Kit Noir Film Festival: Clash by Night Screening - Arts Initiative at Columbia University

Festival Details

The 2023 Kit Noir Film Festival will examine women’s contributions to noir as film producers, screenwriters, novelists, and, in one instance, as a director. Rather than dwell on the character types that women played in noir (such as the notorious “femme fatale”), the festival instead draws attention to what women provided from behind the camera. In the process, it uncovers a period much like our own, in which women have occupied a prominent place in the popular imaginary of crime.

Film Details

1952 / 105 mins / b/w
Dir. Fritz Lang
Sc. Alfred Hayes
Cine. Nicholas Musuraca
Prod. Jerry Wald, Norman Krasna, Harriet Parsons
Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Robert Ryan, Barbara Stanwyck
Based on the play Clash by Night (1941) by Clifford Odets

Location

The Katharina Otto-Bernstein Screening Room
Lenfest Center for the Arts
615 West 129th Street
New York, NY 10027

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About The Event

The cycle of crime films now known as film noir has long been associated with its male producers – people like Adrian Scott, Mark Hellinger, Hal Wallis, and others. But recent scholarship has helped underscore the talents of three “gal producers” (as they were dubbed) who also worked within the cycle: Joan Harrison, Virginia Van Upp, and Harriet Parsons. As film historian Shelley Stamp writes, “Among very few women in executive positions in Hollywood during the 1940s and early 50s, it is notable that all three played an instrumental role in producing film noir.”

General Admission: $12
Senior Citizens (65 or older): $10
CUID Holders (advanced purchase*): $8

Four Film Package: $40
Full Festival Pass: $75

*Rush Tickets: Columbia students, faculty, and staff have access to free day-of rush tickets, pending availability. Head to the Lenfest box office 30 minutes before showtime for rush tickets.

For more information about this event or to purchase tickets, please visit the event website.

Image: Artwork for the 2023 Kit Noir Film Festival / courtesy of Columbia University School of the Arts