Parker Posey and Joaquin Phoenix in Woody Allen’s Irrational Man.
Parker Posey and Salma Hayek have joined the roster for our popular (and free!) Film Society Talks series, sponsored by HBO®. Both events will feature extended conversations, film clips, and audience Q&As.
Actress Parker Posey will discuss her latest film, Woody Allen’s Irrational Man, on Monday, July 13. Posey plays Rita, a lonely professor who wants colleague Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) to rescue her from an unhappy marriage. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this spring and opens in theaters on Friday, July 17. On Wednesday, August 5, actress and filmmaker Salma Hayek will be discussing the stunning animated feature Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, which she produced. She also lent her voice to one of its title characters, opposite characters voiced by Liam Neeson and Quvenzhané Wallis. The film, based on the 1923 best-selling philosophical masterpiece by Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran, opens on Friday, August 7.
Film Society Talks take place in the Amphitheater of the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. Tickets will be distributed at the box office on a first-come, first-served basis starting one hour prior to the events. Limit one ticket per person, subject to availability. For those unable to attend, video from the event will be available on our YouTube channel at a later date.
Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, which was produced by Salma Hayek.
Parker Posey (Irrational Man)
Parker Posey joins Summer Talks on the occasion of the July 17 release of her latest film, Woody Allen’s Irrational Man, in which she stars opposite Jamie Blackley, Joaquin Phoenix, and Emma Stone. The film centers on a tormented philosophy professor who finds a will to live when he commits an existential act. At rock bottom emotionally, Abe Lucas (Phoenix) arrives at a small-town college to teach and becomes involved with two women: Rita (Posey), a lonely professor who wants him to rescue her from an unhappy marriage, and Jill (Stone), his best student, who becomes his closest friend.
Parker is notable for her string of roles in indie films like Dazed and Confused, Personal Velocity, Basquiat, Clockwatchers, The Daytrippers, Party Girl, and The House of Yes, as well as roles in studio movies like Scream 3 and Superman Returns. On television she has been featured in As the World Turns, the miniseries Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay (which earned her a Supporting Actress Golden Globe nomination in 2003), Inside Amy Schumer, Portlandia, and Granite Flats. Posey will discuss her role in Irrational Man as well as her career over the past 25 years.
Monday, July 13, 6:30pm
Salma Hayek (Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet)
Salma Hayek will appear at the Film Society for an informal chat in the Amphitheater about her latest project, the animated feature Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, on which she served as a producer and lent her voice. Based on the book of the title (which has sold over 100 million copies in 40 languages since its publication in 1923), the film, opening August 7, intersperses Gibran’s elegant poetry with stunning animated sequences by Tomm Moore (Song of the Sea), Nina Paley (Sita Sings the Blues), Bill Plympton (Guide Dog), and a host of other award-winning animators from around the world. Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet is set in a Mediterranean seaside village where Kamila (Hayek) cleans house for the exiled artist and poet Mustafa (Liam Neeson), but the more difficult job is keeping her free-spirited young daughter, Almitra (Quvenzhané Wallis), out of trouble. The trio embark on a journey meant to end with Mustafa’s return home—but first they must evade the authorities who fear that Mustafa’s words will incite rebellion.
Hayek is well known for her work in front of the camera with roles in Dogma, Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Savages, Wild Wild West, and Frida (which earned her an Oscar nomination) and small-screen appearances on 30 Rock and Ugly Betty. Hayek also works extensively behind the camera, where she has served as both director and producer (and as executive-producer of Ugly Betty). In 2003, Hayek produced and directed the Showtime film The Maldonado Miracle, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children/Youth/Family Special. Hayek will talk about her work both as an actress and a filmmaker.
Wednesday, August 5, 6:00pm
