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“American Woman” with Semi Chellas and Sarah Gadon
January 14 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
FREE
The Canadian Film Forum kicks off in the new year as filmmaker Semi Chellas (left) and Cinema Studies alum-actor Sarah Gadon present American Woman, adapted for the screen, by Chellas, from Susan Choi’s Pulitzer-shortlisted novel.
Thursday, January 14
Screening at 6 pm EST
Q&A at 7:30 pm
A free, live broadcast
Online registration required (see below)
Sarah Hagi (pictured right) will moderate the Q&A that follows. Sarah is a Toronto-based is a writer of essays and criticism, who has been featured in TIME, The New Yorker, GQ, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, and more.
Inspired by the headline-dominating kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst in 1974, this atmospheric drama is a fictionalized re-imagining of her time in hiding, from the perspective of Jenny, a political activist assigned to take care of her.
Semi Chellas made her directing debut last year with American Woman. The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and a Gala Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival (where programmers called it a “classic political thriller [with] shades of the best ’70s American cinema”). Chellas was one of IndieWire’s 25 Rising Directors to Know; the film opened The Female Eye Film Festival; won Best Director, Best Film, Best Actress and Best Cinematography at the Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival; was awarded a Special Jury Prize for the lead actresses at the Calgary International Film Festival; and won the Gold Remi Award for a period film at Houston WorldFest. Chellas is best known as a writer/producer of The Romanoffs and Mad Men, where she was nominated for six Emmys, won two Writers Guild Awards, and ran the writers’ room in the final seasons.
Sarah Gadon is an award-winning actress known for her work in the highly acclaimed Netflix limited series Alias Grace and Season 3 of HBO’s True Detective. Other notable television credits include Hulu’s comedy Letterkenny and Hulu’s limited series 11.22.63. Gadon has received critical acclaim for her starring roles in films such as David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars, Cosmopolis, and A Dangerous Method, Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy, Amma Asante’s Belle, Julian Gerrold’s A Royal Night Out, Gary Shore’s Dracula Untold, Xavier Dolan’s The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, Semi Chellas’ American Woman, Lawrence Levine’s Black Bear and Oz Rodriguez’ Vampires vs. The Bronx. Gadon will next be seen in Michael McGowan’s feature All My Puny Sorrows.
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