Join us for a remote Zoom discussion with BLACKBIRD director Roger Michell. Member participation encouraged. This discussion will be recorded.
Moderated by Scott Mantz.
SCREENING LINK
PLEASE RSVP BY SATURDAY 9/12 TO ENSURE YOU RECEIVE THE SCREENER PRIOR TO THE Q&A.
RSVP-ed members will receive a screening link to view BLACKBIRD by email. Note: The time and date listed on this event page refer to the start time of the LIVE Q&A.
LIVE Q&A ZOOM LINK
RSVP-ed members will receive the Q&A Zoom link by email one hour prior to the start of the program, and will be able to ask questions through Zoom's chat function.
SYNOPSIS
In Blackbird, Lily (Susan Sarandon) is terminally ill with ALS. Having considered her remaining options, and with the support of her husband Paul (Sam Neill), she has decided to end her life on her own terms. Lily and Paul summon their loved ones to their country house for one final gathering, but the responses vary, especially those of Lily's daughters, Jennifer (Kate Winslet) and Anna (Mia Wasikowska), whose long-standing unresolved conflicts come surging to the surface and threaten to destabilize what was intended to be a peaceful collective farewell.
PANELIST BIO
Roger Michell - The son of an English diplomat, Roger Michell was born in South Africa and as a child lived in Beirut, Damascus and Prague. He started directing plays at school before going on to Cambridge where he won the RSC Buzz Goodbody Award at the National Student Drama Festival in 1977 and a Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival in the same year.
He has subsequently directed plays at the National Theatre, the Old Vic, Lyric Hammersmith, Donmar, Hampstead, Royal Court, Almeida, in the West End and on Broadway and elsewhere and for six years he was resident director at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford and London.
In the early nineties he began directing for TV and film and his work includes the award-winning mini-seriesBuddha of Suburbia andT he Lost Honour Of Christopher Jefferies and the films Persuasion, Titanic Town, My Night with Reg, Notting Hill, Changing Lanes,The Mother, Enduring Love, Venus, Le Weekend, My Cousin Rachel, Tea With The Dames and Morning Glory. He has also directed documentaries for the BBC and a number of commercials.
He has received many awards for his film work including two BAFTAs, an Evening Standard Award, two EMPIRE Awards, Critics Circle Award and Awards from Festivals at Emden, Locarno, Seville, Shanghai, Rheims and elsewhere.
