Tag Archives: olympia dukakis

OLYMPIA ONLINE PREMIERE AND Q&A

Olympia Dukakis looks back at her life and career in award-winning documentary

Who: Olympia Dukakis, Apollo Dukakis, Carey Perloff, Harry Mavromichalis, Sid Ganis, Anthoula Katsimatides
What: Livestream free premiere of Olympia (Harry Mavromichalis, 2019) followed by panel discussion
Where: Olympia Facebook page
When: Thursday, July 9, free with RSVP, 8:00 (opens virtually July 10)
Why: “Some people don’t know who the fuck I am,” San Francisco Pride parade celebrity grand marshal Olympia Dukakis says as she rides in a convertible in 2011, waving to the loud, large crowd lining the street. You’ll know just who the Oscar-winning actor is after watching Olympia, Harry Mavromichalis’s Maysles-esque documentary that has its online premiere July 9 at 8:00, followed by a Q&A with Dukakis, her brother Apollo Dukakis, writer-producer-director Mavromichalis, American Conservatory Theater artistic director emerita Carey Perloff, and executive producers Harry Sid Ganis and Anthoula Katsimatides. The film, which was shot mostly during the Obama administration and opens virtually July 10, reveals Dukakis, the star of such beloved hits as Moonstruck and Steel Magnolias and the breakthrough television series Tales of The City, to be a dynamic and imposing figure who holds nothing back as she discusses the movie business in Hollywood and the theater community in New York, shares intimate details about her sexual desires, suicidal thoughts, and drug addiction, and travels to her ancestral home in Lesbos, Greece, to reconnect with her past.

Former modern dancer Mavromichalis balances wonderful home movies and family pictures with clips from throughout Dukakis’s career, photos from her stage work, primarily with her Montclair, New Jersey–based Whole Theatre company, and words of praise from Whoopi Goldberg, Laura Linney, Diane Ladd, Rocco Sisto, Lynn Cohen, Lainie Kazan, Austin Pendleton, Ed Asner, Armistead Maupin, and her cousin, former presidential candidate Michael Dukakis. She and her husband of more than fifty years, actor Louis Zorich, speak extremely openly and honestly about their marriage, she explores her relationship with her mother, and she spends time with her children and grandchildren. Dukakis, who turned eighty-nine last month, is direct and forthright, displaying a rebellious and independent spirit along with a touching vulnerability, an intense social conscience, and a resolute sense of female empowerment that still drives her even as she tackles modern technology, specifically Siri, which presents a few challenges. She’s one tough character who has never been afraid to say what she thinks; she’s also a supremely talented actor who shines on stage and screen, including in this lively and affectionate documentary.

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL AFTER THE MOVIE: STARRING AUSTIN PENDLETON

Austin Pendleton finally gets top billing in short documentary about his unique career

STARRING AUSTIN PENDLETON (Gene Gallerano & David H. Holmes, 2016)
Thursday, April 21, SVA Theater 2 Beatrice, 2:30
tribecafilm.com
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Starring Austin Pendleton is a charming little tribute to director, teacher, and film, television, and theater character actor Austin Pendleton, who finally gets top billing. Directors Gene Gallerano and David H. Holmes — the latter an actor who has studied with and acted in plays directed by Pendleton — have assembled quite an all-star lineup to sing Pendleton’s praises, including Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Olympia Dukakis, Wallace Shawn, Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and John Simon. “If this guy didn’t look the way he looks — he’s got a stutter, he’s five-whatever-he-is, he’s a funny-looking guy, and his hair’s all screwy — he’d be Marlon Brando,” Ethan Hawke points out. You might not know the name, but as the clips roll by, you will certainly recognize the face as Pendleton is shown in such movies and television series as The Front Page, Good Times, The Muppet Movie, The Ballad of the Sad Café, Seinfeld, Catch-22, and the film he will likely most be remembered for, My Cousin Vinny, in which he played stuttering lawyer John Gibbons, a role that showcased an affliction he has suffered from his entire life. Starring Austin Pendleton is worth seeing just for the clips of Pendleton and Hoffman in 1995’s The Fifteen Minute Hamlet, in which the former portrays the title character and the latter plays Bernardo, Horatio, and Laertes. It is supremely enjoyable watching Pendleton discuss his craft and share some very funny anecdotes; my only complaint is that the documentary is way too short at only nineteen minutes, but it is about a character actor, after all, who is used to getting limited screen time. And how could it fail to mention that Pendleton originated the role of the tailor Motel Komzoil in the Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof? On April 21, the film will be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival, followed by a conversation with Pendleton, directors Holmes and Gallerano, and Olympia Dukakis, Peter Sarsgaard, Denis O’Hare, and George Morfogen, moderated by Gordon Cox. You can also catch it as part of shorts programs at Tribeca on April 19, 21, and 23.

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL: FIFTEEN FOR FIFTEEN

Tom Hanks and John Oliver will get together for a at Tribeca Film Festival

Tom Hanks and John Oliver will get together for a Storytellers talk at Tribeca Film Festival

Tribeca Film Festival
Multiple venues
April 14-24, $14-$43.50
tribecafilm.com

In 2002, Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, and Craig Hatkoff founded the Tribeca Film Festival, helping to rebuild Lower Manhattan socially, culturally, and economically following 9/11. The festival is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary this year with another packed slate of film screenings, talks, master classes, and a major symposium, running from April 14 to 24 at the SVA Theatre, Bow Tie Cinemas Chelsea, Regal Cinemas Battery Park, the Borough of Manhattan Community College, and the festival hub at 50 Varick St. Ticket prices continue to climb, so it’s not exactly cheap to attend, but that hasn’t stopped many events from nearly selling out already despite costing $23.50 for most regular screenings and between $33.20 and $43.50 for conversations and films with postscreening talks. In honor of Tribeca’s fifteenth birthday, below are fifteen highlights from this year’s fest, with one extra thrown in for good luck.

Thursday, April 14
Tribeca Talks — Storytellers: Patti Smith with Ethan Hawke, SVA Theatre 1 Silas, rush ticketing only, 3:00

Tribeca Tune In: Grace and Frankie, screening of two episodes from season two, followed by discussion with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, moderated by Gayle King, SVA Theatre 1 Silas, $33.50, 5:00

Contemporary Color (Bill & Turner Ross, 2016), followed by a conversation between David Byrne and the directors, with appearances by color guarders, JZT@BMCC, $23.50, 9:00

Saturday, April 16
TFI Interactive, all-day immersive symposium, divided into the MakerSpace, the Conference, and the Interactive Playground exhibit, festival hub at 50 Varick St., $40, 11:00 am

Monday, April 18
Tribeca Talks — Directors Series: Andrea Arnold in conversation with Ira Sachs, SVA Theatre 2 Beatrice, $43.50, 2:00

Tribeca Tune In: For the Love of Spock (Adam Nimoy, 2016), followed by a conversation with Adam Nimoy, Zachary Quinto, David Zappone, and Scott Manzt, moderated by Gordon Cox, SVA Theatre 2 Beatrice, $33.20, 5:00

SIX FEET UNDER creator Alan Ball will offer live commentary during screening of final episode at Tribeca Film Festival

SIX FEET UNDER creator Alan Ball will offer live commentary during anniversary screening of final episode at Tribeca Film Festival

Tuesday, April 19
Tribeca Tune In: Fifteenth anniversary screening of Six Feet Under series finale, with live commentary by show creator Alan Ball, moderated by Matt Zoller Seitz, SVA Theatre 1 Silas, $33.50, 4:30

Tribeca Tune In: Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, conversation with Samantha Bee and head writer Jo Miller, moderated by Stacey Wilson Hunt, SVA Theatre 1 Silas, $33.50, 7:30

Wednesday, April 20
Tribeca Talks: Daring Women Summit, featuring keynote conversations, discussions, presentations, and more, with Samantha Bee, Allana Harkin, Rachel Sklar, Donna Karan, Rosie Perez, Kate Ward, Lea Goldman, Kathleen Grace, Sophia Rossi, Stephanie Laing, Amy Emmerich, LaLa Anthony, Julie Ann Crommett, Nahnatchka Khan, Liz Meriweather, Danielle Nussbaum, Mya Taylor, Catie Lazarus, Kristi Zea, Laura Walker, Anna Sale, Phoebe Robinson, Cindy Gallop, Kathryn Minshew, and others to be announced, festival hub at 50 Varick St., $150, 10:30 am

Tribeca Talks — Directors Series: Jodie Foster with Julie Taymor, festival hub at 50 Varick St., $43.50, 5:30

Tribeca Talks — Directors Series: Alfonso Cuarón with Emmanuel Lubezki, SVA Theatre 1 Silas, $43.50, 6:00

Thursday, April 21
Tribeca Talks After the Movie: Starring Austin Pendleton (David H. Holmes & Gene Gallerano, 2016), followed by discussion with Austin Pendleton, Olympia Dukakis, Peter Sarsgaard, Denis O’Hare, George Morfogen, and directors David H. Holmes and Gene Gallerano, moderated by Gordon Cox, SVA Theatre 2 Beatrice, $43.50, 2:30

Tribeca Talks After the Movie: I Voted? (Jason Grant Smith, 2016), followed by discussion with Jason Grant Smith, Katie Couric, Dan Abrams, and Dr. DeForest Soaries, SVA Theatre 2 Beatrice, $43.50, 5:30

Friday, April 22
Tribeca Talks — Storytellers: Tom Hanks with John Oliver, JZT@BMCC, rush ticketing only, 6:00

Saturday, April 23
Tribeca Talks: What We Talk About When We Talk About the Bomb, with Michael Douglas, Eric Schlosser, Emma Belcher, Joe Cirincione, Robert Kenner, and Smriti Keshari, SVA Theatre 2 Beatrice, $43.50, 5:00

Tribeca Talks — Directors Series: Baz Luhrmann with Nelson George, SVA Theatre 1 Silas, $43.50, 6:00

NEWFEST

Swedish romance KISS ME is part of NewFest at Lincoln Center

NY’S PREMIER LGBT FILM FESTIVAL
Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th St. at Amsterdam Ave.
July 27-31, $12-$50
212-875-5601
www.filmlinc.com
newfest.org/wordpress

The twenty-fourth annual NewFest gets under way today at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, kicking off five days of screenings examining and celebrating the LGBT community. The opening-night selection is Brooklyn-based director Joshua Sanchez’s Four, about four people, including a young white man (Emory Cohen) and an older black man (Wendell Pierce) who meet online, faced with some hard personal choices; members of the cast and crew will attend the screening, which will be followed by an after-party. Other highlights include Andrea Esteban’s Born Naked (MLB), about a young lesbian couple traveling through Europe; Travis Mathews’s I Want Your Love, a graphic look at a man and his ex-boyfriend in San Francisco; Thom Fitzgerald’s Cloudburst, in which Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker play a longtime lesbian couple; Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’s About Face: Supermodels Then and Now, with Carol Alt and Pat Cleveland joining the famed photographer for a Q&A; Kieran Turner’s Jobriath A.D., a documentary about the first openly gay rocker; and the closing-night film, Marialys Rivas’s Young & Wild, which follows a teenager’s sexual coming-of-age. Other docs look at such figures as Joe Brainard, Arthur Russell, and Bishop Gene Robinson. Special events include “Careers in Focus: A Conversation with Charles Busch,” with free tickets available here

NORMAN JEWISON: RELENTLESS RENEGADE

IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT is part of Film Society of Lincoln Center celebration of the career of director Norman Jewison

Film Society of Lincoln Center
Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th St.
May 25-30, $9
212-875-5610
www.filmlinc.com

Famed Canadian director Norman Jewison, who will turn eighty-five this July, cut his teeth working on 1950s television variety shows before making two dozen feature films throughout his storied career, from 1963’s 40 Pounds of Trouble through 2003’s The Statement, often dealing with serious social, religious, and cultural issues. Three of his best films, In the Heat of the Night (1967), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), and The Landlord (1970), were just shown at the BAMcinématek series “Movies by Hal Ashby,” as the first two were edited by Ashby and directed by Jewison, the third directed by Ashby and produced by Jewison, but they are also included in the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s upcoming “Norman Jewison: Relentless Renegade.” Running May 25-30 over Memorial Day weekend and costing only nine dollars per screening (and a mere five bucks for the child-friendly 40 Pounds of Trouble), “Relentless Renegade” consists of fourteen of Jewison’s greatest works, and the Protestant octogenarian (no, he’s not Jewish) will be on hand to introduce and/or participate in numerous postscreening Q&As with special guests, including the May 25 screening of Gaily, Gaily (1969) with casting director Lynn Stalmaster, the May 26 screenings of Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) with André Previn and The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming with Robert Osborne, the May 27 screenings of In the Heat of the Night with Lee Grant and Agnes of God (1985) with Meg Tilly, the May 28 screenings of The Cincinnati Kid, Moonstruck (1987) with Olympia Dukakis, and Rollerball (1975) with film executive Michael Barker, the May 29 screenings of Fiddler on the Roof (1971) with lyricist Sheldon Harnick and The Hurricane, and the May 30 screening of The Landlord with Grant and Stalmaster. Jewison worked with some of the best in the business, as this series attests to, with films starring Steve McQueen, Jane Fonda, Al Pacino, Sidney Poitier, Anne Bancroft, James Caan, Rod Steiger, Edward G. Robinson, Denzel Washington, and Faye Dunaway, but despite his success, he lost out all three times he was nominated for a Best Director Oscar, instead getting the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1999.

ART AND LITERATURE

Salman Rushdie will participate in special presentation at the Cooper Union on December 1

GREAT EVENING IN THE GREAT HALL
The Great Hall at the Cooper Union
7 East Seventh St. at Astor Pl.
Tuesday, December 1, free, 6:30
212-353-4195
www.cooper.edu/month.html

The Cooper Union’s 150th anniversary celebration continues with a special free evening of art and literature with an all-star lineup. Writers Tony Kushner, Salman Rushdie, and Siri Hustvedt will read from their own works, while Isaiah Sheffer and Olympia Dukakis will read selections from W. H. Auden and Mark Twain. Dynamic vocalist Capathia Jenkins and guitarist Louis Rosen, who have set music to poems by Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes, and Maya Angelou, will also perform. The exquisite evening will be directed by Michael Unger.