late fall 2006 series

Cornell alums are out there working in every conceivable area of film production ­ as directors, producers, editors, screenwriters, actors and special effects coordinators, as well as independently as animators, experimental makers, documentarians and more ­ and it’s always a treat for us to feature their work. In this calendar, we highlight the work of seven more Cornell alums, and if all goes well, we’ll be hosting four of them for in-person presentations.

Our first guest will be Jaime Vallés, who received a BFA from the School of Architecture Art & Planning in 1999. He’ll be on hand to introduce and discuss the “light-hearted Puerto Rican puberty comedy” (Variety), Casi Casi, along with the star of film, Mario Pabon, who happens to be a student at Ithaca College. Documentarian Doug Block ’75, whose latest work, 51 Birch Street, premiered at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival in 2005 and was featured in the Cornell Magazine this past spring, will be here to present this insightful personal documentary with universal themes revolving around family. John Heffernan ’96 wrote blurbs for the Cornell Cinema calendar while an undergraduate, now he’s known as the screenwriter of Snakes on a Plane, a film that created an unprecedented internet buzz prior to its release (and quite a bit afterwards, too, actually living up to all the anticipation!). John will be here to talk about his work and the phenomenon surrounding Snakes on November 3. The screenwriter of Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center, Andrea Berloff ’95, is also a Cornell alum, as is the film’s executive producer, Don Lee Jr. ’77, who we’re hoping will be able to introduce one of our screenings. (His visit was not confirmed at press time.) The late Christopher Reeve ’74 is probably Cornell’s most famous actor alum, and his life and work will be memorialized by his Class of ’74 classmates during the weekend of November 17–18, when we’ll present two screenings of Superman: The Movie, featuring Reeve as the Man of Steel. Finally, we’ll present local videomakers’ The Four Seasons Trilogy, with writing and directing by Aaron Weiss ‘94.

Images on top from (left to right): Superman; Snakes on a Plane; World Trade Center; 51 Birch Street / below: Casi Casi