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Film Forum Speaker Series Spring 2023 Schedule

The program features weekly visits of filmmakers who come to speak about their work and profession. The series, open to both University students and the general public, welcomes audience questions while being a unique forum to hear inside stories from some of the most innovative filmmakers working in the field today.

Spring 2023 Events:

Feature image for Writer/Director David Seth Cohen Presents: FINDING SANDLER


Tuesday, January 24 Writer/Director David Seth Cohen Presents: FINDING SANDLER

Documentary: Years after a missed opportunity with his hero (Adam Sandler), a determined filmmaker (David Seth Cohen) goes on a quest to recapture what could have been.

Feature image for Writer and Actor Jeff Kahn


Tuesday, January 31 Writer and Actor Jeff Kahn

Writer and Actor Jeff Kahn shares his work.

Feature image for Director Emma Francis-Snyder Presents: TAKEOVER


Tuesday, February 7 Director Emma Francis-Snyder Presents: TAKEOVER

Documentary: In 1970, a group of young Puerto Rican activists took over a decrepit hospital in New York City, launching a battle for their lives, their community, and health care for all.

Feature image for Writer/Director Amanda Kramer Presents: PLEASE BABY PLEASE


Tuesday, February 14 Writer/Director Amanda Kramer Presents: PLEASE BABY PLEASE

Feature: Newlyweds Suse and Arthur become the dangerous obsession of a greaser gang that awakens a sleeping quandary into the couple's sexual identity.

Feature image for Writer/Director Tanya Hamilton Presents: NIGHT CATCHES US


Tuesday, February 21 Writer/Director Tanya Hamilton Presents: NIGHT CATCHES US

Feature: When ex-Black Panther Marcus (Anthony Mackie) returns to Philadelphia for the funeral of his father, he knows it's not going to be an easy visit. Many of his old radical friends, including "DoRight" Miller (Jamie Hector), still believe that Marcus was responsible for the death of a Panther leader right before he took off. While trying to convince everyone he's not a snitch, Marcus rekindles his relationship with Patricia (Kerry Washington), the widow of the slain leader.

Feature image for Filmmaker Tracey Arcabasso Smith Presents: RELATIVE


Tuesday, February 28 Filmmaker Tracey Arcabasso Smith Presents: RELATIVE

Documentary: Unraveling a complex tapestry of vulnerability, shame, and love, the filmmaker discovers a pervasive history of multigenerational sexual abuse in her Italian-American family. As decades of secrets, home-movies, and long-avoided conversations surface, a family bound by loyalty and tradition forges a new path forward.

Feature image for Writer/Director Patrick Read Johnson Presents: 5-25-77


Tuesday, March 14 Writer/Director Patrick Read Johnson Presents: 5-25-77

Feature: Filmmaker-hopeful Pat Johnson's epic film about growing up in rural Illinois, falling in love, and becoming the first fan of the movie that changed everything.

Feature image for Filmmakers Marylou and Jerome Bongiorno Present: RUST


Tuesday, March 21 Filmmakers Marylou and Jerome Bongiorno Present: RUST

Documentary: RUST presents the history of Rust Belt poverty, detailing industrialization and deindustrialization and also racism and mass incarceration, using the city of Newark, New Jersey as microcosm.

Feature image for Filmmakers Susan Kerner and Steve McCarthy Present: EVA'S PROMISE


Tuesday, March 28 Filmmakers Susan Kerner and Steve McCarthy Present: EVA'S PROMISE

Documentary: On a train to Auschwitz, 15-year-old Eva made a promise to her brother Heinz Geiringer. If he did not survive the camps, Eva promised to retrieve the paintings and poetry Heinz hid under the floorboards of his attic hiding place. After the war, Eva became the posthumous stepsister of Anne Frank when her mother married Anne’s father. While the world knows Anne’s story, this film introduces Heinz, his artistry, and his sister’s efforts to find and share his remarkable legacy.

Feature image for Filmmakers Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes Present: THE JANES


Tuesday, April 4 Filmmakers Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes Present: THE JANES

Documentary: Police arrested seven women who were part of a clandestine network. Using code names, blindfolds and safe houses, they built an underground service for women seeking safe, affordable, illegal abortions calling themselves JANE.

Feature image for Director Alex Pritz presents: THE TERRITORY


Tuesday, April 11 Director Alex Pritz presents: THE TERRITORY

Documentary: The Territory provides an immersive on-the-ground look at the tireless fight of the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people against the encroaching deforestation brought by farmers and illegal settlers in the Brazilian Amazon.

Feature image for Director Chuck Schultz Presents: WHEN MY SLEEPING DRAGON WOKE


Tuesday, April 18 Director Chuck Schultz Presents: WHEN MY SLEEPING DRAGON WOKE

Documentary: Sharon Washington chooses the theater to write her modern-day fairy tale of a little girl who grows up inside the St. Agnes Branch of the New York Public Library. But revisiting her past comes with an unforeseen cost.

Feature image for Writer/Director Colin West Presents: LINOLEUM


Tuesday, April 25 Writer/Director Colin West Presents: LINOLEUM

Feature: When the host of a failing children's science show tries to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut by building a rocket ship in his garage, a series of bizarre events occur that cause him to question his own reality.