Pratt Institute and The National Book Foundation, the presenter of the National Book Awards, have partnered to present an inaugural film festival featuring the following three National Book Award-nominated books that were adapted to film: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (film of the same title directed by Stanley Kubrick); The Cool World by Warren Miller (film of the same title directed by Shirley Clarke); The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (film titled “Hugo” directed by Martin Scorsese). The festival will take place on April 4 and 5, 2013 at Pratt’s Manhattan campus in New York City (144 West 14th Street, Second Floor, Room 213). Following each screening there will be a panel discussion focusing on “faithfulness” in book-to-film adaptation that will include scholars, writers, filmmakers, critics, and actors. Harold Augenbraum, the Executive Director of the National Book Foundation, will moderate the “Lolita” panel, Peter Patchen, Chairperson of Digital Arts at Pratt, will moderate the “Hugo” panel, and Ethan Spigland, Associate Professor of Humanities and Media Studies at Pratt, will moderate the “Cool World” panel.
The goal of the first-time partnership between the National Book Foundation and Pratt Institute’s School of Liberal Arts and Sciences and School of Art and Design is to highlight the intersection of literary, performing, and visual arts.
This is the first time that the National Book Foundation will present a film festival based on the books that were nominated for the National Book Award. As of today, there have been over ninety National Book Award books adapted to film since 1950. “Adaptation to the screen is a form of homage, but it's also a form of critical interpretation, an attempt to find the key to the original book with a new grammar,” said the Foundation’s Executive Director Harold Augenbraum. “We look forward to exploring how these highly regarded literary works transfer to what amounts almost to another language.”
Pratt is a world-renowned college of art, design, architecture, information and library science, and liberal arts and sciences dedicated to honoring creativity and innovation.“We are delighted to partner with the National Book Foundation to explore the rich connections between performance, film, and great literature,” said Tracie Morris, Professor of Performance and Performance Studies, Humanities and Media Studies at Pratt Institute. “This event exemplifies Pratt’s mission to provide cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural, and diverse educational programming that enable the Pratt community to better understand how different disciplines influence each other and elaborate upon the human condition,” she added.
All screenings and discussions are free and open to the public, but seats are limited. To reserve your seat, send an email to syoung@nationalbook.org with “RSVP for Novel to Screen” in the subject line.
An invitation-only reception to kick off the “Novel to Screen Film Festival” will take place on April 4 at Pratt Manhattan. Press interested in attending the reception should contact Amy Aronoff at aarono29@pratt.edu.
Schedule of Screenings and Panel Discussions with Bios of Moderators
“Lolita” – Thursday, April 4 at 6:30 p.m. (156 minutes)
Panel discussion moderated by Harold Augenbraum, the Executive Director of the National Book Foundation, the organization that presents the National Book Awards. He has published seven books on Latino literature of the United States, including Lengua Fresca (2006, with Ilan Stavans) and, with five colleagues, the Norton Anthology of U.S. Latino Literature (2010). Later this month, Penguin is publishing his edition of The Collected Poems of Marcel Proust. He has taught U.S. Latino literature at Amherst College and often writes on the future of literary reading and publishing.
Lolita was written by Vladimir Nabokov and nominated for a National Book Award in Fiction in 1959. The film was directed by Stanley Kubrick and released in 1962. With a screenplay by Vladimir Nabokov, Stanley Kubrick (uncredited), and James Harris (uncredited), the film stars James Mason, Shelley Winters, Sue Lyon, and Peter Sellers.
“Hugo” – Friday, April 5 at 3:30 p.m. (126 minutes)
Panel discussion moderated by Peter Patchen, Chairperson of Digital Arts at Pratt. He has exhibited at the Beecher Center for Technology in the Arts at the Butler Institute of American Art, Siggraph Art Exhibitions, Luco Film Festival (Rome), Kalisaar Computer Art Exhibition (Tel-Aviv), and various other solo and group exhibitions.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret was written by Brian Selznick and nominated for a National Book Award in Young People’s Literature in 2007. The film “Hugo” was directed by Martin Scorsese and released in 2011. With a screenplay by John Logan, the film stars Asa Butterfield Grace Moretz, and Christopher Lee.
The Cool World” – Friday, April 5 at 6:30 p.m. (105 minutes)
Panel discussion moderated by Ethan Spigland, Associate Professor of Humanities and Media Studies at Pratt. He received a maitrise from the University of Paris VIII and has made numerous films and media works, including “Luminosity Porosity,” based on the work of architect Steven Holl, and “Elevator Moods,” featured in the Sundance Film Festival.
The Cool World was written by Warren Miller and nominated for a National Book Award in Fiction in 1960. The film was directed by Shirley Clarke and released in 1964. With a screenplay by Shirley Clarke and Carl Lee, the film stars Hampton “Rony” Clanton, Carl Lee, Yolanda Rodriguez, and Clarence Williams III.