NYWIFT Industry Screening + Q&A: ‘Passing’

NYWIFT invites you to a screening of Passing followed by a conversation with Director Rebecca Hall and Ruth Negga on December 3rd, 2021, moderated by NYWIFT Board Member Kuye Youngblood

Adapted from the celebrated 1929 novel of the same name by Nella Larsen, Passing tells the story of two Black women, Irene Redfield (Tessa Thompson) and Clare Kendry (Academy Award nominee Ruth Negga), who can “pass” as white but choose to live on opposite sides of the color line during the height of the Harlem Renaissance in late 1920s New York.

After a chance encounter reunites the former childhood friends one summer afternoon, Irene reluctantly allows Clare into her home, where she ingratiates herself to Irene’s husband (André Holland) and family, and soon her larger social circle as well. As their lives become more deeply intertwined, Irene finds her once-steady existence upended by Clare, and Passing becomes a riveting examination of obsession, repression and the lies people tell themselves and others to protect their carefully constructed realities.

Acclaimed upon its premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, Passing marks the directorial debut of Rebecca Hall, who also adapted the screenplay. The film intimately uses the notion of “passing” to explore not just racial identity but gender and the responsibilities of motherhood, sexuality and the performance of femininity. 

Screening Dates: Film available from Wednesday, December 1st through Friday, December 3rd

Q&A: Friday, December 3rd at 5:30pm ET

How to See the Film: Links will be sent out on December 1st

Cost: Members: $2 and Nonmembers: $3 (Q&A included) 

Register

Panelists

Rebecca Hall is an acclaimed British-American actress and filmmaker whose career encompasses the multiplex, the art house cinema, and the world’s most respected theaters. She has worked with many of the industry’s greatest artists, establishing herself as a leading talent as she challenges herself with each new role. Most recently, she starred in David Brucker’s thriller The Night House which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Hall’s directorial debut, which she also wrote and produced, Passing, premiered at the 2021 Sundance Festival to critical acclaim. Additionally, she recently wrapped production on With/In, a made-at-home anthology film revolving around themes of confinement and isolation. The anthology’s storylines include a couple stuck together after a one night stand, kids scheming to run away from their paranoid dad, a divorced couple isolating together for the sake of their dog, and a widow dealing with her grief. Directed by Morgan Spector and Maya Singer, Hall can be seen in the installment Mother!! opposite Spector and Singer. The film will make its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Ruth Negga is an exceptionally talented and versatile actress with a body of work that spans award-winning theatre productions, big screen historical dramas, independent films and innovative television series. Last year, Ruth was seen in her NYC theatrical debut in the titular role of Yael Farber’s Hamlet at St. Ann’s Warehouse. Most notably, Ruth was seen starring as ‘Mildred Loving’ opposite Joel Edgerton in Jeff Nichols’ Loving. For her performance, Ruth’s accolades include Academy Award®, Golden Globe® and Critics Choice Award® nominations. She also won an IFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Film. Previous film work includes  Ad Astra; Warcraft; Una Vida; All Is By My SideNoble; World War Z; The Samaritan; and Breakfast on Pluto. On television, Ruth was last seen in her recurring role in the final season of the AMC series Preacher. Previously, Ruth lent her voice as Mother in the animated program, Angela’s Christmas. Additional credits include HBO’s The Money; Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for which she was nominated for a 2016 Irish Film & Television Award in the category of “Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Drama”; the hit UK series Misfits for Logo; on Love/Hate for RTE and BBC’s mini-series Five Daughters; and as ‘Shirley Bassey’ in the TV movie Shirley for which Ruth won the Irish Film and Television Academy Award for Best Actress. Ruth’s extensive and award-winning theatre production credits include Lolita as her stage debut for Corn Exchange Theatre Company at the Abbey Theatre; Duck for Out of Joint at The Royal Court Theatre, for which she was nominated for an Olivier best newcomer; Playboy of the Western World at The Old Vic; Hamlet as ‘Ophelia’ at the National Theatre; Phèdre at the National Theatre, for which she won the Ian Charleson Award; Oedipus Loves You at Peter Pan Theatre; Lay Me Down Softly, The Crucible, The Bacchae, Burial At Thebes all at the Abbey Theatre; and Titus Andronicus at The Project Theatre, for which she received the Irish Times Award for Best Actress.

Kuye Youngblood is an Emmy award-winning producer with experience in scripted and documentary series. She is currently the Head of Development & Production at BRIC TV. Her responsibilities include creative development of new series including The Great Pretender with filmmaker Nathan Silver (Tribeca) and managing a team of dynamic media makers. Her EP work screened at Tribeca Film, Sundance, New Voices in Black Cinema, Hot Docs, ABFF, and Bentonville. Original series include The Show about the ShowBrooklynificationDinette, and All Hail Beth. She’s a Speaker at SXSW and SeriesFest and a producer/moderator for IFP panels. She was also series producer for Neighborhood Beat, a show about her hometown Brooklyn!

December 3 @ 5:30pm
5:30 pm — 6:00 pm (30′)

Free Virtual Q and A

programs@nywift.org

Register

Join the conversation on social media:
#nywift | @nywift

NYWIFT programs, screenings and events are supported, in part, by grants from New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

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