Talk Cinema
Harlan Jacobson's Talk Cinema is a movie club, offered on a subscription basis. It presents an independently curated series of American independent and foreign films, screened prior to their theatrical release, followed by conversation.
The series features surprise - the viewer does not know in advance what movie Jacobson has curated for them to see. Jacobson, a New-York-based critic for major U.S. media over a 30-year career, culls from the key discovery festivals around the world — the Cannes Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, among many others.
Some selections are meant to stretch the viewer’s perspective, some to expand the viewer’s geopolitical horizons, and all to inform. New cinema is a magical peephole into new territory — cinematic, thematic, political, or geographic.
Locations
Talk Cinema has thirteen locations in the United States: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Evanston, New York- Lincoln Center, The Performing Arts Center at SUNY Purchase, Palo Alto, Philadelphia, Scottsdale, Stamford, Minneapolis, Voorhees, and Washington D.C. with plans for expansion into new cities for Fall 2006 and early 2007.
Everyone is a critic
One of the program’s distinctive features is the opportunity to rate the film. The results of each screening are reported to the audience in the subsequent session of Talk Cinema and the results are also posted on the website.
Previously screened films
Over the past two seasons Talk Cinema audiences previewed such quality foreign and American independent films as Tsotsi, Transamerica, Brokeback Mountain, Match Point, Ushpizin, Mrs. Henderson Presents, The World's Fastest Indian, The Squid and the Whale, Kinsey, Batalla en el cielo (Battle in Heaven), Brick, Game 6, Merry Christmas, Look Both Ways, Kekexili: Mountain Patrol, and Sideways.
In previous years subscribers were among the first to see Bend It Like Beckham, Les Triplettes de Belleville, American Splendor, Monster, The Cooler, Les Invasions barbares (The Barbarian Invasions), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Rabbit Proof Fence, Talk to Her, About Schmidt, Far From Heaven, Waking Ned Devine, Life Is Beautiful, The Piano, Pulp Fiction, Breaking the Waves, Clerks, L.A. Confidential, Secrets & Lies, Wag the Dog, and Like Water for Chocolate.
Talk Cinema Travels
Talk Cinema invites subscribers to further release their inner film critic through its travel program, Talk Cinema Travels, which allows subscribers to spend several days immersed in new cinema. Harlan Jacobson has led groups to film festivals including the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Miami International Film Festival, San Francisco International Film Festival, Montreal International Film Festival, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Taormina International Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival, Locarno International Film Festival, Avignon International Film Festival, and Havana International Film Festival.
History
Now in its 15th year, Talk Cinema, created by Harlan Jacobson, continues to give film lovers a chance to be part of a community, to enjoy an independently curated series of films prior to their theatrical release, and to discuss them afterwards with critics and industry insiders.
Harlan Jacobson served as a film critic and reporter at Variety for six years, edited Film Comment for eight, has covered international film festivals for over twenty, and throughout his career has written about film for major newspapers, magazines, and broadcast outlets throughout the US and Canada.