THE BLUE CAFTAN
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In-Conversation with Sarah Jessica Parker
Director: Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker is an award-winning actor, producer and businesswoman who has garnered four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards. Parker stars as Carrie Bradshaw in the HBO’s television series And Just Like That opposite Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis. The series is currently in production for the highly anticipated third season. Created by Darren Star, the show is a revival of the critically acclaimed television series Sex and the City (1998-2004) where Parker starred in and served as an executive producer. Parker starred opposite her husband Matthew Broderick in the revival of Neil Simon‘s comedy play, Plaza Suite directed by Tony Award winner John Benjamin Hickey. Plaza Suite is the third-highest grossing play revival in Broadway history. The play made its West End debut this past winter at the Savoy Theatre in London, where Parker’s performance earned her a nomination for Best Actress at the 2024 Olivier Awards. Alongside Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy, Parker can be seen in the American fantasy comedy film Hocus Pocus 2, directed by Anne Fletcher and written by Jen D'Angelo. The film, produced by Walt Disney Pictures, is a sequel to the 1993 film Hocus Pocus, in which Parker captivated audiences with her witty and peculiar performance as Sarah Sanderson, sister to Winifred and Mary Sanderson, three witches living in 17th-century Salem. Parker reprised her role as Carrie Bradshaw and served as a producer for the screen adaptation of the hit series with the theatrical release of Sex and the City and Sex and the City 2. Her television credits include Equal Justice and Square Pegs. Past film credits include: Extreme Measures, If Lucy Fell, Til There Was You, L.A. Story, I Don't Know How She Does It, Smart People, Failure to Launch, The Family Stone, State and Main, Mars Attacks!, Ed Wood, The First Wives Club, Miami Rhapsody, Honeymoon in Vegas, and Footloose. Parker launched award-winning production company Pretty Matches Productions, which develops film and television projects across a wide variety of genres under a first-look deal with HBO. Pretty Matches produces scripted and unscripted television as well as narrative and documentary feature films such as HBO’s Divorce which Parker starred in for three seasons and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance and Here and Now which premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. Parker produced the behind-the-scenes feature And Just Like That…The Documentary for HBO Max as well as Bravo’s Work of Art: The Next Great Artist which sold into multiple territories internationally, the award-winning documentary Pretty Old, and AOL’s City Ballet. Parker has worked in the theatre, on and off Broadway, since 1976 when she debuted on Broadway in The Innocents directed by Harold Pinter. Other Broadway credits include: the title role in Annie, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Once Upon a Mattress. Off-Broadway credits include: the original production of To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday and The Commons of Pensacola. Parker released her signature fragrance, Lovely, in 2005. Over ten years later, it is currently a top selling global brand. In 2014, Parker launched her namesake label, SJP, which is carried by Amazon Fashion, Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus online, Saks.com, and Zappos Luxury, as well as various other boutiques and international retailers. Parker designed this collection of shoes, handbags and accessories in association with George Malkemus III. SJP now has five permanent stand-alone stores worldwide, as well as a recently launched e-commerce website. In September 2019, Parker partnered with New Zealand-based Invivo & Co. to launch ‘Invivo X, SJP,’ a collection of innovative wines that bring people together. The first vintage, Invivo X, SJP Sauvignon Blanc was judged to be the best alcohol launch worldwide at the 2020 ‘Drinks Business Awards.’ In 2020 Parker launched Invivo X, SJP Rosé, a premium rosé from the South of France. The collection is now available in over 40 states and major retailers. The Sauvignon Blanc received Gold and the Rosé received Double Gold at the 2022 New York Wine and Spirits Show. In June 2023, Parker launched SJP Lit, her own imprint in partnership with independent publisher Zando, where she publishes thought-provoking, big-hearted stories inclusive of international and underrepresented voices. Recent titles include They Dream in Gold by Mai Sennaar, Alina Grabowski’s Women and Children First, Elysha Chang’s A Quitter’s Paradise, and Coleman Hill written by Kim Coleman Foote. Parker currently serves as a Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors for the New York City Ballet. In November 2009, the Obama administration elected her to be a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Parker recently became a member of The Partnership for New York City, a 501(c) organization dedicated to building partnerships between businesses and government to strengthen New York City
LITTLE JAFFNA
Director: Lawrence Valin
“You’re not in Paris any more. You’re in Little Jaffna.” During the civil war in Sri Lanka that raged from 1983 until 2009, Tamils in the Parisian district of Little Jaffna were forced to contribute towards buying arms for Tamil Tigers. Aya, ostensibly a grocer, leads the ruthless extortion gang that bleeds the community dry. Michael, a straight-shooting young police officer with Tamil roots, is sent to infiltrate the organization but as he befriends the gang’s members at terrible risk to himself, he starts to see the issue in a more nuanced way and feels his loyalties shifting. Valin combines the theatricality of Tamil movies with the hard edge of new French cinema, using largely non-professional actors, in this spectacular thriller.
THE INEVITABLE JOURNEY TO FIND A WEDDING DRESS
Director: Jaylan Auf
On the eve of her wedding, Warda has a disastrous accident with her bridal gown, ruining it completely. The show is going to go on, however, so she and her best friend set out to find another white dress in a hurry. Their search takes them from one shop to the next across Cairo, giving these two working-class girls a new vision and experience of the city where they have grown up and which becomes a major character in the film. For Warda, it is also a journey of self-discovery, challenging her relationship with herself. The wedding dress becomes the central motif in a social drama about life in modern, rapidly changing city.
BLACK DOG
Director: Guan Hu
While China buzzes in anticipation of the Beijing Olympics, Lang returns from a decade in prison to his home town to find it largely deserted, its crumbling concrete blocks being torn down to make way for a new industrial city. The exodus of humans means that the area is now overrun with stray dogs; Lang, needing a job, joins a hastily assembled extermination team supposed to round them up but, when a dog suspected of having rabies adopts him, he realizes his real mission is to save the animals, including the ones at the nearly deserted local zoo.. In a riveting, almost wordless performance, Eddie Peng shows Lang recover his humanity, even as the landscape around him becomes increasingly desolate.