The Legacy of Milos Forman
In 1978, esteemed director Milos Forman and his Screenwriting mentor Frank Daniel were appointed co-chairs of the Film Program. Under their leadership, the program flourished and became the world-renowned institution of film education that it is today. In many ways, Forman was the "creative founder" of Columbia Film, having shaped and refined its commitment to narrative filmmaking anchored in strong screenplays. He gave it a character as distinct as his own—original, passionate, intelligent, and international.
News
Diversity in Film is a bi-weekly series covering underrepresented groups in Film.
Alumni Gauri Adelkar '19 and Lauren López de Victoria '19 were selected to participate in this year’s Film Independent Project Involve program.
Bye Bye Body, written and directed by current student Charlotte Benbeniste and produced by current student Barbara Twist, was selected to screen at the Atlanta Film Festival.
Current Student Moara Passoni’s debut feature film, Ecstasy, screened online as part of the CPH:DOX Festival in late March.
Darling, directed and co-written by current student Saim Sadiq, co-written by current student Rodney Llaverias, co-produced by current student Jasmin Tenucci, and produced by alumna Mahak Jiwani ’18, continues to make waves on the festival circuit, winning the Special Jury Recognition Prize at this year’s South by SouthwestXSW festival.
Columbia undergraduate alumna Anna Winger '93, along with Alexa Karolinski, created the acclaimed series Unorthodox, which premiered on Netflix March 26th, 2020.
Current student Nicole Caplain Kelly has been awarded a Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University.
Diversity in Film is a bi-weekly series covering underrepresented groups in Film.
On A Global Scale is a bi-weekly series about international co-productions by Columbia filmmakers.
The Tribeca Film Festival, originally scheduled to take place from April 15 to April 26 2020, is a familiar playground for Columbia filmmakers. In 2017, alumna and faculty member Rachel Israel ’13 took home the top prizes for Best US Narrative Feature and Best New Narrative Feature Director for her film Keep the Change. This year, nine Columbia affiliates have been chosen to participate in the 19th edition of the festival, bringing a total of four films to lower Manhattan.
Film and Media Studies BA alumna Larysa Kondracki ’01 (GS) joined the upcoming Amazon Prime show Them: Covenant as an executive producer. Kondracki, an accomplished director who signed a first-look television deal with Amazon in 2018, is also set to direct the pilot and multiple other episodes of the show. According to Deadline, the project received a two-season straight-to-series order. With no specific release date set, the series will premiere on Amazon Prime in winter 2020.
The Ballad of Lefty Brown, a feature-length western co-produced by current student Rachel Ward, is now available to stream on Netflix. The 2017 film was distributed by A24 and stars Bill Pullman, Peter Fonda and Tommy Flanagan.
