From September 8-16, BAMcinématek, the repertory film program at BAM Rose Cinemas, presents Robert Redford: Artist & Activist, a 16-film tribute to Redford's 50-year career in film. Robert Redford will be at BAM in-person to discuss his work as one of the 20th century's most celebrated actors and as an Academy-award winning director, as well as a leading environmental and social change activist, and champion of independent cinema as founder of The Sundance Institute.
On September 12 and 13, Robert Redford will be making two rare in-person appearances at BAM to talk about his work. On Saturday, September 12, following the screening of All the President's Men (1976), Redford will discuss his key, behind-the-scenes role in the making of the film, his relationship with Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, and the historical significance of the film in the post-Watergate era. On Sunday, September 13, as part of the day's Redford: Film & Conversation program, Redford will participate in a more wide-ranging discussion about his career as actor, director and activist. The conversation on September 13 will take place in the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House and will follow the screening of four of Redford's best-loved films-The Way We Were, Out of Africa, The Natural, and The Electric Horseman-which will be shown simultaneously in all four BAM Rose Cinemas preceding his appearance in the Opera House.
BAM presented Redford with the idea of doing the retrospective following the organization's successful three-year partnership with The Sundance Institute (Sundance Institute at BAM, 2006 - 2008). "Robert Redford is a ground-breaking artist who can start a project at a grass-roots level and bring it to a much higher plane - he has done this repeatedly with his films, with his activism, and by nurturing countless films by other artists through The Sundance Institute," said Karen Brooks Hopkins, BAM President. "This retrospective is an opportunity to examine and appreciate all phases of Redford's singular contribution to the landscape of American cinema, as well as his immeasurable efforts as an environmental and political activist."
This 16-film retrospective was curated jointly by BAMcinématek's film curators and Robert Redford himself, and includes some of his most popular and memorable films, as well as work that he counts as his most personal and significant. In considering the films that would comprise the line-up, Redford also wanted to ensure that his frequent and influential collaborators were represented - among these directors Michael Ritchie, Sidney Pollack, George Roy Hill and actor Paul Newman. Seldom willing to be interviewed, Redford prefers to "let the work speak for itself," and views this series as an opportunity to have some of his essential films revisited in the broader context of his entire career and to discuss them in an open forum directly with his audience.
Achieving mainstream commercial success and realizing iconic status as a Hollywood leading man, Redford has also maintained a consistent focus on political and social issues with a distinctively American point of view. Shedding light on such difficult and controversial issues as government corruption, free speech, media deception, environmental pollution and abuses against Native Americans, Redford has managed to push forward an activist message without eclipsing his vocation as an artist. In 2002, the Harvard Business Review described him as a "quintessential tempered radical," someone who "rocks the boat without falling out of it." This classification is fitting for Redford's filmmaking career, as well as his role as founder of The Sundance Institute.
Robert Redford: Artist & Activist schedule
(All prints are 35mm unless noted.)
Tuesday, Sept 8 at 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
The Candidate (1972) 110min
Directed by Michael Ritchie
With Robert Redford, Peter Boyle
"...one of the few good, truly funny American political comedies ever made."-The New York Times
This Oscar-winning satire skewers the American political machine. Redford stars as a handsome young politician who compromises his liberal ideals in order to win a Senate race he was never supposed to have a shot at.
