still from sex, lies, and videotape

1989 / 100 min
Director & Screenwriter: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: James Spader, Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher, and Laura San Giacomo
Digital
Film introduced by Columbia Film professor Richard Peña. 

It was a first feature by an unknown filmmaker; it was made for a pittance; it starred four actors who weren’t exactly household names (James Spader, Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher, and Laura San Giacomo); and the script was so dialogue-driven that it was later staged as a play.  And yet it won the Palme D’Or at Cannes (Soderbergh is still the youngest director ever to do so), made $25 million at the domestic box office, and put the scrappy distribution company Miramax on the map. There were certainly independent American movies before sex, lies and videotape, but you could argue that the film’s success marked the true start of the indie explosion of the Nineties. (Ira Deutchman worked on the film as a producer’s rep and marketing consultant.)

This screening is part of NY Indie Guy: Ira Deutchman and the Rise of Independent Film

On September 14-16 and September 20-23, 2018, Columbia University’s Lenfest Center for the Arts will host a retrospective exhibit honoring the career of Film Professor and Producing Concentration Supervisor Ira Deutchman. Since 1975, Deutchman has been a leader in distributing, marketing, and producing American independent films, international films, and arthouse films. He is perhaps best known for founding and running the distribution companies Cinecom, Fine Line Features, and Emerging Pictures. Deutchman has taught at Columbia since 1987.  

This retrospective will screen essential motion pictures from various points in Deutchman’s career, such as The Brother From Another Planet; Diva; Harlan County USA; sex, lies, & videotape; Swoon; and A Woman Under the Influence. Many showings will feature Q&A talkbacks with filmmakers or performers. The celebration will also include panel discussions and an extensive exhibit covering Deutchman’s impact on cinema.  

Sponsors

The Art House Convergence
Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard
Film and Media Studies, Columbia University School of the Arts
The Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia University
The Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Columbia University
The University of Michigan Library