Category: Carsey-Wolf Center

  • Inside “The Old Man”: Jeff Bridges and Amy Brenneman Reflect on Aging, Identity, and Connection

    Inside “The Old Man”: Jeff Bridges and Amy Brenneman Reflect on Aging, Identity, and Connection

    Acclaimed actors Jeff Bridges and Amy Brenneman joined a live audience at UC Santa Barbara to talk about their work on FX’s gripping psychological thriller, The Old Man. The series, which premiered in 2022, follows Dan Chase (Bridges), a former CIA operative who’s been living off the grid for decades. When an assassin tries to…

  • Afro Italians on Screen: Stories of Resistance, Renaissance, and Community

    Afro Italians on Screen: Stories of Resistance, Renaissance, and Community

    Filmmakers Daphne Di Cinto and Medhin Paolos joins UCSB’s Stephanie Malia Hom to explore the history and lived experiences of Black African communities in Italy. Their discussion centers on two short films: Il Moro by Di Cinto and Asmarina by Paolos, each providing meaningful insights into Black identity, belonging, and resilience within Italian society. Di…

  • Fancy Dance: A Journey Through Culture, Language, and Identity

    Fancy Dance: A Journey Through Culture, Language, and Identity

    Fancy Dance is a heartfelt story about a Native American woman who faces the challenges of caring for her niece after her sister goes missing. Set on the Seneca-Cayuga Nation Reservation, the film explores themes of family, resilience, and cultural identity. Through the lens of a deeply personal story, Fancy Dance sheds light on the…

  • A Conversation with Meg Ryan: Revisiting When Harry Met Sally

    A Conversation with Meg Ryan: Revisiting When Harry Met Sally

    During a recent event at UC Santa Barbara, actress Meg Ryan sat down with moderator Brad Silberling to discuss her career and the timeless charm of the classic romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally. Their conversation provided a unique opportunity to explore the making of the film, its enduring legacy, and the nuances that have…

  • Dance Music: The Multicultural Story Cumbia

    Dance Music: The Multicultural Story Cumbia

    At UC Santa Barbara’s Carsey-Wolf Center, filmmakers Joyce García and Alvaro Parra joined moderator and DJ, Alexandra Lippman, to talk about their two documentaries on cumbia sonidera, or Colombia-inspired dance music, in Mexico City and Los Angeles, “Yo No Soy Guapo” and “Sonidero Metropolis.” García and Parra have explored the world of Sonidero extensively in…

  • The Making of Timbuktu with Abderrahmane Sissako

    The Making of Timbuktu with Abderrahmane Sissako

    In this Carsey-Wolf Center Global presentation, acclaimed co-writer/director Abderrahmane Sissako discusses his film “Timbuktu” with moderators Richard Watts and Peter Bloom. “Timbuktu” was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and in 2016 was voted as one of the top 50 films of the 21st century. Sissako details the development of the…

  • Bringing Dinosaurs to Life: How a Best-Selling Novel Became a Major Motion Picture

    Bringing Dinosaurs to Life: How a Best-Selling Novel Became a Major Motion Picture

    Screenwriter David Koepp had only six motion picture screenplay credits to his name when he was tapped to help best-selling author Michael Crichton adapt one of his novels for the silver screen. Even as a novel, “Jurassic Park” was ahead of its time – using futuristic DNA cloning techniques to return dinosaurs to the planet…

  • The Truth 24 Times Per Second

    The Carsey-Wolf Center’s Spring 2019 screening series at UC Santa Barbara explores the international legacies of cinematic New Waves, including films from France, Cuba, China, Italy, and Iran. Whatever their disparate eras or sources, these selections share an emphasis on stylistic and narrative experimentation, a rejection of traditional film conventions, a sympathetic response to youth…

  • The Fallen Angel

    “I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel…” — Mary Shelley, Frankenstein Since its first (initially anonymous) publication in 1818, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein has intrigued successive generations of readers and critics while inspiring dozens of cinematic adaptations and re-imaginings. In honor of the novel’s 200th anniversary the Carsey-Wolf Center…

  • Gwyneth Paltrow at UCSB

    If anyone could be said to have been “born into show business,” it’s Gwyneth Paltrow. Her parents were film & television producer-director Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner, whom Gwyneth cites as her main inspiration to pursue acting. Her brother, Jake, is a director and screenwriter; her uncle Harry Danner is an opera singer; her…