A screening followed by a Q&A with director Stevan Riley and Rebecca Brando.
Moderated by Susan Mizruchi, author of biography Brando's Smile.
Synopsis
SHOWTIME and SHOWTIME DOCUMENTARY FILMS are proud to present Stevan Riley's enthrallingly intimate Listen To Me Marlon, an inventive portrait of screen icon Marlon Brando delivered in the acting legend's own voice from the treasure troves of his collection. After premiering to critical acclaim at this year's Sundance Film Festival, the SHOWTIME documentary film will open in theaters July 29th in New York at Film Forum and July 31st at The Landmark in Los Angeles (with a rollout into August) before premiering on SHOWTIME later this year.
Unbeknownst to the public, Marlon Brando - a great star who remained deliberately mysterious to the press and the world at large for his entire professional life - created a vast archive of personal audio and visual materials over the course of his lifetime, often deeply confessional and completely without vanity or evasion. Now - for the first time ever - those recordings come to life in Riley's film. Charting his exceptional career as an actor and his extraordinary life away from the stage and screen, the film reveals the complexities and contradictions that were Marlon Brando by telling the story in his own words - and only his own words, revealing a man more humane and compelling than anyone ever could have imagined.
Running time: 100 minutes
"A masterpiece. Astonishing. Restores to Brando his rightful genius. Director Stevan Riley approaches documentary form with the same ebullience and vigor that defines Brando's method acting, whipping his archival footage into a frenzy of sound and movement. The result is electrifying."
- Calum Marsh, The Village Voice
"The man, the Method and possibly the madness can all be seen - and heard - in Listen to Me Brando, an intimate, impressionistic portrait of Marlon Brando partly told through his own words... Mr. Brando comes searchingly alive. The visuals - a seamless blend of moving and still material - are swell, but it's that singular voice that carries the movie."
- Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
"A revelatory, strikingly emotional look at the complex, troubled, enormously gifted Marlon Brando."
- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Panelist Bios
Stevan Riley
Stevan's first film, Rave Against the Machine (Channel 4), uncovered the story of musical youth in war-torn Sarajevo, was awarded at nine international festivals. Riley shot and edited his second film, feature documentary Blue Blood (Warner Bros) which was released in UK cinemas to widespread critical acclaim, featuring in the UK's top 20 best reviewed films of 2008. Stevan went on to direct Fire in Babylon which charts the glorious supremacy of the West Indies cricket team through the 70s and 80s. Fire in Babylon won a Grierson award for Best Historical Documentary as well as a nomination for Best Documentary at the British Independent Film Awards. It also won the UNESCO Award for best feature documentary; Durban Film Festival Audience Award; the Jamaica Film Academy Award for Outstanding international film; and the UK Focal Award for best use of footage in a cinema release. BBC film guru, Barry Norman, listed it in his ‘Top 10 Sports Films of all time’. Stevan recently directed the first ever cinema documentary on the James Bond phenomenon Everything or Nothing (MGM/UA). Featuring candid interviews from the key film makers; Bond stars and President Bill Clinton, it dramatically tracks the twisting saga of how Bond has survived 50 years. Everything or Nothing was a critical success and has since led to Stevan directing a feature documentary on Marlon Brando for NBC Universal for 2014. Listen to Me Marlon is the second feature documentary Stevan has written, edited and directed.
Susan Mizruchi - Moderator
Susan L. Mizruchi, a professor of English at Boston University, specializes in American literature, cultural history, and film. She is the author of Brando’s Smile (W. W. Norton, 2014), which was a Financial Times Best Book and a Booklist Editor’s Choice. Learn more about Susan's book HERE.
