THE FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER TO HOST
AN EVENING WITH ALFONSO CUARÓN

February 4, 2014 (New York, NY) – The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today An Evening with Alfonso Cuarón, on Thursday, February 13. The evening will include the Oscar®-nominated director in person to present a screening of his latest award-winning and 10-time Oscar®-nominated film Gravity, immediately followed by a conversation and then a screening of his 2006 critically acclaimed film Children of Men. The conversation will be moderated by Film Comment magazine editor-in-chief, Gavin Smith. Tickets on sale now at Filmlinc.com.  

Dennis Lim, the Film Society’s Director of Programming said, “In this landmark year for Alfonso, we’re proud to welcome him to the Film Society for a closer look at his film Gravity, both an artistic and a technical breakthrough. We’ll also take this opportunity to re-visit his gripping Children of Men on the big screen and engage in an in-depth conversation about his rich and varied body of work.”

Alfonso Cuarón is a six-time Oscar® nominee, with his three most recent Oscar® nods coming for his work as a director, producer and editor on the acclaimed worldwide hit Gravity, which he also co-wrote (with his son, Jonás Cuarón). He made his feature film directorial debut in 1991 with Sólo Con Tu Pareja (Love in the Time of Hysteria), which was the biggest box office hit in Mexico in 1992 and garnered Cuarón an Ariel Award as co-writer. Sydney Pollack then hired him to direct Murder, Obliquely, an episode of the neo-noir Fallen Angels series on Showtime. The episode earned Cuarón the 1993 Cable ACE Award for Best Director.

Cuarón made his American feature film debut with the critically acclaimed 1995 motion picture adaptation of the beloved children’s book A Little Princess. The film was nominated for Academy Awards® for Best Cinematography and Art Direction, and won the Los Angeles Film Critics New Generation Award. That was followed in 1998 by Great Expectations, a contemporary adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel.

Cuarón then returned to Mexico to direct a Spanish-speaking cast in the funny, provocative and controversial road comedy Y Tu Mamá También, for which he received an Oscar® nomination for Best Original Screenplay (written with his brother Carlos Cuarón) and BAFTA Award nominations for Best Foreign Film and Best Original Screenplay. It also won the 2001 Venice Film Festival Awards for screenplay and acting revelations (Marcello Mastroianni Award). In 2003, he directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third film in the most successful motion picture franchise of all time, based on the best-selling books by author J.K. Rowling.

Cuarόn’s next project, Children of Men, which he co-wrote with Timothy Sexton, was one of the most talked about films of 2006, and was celebrated by critics and film fans for its compelling human drama of hope set against a dystopian reality that was, even then, being shaped by events in the early 21st century. The film brought two Oscar® nominations to Cuarón, for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing. It also received a number of other awards and nominations, including a third Oscar® nod for Best Cinematography; two BAFTA Awards, for Best Cinematography and Best Production Design; and a Venice Film Festival Award for Best Cinematography.
          
An Evening with Alfonso Cuarón will be held at the Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street on Thursday, February 13 beginning at 6:30PM. Single screening tickets for Gravity are $20 for Members and $25 for the General Public and $8 for everyone for Children of Men. A Double Feature Package, for both screenings, is available for $25 for Members and $30 for the General Public. Visit Filmlinc.com for tickets and additional information.

FILMS, SCHEDULE & DESCRIPTIONS

GRAVITY
Alfonso Cuarón, USA, 2013, 3D Digital projection, 91 min.
Alfonso Cuarón’s riveting drama Gravity is a taut 90-minute emotional journey, captured with breathtaking and groundbreaking effects. Sandra Bullock, who holds the screen alone for much of the film, delivers a layered performance as a scientist on her first trip to space. The film’s much-discussed opening take sets the scene: what starts as routine spacewalk peppered with witty banter, courtesy of a veteran astronaut (played by George Clooney), quickly turns into turbulent, gut-wrenching ride. From there, Gravity becomes a story of isolation and survival set in the unforgiving realm of space. The film, which has struck a chord with critics and audiences, earned 10 Oscar® nominations (Best Picture, Director, Actress, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Score, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects). In addition, Cuáron was recently honored with the Best Director Award from the Directors Guild of America.
*Thursday, February 13 at 6:30PM
Director Alfonso Cuarón will participate in a conversation immediately following the screening.

CHILDREN OF MEN
Alfonso Cuarón, USA, 2006, Digital projection, 109 min.
Adapted from a 1992 P.D. James novel of the same name, Children of Men is set in a dystopian Britain on the brink of bleak demise. The human race has been ravaged by a plague of sterility and the youngest person in the world has just died at the age of 18. As desperation sets in, a lone pregnant woman must be transported to safety to ensure the future of humanity. This science fiction political thriller, directed and co-written by Alfonso Cuarón, was one of the most acclaimed films of 2006 and is remembered for its stirring performances by Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and others, as well as its distinctive filmmaking technique. Children of Men received three Academy Award® nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing.
*Thursday, February 13 at 9:15PM
Director Alfonso Cuarón will introduce the screening.

Film Society of Lincoln Center
Founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, the Film Society of Lincoln Center works to recognize established and emerging filmmakers, support important new work, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility and understanding of the moving image. Film Society produces the renowned New York Film Festival, a curated selection of the year's most significant new film work, and presents or collaborates on other annual New York City festivals including Dance on Camera, Film Comment Selects, Human Rights Watch Film Festival, LatinBeat, New Directors/New Films, NewFest, New York African Film Festival, New York Asian Film Festival, New York Jewish Film Festival, Open Roads: New Italian Cinema and Rendez-vous With French Cinema. In addition to publishing the award-winning Film Comment Magazine, Film Society recognizes an artist's unique achievement in film with the prestigious “Chaplin Award.” The Film Society's state-of-the-art Walter Reade Theater and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, located at Lincoln Center, provide a home for year round programs and the New York City film community.

The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from Royal Bank of Canada, Jaeger-LeCoultre, American Airlines, The New York Times, Stella Artois, the Kobal Collection, Trump International Hotel and Tower, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

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Film Society of Lincoln Center:
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