Ivy Film Festival (IFF) is the world's largest student-run film festival, hosted annually on the campus of

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. The Festival was started in 2001 by then-Brown juniors David Peck and Justin Slosky in collaboration with students of the other seven

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

schools including vice chairman Doug Imbruce from Columbia University. The founders' goal was to create a venue to showcase and honor the work of talented student filmmakers. The Ivy Film Festival currently accepts submissions from around the world for both its short film and screenplay competitions. Granoff_Center_(Brown)

In addition to student film screenings, the Festival hosts advanced screenings of commercial and independent features as well as discussion panels, academic workshops, and keynote addresses with industry guests, who attend the Festival to engage in wide-ranging discussions about film and the entertainment industry. Subjects addressed at festival events have included the relationship between film and social justice, how one can achieve success in the entertainment industry, and the merits of attending film school. Past attendees of Ivy Film Festival include well-known film directors, screenwriters, and actors, such as

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...

Tim Robbins Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film ''The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and has won an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards for his role ...

Lena Dunham Lena Dunham (, born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is known as the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series ''Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations a ...

Adrien Brody Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's '' The Pianist'' (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Acto ...

Aaron Sorkin Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. Born in New York City, he developed a passion for writing at an early age. Sorkin has earned an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, five Primetime E ...

James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Ma ...

Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

Mira Nair Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural sphe ...

, Chan-wook Park,

Doug Liman Douglas Eric Liman (; born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Go'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005), ''Jumper'' (2008), ''Edg ...

John Cho John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the ''Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series. Early in his career, Cho also starred in the Asian Ame ...

Kal Penn Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, academic lecturer, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor, he is known for his role portrayin ...

Davis Guggenheim Philip Davis Guggenheim (born November 3, 1963) is an American writer, director and producer. His credits include ''NYPD Blue'', '' ER'', '' 24'', ''Alias'', ''The Shield'', '' Deadwood'', and the documentaries ''An Inconvenient Truth'', ''It M ...

Dylan Kidd Dylan Kidd (born August 30, 1969) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing and writing the 2002 American film '' Roger Dodger''. Career Kidd achieved critical acclaim through his debut film ''Roger Dodger' ...

James Toback James Toback (; born November 23, 1944) is an American film director and screenwriter. His screenplay for '' Bugsy'' won the 1991 Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for best screenplay of the year and was nominated for both the Academy Aw ...

John Hamburg John Liman Hamburg (born May 26, 1970) is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. Personal life Hamburg was born to a Jewish family in Manhattan, the son of New York City radio personality Joan Hamburg and Morton I. Hamburg. He gr ...

Julia Stiles Julia O'Hara Stiles (born March 28, 1981) is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Stiles began acting at the age of 11 as part of New York's La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. Her film debut was a small role in ''I'' ''Love Yo ...

Laura Linney Laura Leggett Linney (born February 5, 1964) is an American actress. Having studied acting at Juilliard School (1986-1990), she became known for her complex and multilayered performances on stage and screen. She has received various accolades, ...

, and

Michael Showalter Michael Showalter (born June 17, 1970) is an American comedian, actor, director, writer, and producer. He first came to recognition as a cast member on MTV's ''The State'', which aired from 1993 to 1995. He and David Wain created the ''Wet Hot ...

. Preview screenings hosted by the Festival have included '' Neighbors'', '' Locke'', ''

The Way, Way Back ''The Way, Way Back'' is a 2013 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash in their directorial debuts. It stars Liam James as Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old who goes on summer vacation to Wareh ...

'', '' The East'', '' (500) Days of Summer'', ''Star Trek'' (2009), ''

Mean Girls ''Mean Girls'' is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. The film stars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried (in her film debut), Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler and Fe ...

'', '' The Believer'', ''

Brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

'', '' Shine a Light'', '' The Aristocrats,'' and the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winning and -nominated ''

No Country for Old Men ''No Country for Old Men'' is a 2007 American neo-Western crime thriller film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel of the same name. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin, th ...

'', ''

Super Size Me ''Super Size Me'' is a 2004 American documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock's film follows a 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 2003, during which he ate only McDonald's f ...

'', ''

Half Nelson A nelson hold is a grappling hold which is executed by one person from behind the opponent, generally when both are on the mat face down with the opponent under the aggressor. One or both arms are used to encircle the opponent's arm under the armpi ...

'', '' Murderball'', ''

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

'', and ''

Iraq in Fragments ''Iraq in Fragments'' is a documentary film directed by James Longley. Longley shot the film in Digital Video on a Panasonic DVX100 miniDV camcorder. The film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival where it won three awards: "Directing Award ...

''.

History

2000s

The inaugural Ivy Film Festival was held in December 2001. A product of collaboration between the organizers, Brown's Modern Culture and Media Department, the Brown Film Society and students at other Ivy League universities, the festival weekend screened 46 student films, selected from over 150 entries, and welcomed over 300 attendees. Events hosted by the Festival included talks from

and

Henry Bean Henry Bean (born August 3, 1945) is an American screenwriter, film director, film producer, novelist, and actor. Best known as a screenwriter, Bean wrote the screenplays for ''Internal Affairs (film), Internal Affairs'', ''Deep Cover'', ''Venus ...

as well as the U.S. premiere of

’s ''

Harvard Man ''Harvard Man'' is a 2001 American crime comedy-drama thriller film written and directed by James Toback, and starring Adrian Grenier, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Joey Lauren Adams, Rebecca Gayheart, Ray Allen, and Eric Stoltz. Plot The story concer ...

'', starring Adrien Grenier. The second festival, held in April 2003 due to its growth, attracted even more attention. The additions of an international student film competition and a screenplay competition broadened interest. Guests such as

and

spoke and accepted awards; director Dylan Kidd shared his film '' Roger Dodger'', and panelists from across the country shared their advice and experiences with students. The 2004 Ivy Film Festival featured unprecedented expansion, with 1,500 people in attendance and over 200 student films submitted. The Festival hosted and presented awards to director

and Academy-award-winning actor

, as well as holding a business panel featuring Paramount Studio Vice Chairman

Rob Friedman Rob Friedman (born 1950) is an American media executive. He was the Co-Chairman of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, overseeing all aspects of Lionsgate’s domestic and international feature film acquisition, production and distribution as well ...

. The Festival held exclusive advance screenings of ''

'' and ''

Supersize Me ''Super Size Me'' is a 2004 American documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock's film follows a 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 2003, during which he ate only McDonald's f ...

'', celebrated films at the time that are now considered favorite cult classics. In 2005, the Ivy Film Festival screened the movies '' The Aristocrats'' and '' Murderball'' and featured John Hamburg, writer of the screenplays of ''

Zoolander ''Zoolander'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by and starring Ben Stiller. The film contains elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the '' VH1 Fashion Awards'' television ...

'' and '' Meet the Parents'', as a keynote speaker.

Ellen Kuras Ellen Kuras (born July 10, 1959) is an American cinematographer whose body of work includes narrative and documentary films, music videos and commercials in both the studio and independent worlds. One of few female members of the American Socie ...

, cinematographer for ''

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' (also simply known as ''Eternal Sunshine'') is a 2004 American romantic science fiction drama film written by Charlie Kaufman, directed by Michel Gondry, and starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. P ...

'' also led a workshop, while

Luke Greenfield Luke Greenfield (born February 5, 1972) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the 2004 film '' The Girl Next Door''. Greenfield directed the pilot episode of the television series ''Aliens in ...

led a talk focused on working in Hollywood. The 5th annual Ivy Film Festival, held in 2006, featured screenings of '' Black Gold'', '' Occupation: Dreamland'', '' Kinky Boots'', ''

Take the Lead ''Take the Lead'' is a 2006 American drama dance film directed by Liz Friedlander and starring Antonio Banderas as dance instructor Pierre Dulaine, the founder of Dancing Classrooms. It also stars Alfre Woodard, John Ortiz, Rob Brown, Yaya DaCos ...

'', and '' The Children of Chabannes'', as well as Sundance favorites ''

'', ''

'', and ''

''. Students from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, and Brown University walked away with awards in the Undergraduate categories, which were jured by Brown alumnus Michael Showalter, the acclaimed actor and co-writer of ''

Wet Hot American Summer ''Wet Hot American Summer'' is a 2001 American teen comedy film directed by David Wain from a screenplay written by Wain and Michael Showalter. The film features an ensemble cast, including Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Pau ...

''; Marc Francis, the director of '' Black Gold''; Mark Ross, a producer at Maguire Entertainment; David Courier, a senior programmer for Outfest, the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

and the

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

; and Lisa Gossels, the director of Children of Chabannes. The 2007 festival included pre-release screenings of Sundance Film Festival selections, panels, and workshops with award-winning filmmakers, and presentations by

, director of '' The Bourne Identity'' and Chan-wook Park, director of '' Oldboy''. Other guests included actor

and Academy Award-winning writer and director

Sarah Kernochan Sarah Marshall Kernochan (; born December 30, 1947) is an American documentarian, film director, screenwriter and novelist. She is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including two Academy Awards ( Documentary Feature for ''Marjoe'' in 19 ...

. The 2008 Film Festival was the first student film festival to have a

machinima Machinima, originally machinema () is the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation. The word "machinima" is a portmanteau of the words ''ma ...

genre. The 2008 festival featured a keynote address by

Fox Filmed Entertainment Fox Entertainment Group was an American entertainment company specialised in filmed entertainment owned by 21st Century Fox. Following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, the group's assets were folded into various Disney units. Th ...

Co-Chairman and CEO,

Tom Rothman Thomas Edgar Rothman (born November 21, 1954) is an American film executive and current chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, Motion Picture Group. In this role, Rothman oversees all of the studio's motion picture p ...

, and a master class led by

. The 2009 Film Festival occurred on April 21–26 and featured a keynote panel with actor

, ''

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

'' producer

Robert Evans Robert Evans (born Robert J. Shapera; June 29, 1930October 26, 2019) was an American film producer, studio executive, and actor, best known for his work on '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1968), ''Love Story'' (1970), ''The Godfather'' (1972), and ''Chi ...

, and

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

Chairman and CEO

Brad Grey Brad Alan Grey (December 29, 1957 – May 14, 2017) was an American television and film producer. He co-founded Brillstein-Grey Entertainment (now Brillstein Entertainment Partners), and afterwards became the chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictur ...

, moderated by former ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' Editor-in-Chief

Peter Bart Peter Benton Bart (born July 24, 1932) is an American journalist and film producer, writing a column for ''Deadline Hollywood'' since 2015. He is perhaps best known for his lengthy tenure (1989–2009) as the editor in chief of ''Variety'', an ...

2010s

The 2010 Ivy Film Festival featured an advance screening of '' Waiting for Superman'', followed by a Q&A with director

. The festival also featured two film industry panels. The first, titled “From the Ground Up,” featured producer Andrew Renzi and writer and actor Christopher Thornton. The second, titled “Where Creativity and Commerce Merge,” featured production and development VP Abby Ex, development VP Bryan Unkeless, executive VP Milan Popelka, and production VP Adam Rosenberg. The 2011 Ivy Film Festival occurred Tuesday, April 19 to Sunday, April 24. The festival featured undergraduate and graduate films along with professional films previously screened at the Sundance Film Festival. Most of the screenings included question and answer panels with directors, producers, writers, and actors alike. Guests included journalist

Charlie Rose Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American former television journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show '' Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg LP. Rose also co-an ...

, director

Max Winkler Max Winkler (7 September 1875 – 12 October 1961) was a politician and senior political appointee in the local government of West Prussia, the national government of the German Empire, the Nazi government of the German Reich, and the post-war go ...

and actor

Michael Angarano Michael Anthony Angarano (born December 3, 1987) is an American actor. He became known for his roles in the film '' Music of the Heart'' (1999) and the television series '' Cover Me'' (2000–2001), as well as for playing a recurring role as Ell ...

, among others. IFF also hosted a keynote panel featuring acclaimed actor

and the screenwriter of ''

The Social Network ''The Social Network'' is a 2010 American biographical drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, based on the 2009 book ''The Accidental Billionaires'' by Ben Mezrich. It portrays the founding of social networking web ...

'' and ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...

'',

. The 2012 Ivy Film Festival featured a selection of industry talks, including

‘86 and

Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); ''The Natural'' (1984); ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987); ' ...

, the Oscar-winning director of ''

Rain Man ''Rain Man'' is a 1988 American road movie, road Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of abrasive, selfish young wikt:wheeler-dealer, wheeler-dealer C ...

'', accompanied his newest film ''The Bay'', his first foray into the genre of horror. IFF also premiered the first two episodes of

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

’s hit series ''

Girls A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.c ...

'' before they were televised and hosted a Q&A with creator, director, and star

. Additional events included advanced screenings such as

Zal Batmanglij Zal Batmanglij (Persian: زال باتمانقلیچ; born on April 28, 1981) is an American film director and screenwriter. He directed and co-wrote the 2011 film ''Sound of My Voice'' and the 2013 film '' The East'', both of which premiered at ...

’s directorial debut, ''The Sound of My Voice''; the celebrated documentary ''

The Invisible War ''The Invisible War'' is a 2012 American documentary film written and directed by Kirby Dick and produced by Amy Ziering and Tanner King Barklow about sexual assault in the United States military. It premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, w ...

''; and the documentary ''The Atomic States of America'', which was followed by a talk with producer George Hornig. These events complemented diverse Official Selection blocks, featuring submissions from over fifteen countries, including Zambia, Nicaragua, Poland, and Nepal. The 2013 Ivy Film Festival included pre-release screenings of ''

'', ''

The Kings of Summer ''The Kings of Summer'' is a 2013 American independent coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and starring Nick Robinson, Moisés Arias, Gabriel Basso, and Nick Offerman. The film premiered under its original title ''Toy's ...

'', '' The East'', and ''

The Reluctant Fundamentalist ''The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' is a "metafictional"Madiou, Mohamed Salah Eddine. “Mohsin Hamid Engages the World in The Reluctant Fundamentalist: ‘An Island on an Island,’ Worlds in Miniature and ‘Fiction’ in the Making.” Arab Stu ...

'', which was followed by a Q&A with director

. Brown alumni and ''

Warm Bodies ''Warm Bodies'' is a novel by author Isaac Marion. The book was described as a "zombie romance" by the ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' and makes allusions to William Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet''. The author, based in Seattle, originally wr ...

'' director

Jonathan Levine Jonathan LeVine is an American art dealer, instrumental in the proliferation of lowbrow and street art on the East Coast of the United States. About LeVine grew up in Trenton, New Jersey. As a teenager, he encountered punk rock music and the p ...

‘00 spoke about his film at a preview screening in January. Other guests included producers

Christine Vachon Christine Vachon (; born November 21, 1962) is an American film producer active in the American independent film sector. Christine Vachon produced Todd Haynes' first feature, ''Poison'', which was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the 1991 Sundan ...

‘83, Brad Simpson ‘95, and

Mark Heyman Mark Heyman (born 1979) is an American screenwriter and film producer who is best known for co-writing ''Black Swan'' (2010) and ''The Skeleton Twins'' (2014). Early life Heyman grew up in New Mexico. He attended Brown University, where he major ...

‘02. The Festival also hosted screenings of ''

Searching for Sugar Man ''Searching for Sugar Man'' is a 2012 documentary film about a South African cultural phenomenon, written and directed by Malik Bendjelloul, which details the efforts in the late 1990s of two Cape Town fans, Stephen "Sugar" Segerman and Craig B ...

'' and ''

After Tiller ''After Tiller'' is a 2013 documentary film directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson that follows the only four remaining doctors in the United States who openly perform abortions in the third trimester of pregnancy. In 2015, ''After Tiller'' wo ...

'' as part of its Stories for Change Series. The Festival concluded with a packed screening of the horror classic ''

Scream Scream may refer to: *Screaming, a loud vocalization Amusement rides * Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany * Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England * Scream! (roller coaster), at ...

'', which was accompanied by a keynote address from horror movie maestro

. The 2014 Ivy Film Festival featured screenings of diverse films including

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are noted for their surrealistic, melodramatic, and sometimes disturbing elements, often in the form of psychological fiction. Aronof ...

's ''

Noah Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...

'',

Steven Knight Steven Knight (born 1 April 1959) is a British screenwriter, film director and film producer. Knight wrote the screenplays for the films ''Closed Circuit'', '' Dirty Pretty Things'', and ''Eastern Promises'', and also wrote and directed the f ...

's ''Locke'', Leah Meyerhoff's ''I Believe in Unicorns'', Zachary Heinzerling's ''

Cutie and the Boxer ''Cutie and the Boxer'' is a 2013 American documentary film produced, shot, and directed by Zachary Heinzerling. The film focuses on the chaotic 40-year marriage of two artists, Noriko Shinohara and her husband the boxing painter Ushio, featu ...

'', and

Nicholas Stoller Nicholas Stoller (born March 19, 1976) is a British-American filmmaker. He is known mainly for directing the 2008 comedy ''Forgetting Sarah Marshall'', its 2010 spin-off/sequel, ''Get Him to the Greek'', ''The Five-Year Engagement'', '' Neighbors ...

's '' Neighbors''. Keynote speaker

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. His films are known for their eccentricity and unique visual and narrative styles. They often contain themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Cited by so ...

addressed audiences in two sold-out theatre rooms via Skype following a screening of his critically acclaimed film, ''

The Grand Budapest Hotel ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' is a 2014 comedy-drama film written and directed by Wes Anderson. Ralph Fiennes leads a seventeen-actor ensemble cast as Monsieur Gustave H., famed concierge of a twentieth-century mountainside resort in the fiction ...

''. The 2014 Festival had a number of individual speakers including

Casey Neistat Casey Owen Neistat (; born March 25, 1981) is an American YouTube personality, filmmaker, vlogger and co-founder of the multimedia company Beme, which was later acquired by CNN. In 2018, he founded ''368'', a creative space for creators to c ...

and

David Frankel David Frankel (born April 2, 1959) is an American filmmaker. Most known as the director of 2006 film, '' The Devil Wears Prada'', he is an executive producer and the director of the first and fourth episodes of the Netflix miniseries ''Inventing ...

as well as a “Women in Entertainment” panel Nancy Josephson, Karen O’Hara, Samantha Stiglitz, and Lauren Zalaznick. In 2015, Ivy Film Festival featured advanced screenings of ''

Slow West ''Slow West'' is a 2015 Revisionist Western film that was written and directed by John Maclean in his directorial debut. It stars Kodi Smit-McPhee as a young Scotsman searching for his lost love in the American West, accompanied by a bounty hun ...

'' and '' Trainwreck'' as well as screenings and ''

The Sisterhood of Night ''The Sisterhood of Night'' is a 2014 American mystery thriller film directed by Caryn Waechter from a screenplay by Marilyn Fu, based on a 1994 short story by Steven Millhauser. The film premiered at the 2014 Woodstock Film Festival. It was rele ...

'' and ''Dosa Hunt'', which were both followed by panel discussions. The 2015 Festival introduced the Screenplay Reading series, where selected submissions to the Screenplay Competition were read live by a panel of actors. Attendees were invited to participate in workshops with Matthew Frost and

Michael Schultz Michael Schultz (born November 10, 1938) is an American director and producer of theater, film and television. Life and career Schultz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of an African-American mother Katherine Frances Leslie (1917-1995) ...

, and to see a panel focusing on animation in film with

Brenda Chapman Brenda Chapman (born November 1, 1962) is an American animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist, and director. In 1998, she became the first woman to direct an animated feature from a major studio, DreamWorks Animation's ''The Prince of Egypt' ...

, Ron Ryder, and

Barbara Meier Barbara Meier (born 25 July 1986) is a German fashion model and actress. She is best known as the winner of the second season of ''Germany's Next Topmodel''. Early life Born in the small Bavarian town of Amberg, Meier did not originally aspi ...

. The Festival also hosted keynote addresses from

Todd Haynes Todd Haynes (; born January 2, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender ...

‘85 and

Jason Schwartzman Jason Francesco Schwartzman (born June 26, 1980) is an American actor and musician. Schwartzman made his film debut in Wes Anderson's 1998 film '' Rushmore'', and has gone on to appear in six other Anderson films: '' The Darjeeling Limited'' (2 ...

. The 2016 Ivy Film Festival took place from April 6 through April 12, featuring keynote speakers

Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the ho ...

and

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

and pre-release screenings of the films ''

Krisha ''Krisha'' is a 2015 American drama film written and directed by Trey Edward Shults in his feature-length directorial debut, starring his real-life aunt Krisha Fairchild, and is the feature-length adaption of the 2014 short film ''Krisha'' also ...

'' and '' Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping''. Panels featuring special industry guests included "The Audience in Revolt: 'Gender, Race, and Representation in Hollywood'" and "New Modes of Storytelling." 2016 marksed the first year that the official selection was be exhibited at each Ivy League university. Robert De Niro's appearance was part of a moderated discussion led by Brown University's current president,

Christina Paxson Christina Hull Paxson (born February 6, 1960) is an American economist and public health expert serving as the 19th president of Brown University. Previously, she was the Hughes Rogers Professor of Economics & Public Affairs at Princeton Univers ...

, and preceded by a screening of the HBO documentary ''Remembering the Artist, Robert De Niro, Sr.'' The 2017 festival featured three speakers M. Night Shyamalan,

and

Ezra Edelman Ezra Benjamin Edelman (born August 6, 1974) is an American documentary producer and director. He won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming for directing ' ...

as well as 25 films. The 17th Ivy Film Festival, hosted in 2018, featured guests

Shia LaBeouf Shia Saide LaBeouf (; born June 11, 1986) is an American actor, performance artist, and filmmaker. He played Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series ''Even Stevens'', a role for which he received Young Artist Award nominations in 2001 and ...

and screenings of ''

Mid90s ''Mid90s'' (stylized as ''mid90s'') is a 2018 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Jonah Hill, in his feature directorial debut, inspired by Hill's own childhood in the mid-1990s. It stars Sunny Suljic, Lucas Hedges ...

'' and ''Eighth Grade (film), Eighth Grade.'' In 2019, the festival hosted André Leon Talley, Logan Lerman, Olivia Wilde, and Beanie Feldstein and screened films including ''Booksmart'', The Farewell (2019 film), ''The Farewell'', and ''Mickey and the Bear''

2020s

The 19th Ivy Film Festival was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Rhode Island, COVID-19 pandemic.

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.ivyfilmfestival.org Film festivals in Rhode Island Brown University Student film festivals Film festivals established in 2001 2001 establishments in Rhode Island April events