Prof. Catherine Liu, Prof. Peter Krapp, and a select group of students just got back after an amazing trip to the Palm Springs International Film Festival. We all got a taste of the glamor and grit that goes into making films and we felt very lucky to be a part of the Festival.
On our very first day, we got to watch the stunning film I, Tonya, followed by Q and A with one of its stars, Sebastian Stan who played Jeff Gilooly, Tonya Harding's husband. The performances in I, Tony were outstanding and to move from Marvel to a much smaller and grittier film is a risk that Stan made very little of.
That night, we waited on line, but did not get into Polka King starring Jack Black, but we did see him on the red carpet and the excitement of his appearance as well as of the cast of the film that Prof. Krapp saw, Cover Versions, made up for our wait.
On the second day, all of fifteen of us watched an emotionally brutal and powerful first feature, winner of the Silver Lion in Venice, Xavier LeGrand's Custody. In the theater, Prof. Liu found herself sitting next to the B film cult star who is in Downsizing right now, Udo Kier! He was very gracious and asked about whether our students were interested in acting. He also had THE bon mot of the three days, "No one wears glasses like Meryl Streep!"
As if this were not enough, one of our students was given 10 complimentary tickets to the Eminem produced film about rap battles called Bodied and the students who stayed got to meet the star of that film, Calum Worthy, who made a video message for all of Film & Media Studies.
We're so grateful to have been able to take our students on this trip. Please keep on the lookout for more events like this in the future!
On our very first day, we got to watch the stunning film I, Tonya, followed by Q and A with one of its stars, Sebastian Stan who played Jeff Gilooly, Tonya Harding's husband. The performances in I, Tony were outstanding and to move from Marvel to a much smaller and grittier film is a risk that Stan made very little of.
That night, we waited on line, but did not get into Polka King starring Jack Black, but we did see him on the red carpet and the excitement of his appearance as well as of the cast of the film that Prof. Krapp saw, Cover Versions, made up for our wait.
On the second day, all of fifteen of us watched an emotionally brutal and powerful first feature, winner of the Silver Lion in Venice, Xavier LeGrand's Custody. In the theater, Prof. Liu found herself sitting next to the B film cult star who is in Downsizing right now, Udo Kier! He was very gracious and asked about whether our students were interested in acting. He also had THE bon mot of the three days, "No one wears glasses like Meryl Streep!"
As if this were not enough, one of our students was given 10 complimentary tickets to the Eminem produced film about rap battles called Bodied and the students who stayed got to meet the star of that film, Calum Worthy, who made a video message for all of Film & Media Studies.
We're so grateful to have been able to take our students on this trip. Please keep on the lookout for more events like this in the future!