when he played the film’s central role nearly 40 years ago. The two joined Film Forum’s repertory artistic director Bruce Goldstein for a discussion following our opening night screening of a new restoration of THE RUNNER on October 28. Released in Iran in 1984, THE RUNNER wasn’t seen in New York until 1991,  when it premiered at Film Forum – and then virtually disappeared. The film, based on Naderi’s own childhood, centers on a resourceful orphan making ends meet in Abadan, a southern city on the Persian Gulf.  Considered the first masterpiece of post-revolutionary Iran, THE RUNNER has been compared to the great works of Italian neo-realism, like SHOESHINE and THE BICYCLE THIEF, and Truffaut’s THE 400 BLOWS. The new restoration is now playing at Film Forum through Thursday, November 17. Special thanks to Amir Naderi, Madjid Niroumand, and Rialto Pictures for making this event possible. Photo by Dora Nano.

In today’s episode, we bring you a dynamic, thought-provoking Q&A from opening night of THE TERRITORY, the new double Sundance prize-winning documentary, on August 19, 2022. THE TERRITORY is an urgent, and immersive look inside the struggle by the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people to protect their territory in the Northern Brazilian Amazon Rainforest from invasion and deforestation. Filmmaker and cinematographer Alex Pritz spent three years embedded in the Indigenous community before ultimately turning the cameras over to the Uru-eu-wau-wau leaders to capture their own efforts, resulting in a thrilling and inspiring chronicle of agency and resistance. We were joined for the Q&A by Alex Pritz and Neidinha Bandeira, one of the fearless activists followed in the film. Bandeira has spent the last four decades advocating for Indigenous people in the region and is the founder of the nonprofit group Kandidé Ethno-Environmental Defense Association. The Q&A was co-presented by the Rainforest Alliance and moderated by their Creative Design & Editorial Lead, Michael Gibbons. Special thanks to our guests Neidinha Bandeira and Alex Pritz, translator Clicia Antunes, Michael Gibbons and Rodrigo Brandão as well as the Rainforest Alliance, Picturehouse, Fusion Entertainment, and National Geographic for making this event possible. Photo by Mike Maggiore.

In today’s episode, we bring you the fascinating discussion around our recent screening of the bold 1972 Afrofuturist science fiction film SPACE IS THE PLACE. The film, directed by John Coney, stars the iconic jazz and experimental musician Sun Ra, who also composed the film’s soundtrack and co-wrote the screenplay. The screening was co-presented by the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research (BISR), in association with Carnegie Hall’s city-wide Afrofuturism festival. We were joined for the event by two of BISR’s faculty – Ajay Singh Chaudhary and Rebecca Ariel Porte – along with the conceptual artist Paul D. Miller, also known as DJ Spooky. Special thanks to the panelists as well as Mark DeLucas at BISR, Emily Woodburne and Brian Belovarac at Janus Films, Jim Newman and Haden Guest at Harvard Film Archive, and Stephen Holl at Rapid Eye Movies for making this event possible. Photo by Stephen Olweck.

In today’s episode, we bring you a conversation from the opening night, March 4, of Sebastian Meise’s new drama GREAT FREEDOM. The film centers on an incredible performance by world cinema superstar, Franz Rogowski, as a defiant gay man imprisoned in post-World War II Germany under the draconian Paragraph 175, which outlawed homosexuality. We were joined for this event by filmmaker Sebastian Meise, star Franz Rogowski, and the acclaimed American filmmaker Ira Sachs, who served as moderator. GREAT FREEDOM is now playing. Please check www.filmforum.org for showtimes and tickets and enjoy the discussion. Special thanks to Sebastian Meise, Franz Rogowski, Ira Sachs, and MUBI for making this event possible. Pictured: Sebastien Meise, Franz Rogowski & Ira Sachs. Photo by Stephen Olweck.