On the opening night of the Harlem International Film Festival, Film Professor Annette Insdorf welcomed the audience to one of the most diverse and prestigious festivals in New York City.
The evening was presented by one of the world’s most revered filmmakers: Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, Salaam Bombay, Vanity Fair, Queen of Katwe). The annual Mira Nair Award for Rising Female Filmmaker is named in her honor.
After the initial presentation of the film The Rainbow Experiment, professor Insdorf interviewed writer/director Christina Kallas, one of the most celebrated scholars today.
Insdorf is a Professor in the Graduate Film Program of Columbia’s School of the Arts, and served as Director of Undergraduate Film Studies for 27 years. She is the recipient of the 2008 Award for Excellence in Teaching from Columbia’s School of General Studies. From 1990-1995, she was Chair of the Graduate Film Division. She taught film history and criticism at Yale University from 1975 till 1988.
She is the author of Francois Truffaut, Indelible Shadows: Film and Holocaust, Philip Kaufman, Intimations: The Cinema of Wojciech Has, and Cinematic Overtures: How to Read Opening Scenes.
Throughout her career Professor Insdorf has interviewed many leaders in the film industry, including Pedro Almodóvar, Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour-Hoffman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Natalie Portman, Martin Scorsese, among many others.
Her life’s work has been profiled in important publications such as Forbes Magazine and The New York Post.
She also participated onstage at the opening night of the NY Polish Film Festival on May 2 at the DGA Theater.
