Info:

University Programs & Events, the School of the Arts, and the Columbia University Film Festival present:
C.U. at the Movies

This outdoor screening* will feature the work of Columbia University School of the Arts alumni filmmakers. Popcorn and beverages will be offered. School of the Arts Dean Carol Becker will give the welcome, and Film Professor Ira Deutchman will moderate a question-and-answer session with the filmmakers following the screening.

Tuesday, April 26
7:30 p.m.
Steps of Low Memorial Library, Columbia University Morningside Heights campus

Online registration is required. To register and for more information, please visit the University Programs and Events website.

*Films are intended for a mature audience and may not be suitable for children. Viewer discretion is advised.

PROGRAM
Les Vulnerables (14 min)
Written, directed, and produced by Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt (‘07SOA)

Dash Cunning (12 min)
Written, directed, and edited by William J Saunders (‘10SOA)

Bunny (12 min)
Directed and co-written by Robert Snow (‘10SOA)

Cigarette Candy (12 min)
Directed by Lauren Wolkstein (‘10SOA)

Roos Djaj (Chicken Heads) (14 min)
Written, directed, produced, and edited by Bassam Ali Jarbawi (‘10SOA)

Off Season (13 min)
Written and directed by Jonathan van Tulleken (‘10SOA)

Scumbag, Pervert and the Girl in Between (15 min)
Written, directed, and edited by Bruce Hwang Chen (‘10SOA)


FILMMAKERS
Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt (‘07SOA) directed and produced Lumo, a documentary that won a Student Academy Award and was broadcast on the POV series on PBS. He served as the co-producer and additional editor of Control Room and the associate editor of Valentino: The Last Emperor. He wrote, directed and produced Les Vulnerables, the closing night short of the New York Film Festival and a grand jury prize-winner at AFI Dallas. He most recently edited and field-produced a documentary about a volcano expedition in Congo for National Geographic, and is now co-directing and editing a documentary on fashion legend Diana Vreeland. Perlmutt has also directed, produced, and/or edited films for organizations including UNICEF, UNIFEM, AMC, MTV, Interview magazine, the New York Academy of Medicine, HelpAge, HEAL Africa, and Market Road Films. He is a member of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, one of Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Indie Film," and a recipient of a 2009 Sundance/Sloan Commissioning Grant for his script On the Left. He has taught at Columbia University and all over Africa for organizations including Mira Nair's Maisha Filmlab and Peter Gabriel's Witness. Perlmutt holds a BA in English Literature from Brown University and an MFA in Film Directing from Columbia University School of the Arts.

William J Saunders (who goes by "Joe") (‘10SOA) obtained a BA in cinema from Southern Methodist University, and a MFA in Directing from Columbia University School of the Arts. His thesis film, Dash Cunning, won the Audience Choice Award at the Columbia University Film Festival, and received the 20th Century Fox/Farrelly Brothers Award for outstanding achievement in comedy. Saunders continued his education as a producer at NFL Films, directing and editing documentaries for HBO, FOX, ABC, CBS, ESPN, MTV, NFL Network and the BBC. While at NFL Films, Saunders won an EMMY award for his documentary Big Charlie's. He recently finished his first feature film Sweet Little Lies, which is currently making rounds in the festival circuit. Presently, Saunders is working with director Mark Osborne on the animated feature film The Little Prince.  

Robert Snow (‘10SOA) is an award-winning writer/director working out of New York and Los Angeles. His last short, The Blue Die, won the Film of Highest Distinction Award at the Siouxland International Film Festival. In 2010, he received his MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts. His thesis film, Bunny, was chosen for Faculty Selects and won the FilmAid Award, the IFP Audience Choice Award, and the Best Producer Award. It will have its world premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. His most recent script, Murder of Cat, cowritten with Christian Magalhaes, was voted onto the 2010 Hollywood Blacklist and was optioned by Sam Raimi. Snow is represented by Madhouse Entertainment and Gersh.

Lauren Wolkstein (‘10SOA) is a New York City-based filmmaker who recently graduated with honors from Columbia University School of the Arts. Her thesis film, Cigarette Candy, was chosen for Faculty Selects, where it won five awards at the Columbia University Film Festival in 2009, as well as Best Narrative Short at SXSW in 2010, and went on to screen at film festivals worldwide garnering multiple awards. Her latest film, The Strange Ones, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was an official selection at SXSW, Clermont-Ferrand, and continues to travel the festival circuit this year. She is currently developing several feature film and television projects, including the feature length version of Cigarette Candy (2010 IFP Emerging Narrative Selection, Columbia University Faculty Honors Screenplay) with close friends and collaborators Jeff Sousa, Brigitte Liebowitz, and Kristen Konvitz (all Columbia University School of the Arts film alumni), as well as a feature screenplay with The Strange Ones co-creator Christopher Radcliff. She is also adapting David Foster Wallace's short story Little Expressionless Animals into a feature that is in development with Plum Pictures producer Galt Niederhoffer.
www.cigarettecandy.com
www.thestrangeones.com

Born and raised in occupied Palestine, Bassam Jarbawi (‘10SOA) began working as a photographer during the second Intifada. He then moved to TV news and documentaries as assistant cameraman and editor for Al-Arabyya and MBC. Since earning his BA in communications and political science, Bassam co-created the award-winning play Truth Serum Blues. During his studies at Columbia University School of the Arts, Bassam produced and directed short films and music videos in Palestine, United States and Jamaica. He has written several features, the latest of which is Operation Lunar Eclipse, and is currently developing the television series pilot hijack-king.

Jonathan’s van Tulleken (‘10SOA) work has been selected for a wide number of international film festivals, among them Toronto, Telluride, Chicago, Slamdance, Edinburgh, Seattle and Palm Springs as well as the BBC Short Film Awards and the Virgin Media Short Finals two years in a row. His short film Off Season was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Short Film, was the recipient of the UK Film Council New Cinema Award and won the Grand Jury Prize at Palm Springs International Short Festival. He is currently adapting into a feature film for Big Talk Productions. Van Tulleken was named a “Star of Tomorrow ’10" by Screen International, and was picked by Creativity magazine as one of top 10 new directors to watch in 2009. In summer 2010, he directed the online shorts for the BAFTA-winning E4 series Misfits, and made the short films for Tim Key’s Slutcracker, which was the 2009 winner of the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award. Recently van Tulleken made a 22-minute drama for Channel 4’s Coming Up, as well as the trailer for Comic Relief ’11. His short film Machine Child has been chosen to be part of Movie 42, the latest Farrelly Brother film, to be released in late spring. van Tulleken's work has featured, among others, Kevin Spacey, Terry Jones, Roger Allam, Armstrong and Miller, and Rebecca Hall, as well as Edinburgh Comedy Award winners Kirsten Schaal, Tom Basden and Tim Key. Van Tulleken has an MFA in film directing and writing from Columbia University School of the Arts, where he was the recipient of the Steven Kessler Award for Best Director.
www.jvtfilms.com

Born in LA, raised in Taiwan, Bruce Hwang Chen (‘10SOA) has written and directed a number of award-winning commercials that can be seen on television, theaters, and public displays in Asia and America. Aiming to become a working director of narrative films, Bruce attended Columbia University School of the Arts and made Scumbag, Pervert, and the Girl in Between, a metaphoric representation of his warped childhood, as his thesis film. He is currently working on two feature screenplays, one of which is under the same title.