The Department of Cinema Studies is honored to bring the sixth Harlan J. Strauss Visiting Filmmaker Series to Oregon, thanks to a generous gift by Harlan (PhD ’74) and Rima Strauss. This endowment enables Cinema Studies to bring industry filmmakers and emerging talents to mentor students and hold public conversations. This spring, award-winning Producer Mollye Asher will mentor students, guest lecture in the spring term course “CINE 408: The Art of Producing,” and participate in a series of remote events for students and community members, hosted by Cinema Studies.

Mollye Asher is a Gotham Award-Winning producer and recipient of the 2020 Independent Spirit Producers Award. Most recently, she produced Chloé Zhao's Nomadland (2020), which won Best Director and Best Picture Drama at the 2021 Golden Globe Awards, the Golden Lion Award for Best Film at the 2020 Venice Film Festival, and many other honors. Nomadland is one of the most acclaimed films of 2020, with special attention given to the performance of Frances McDormand. 

Asher also produced Zhao’s The Rider (2017), which premiered at the Cannes Directors Fortnight and won its top prize. The Rider went on to be nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Picture, and won Best Feature at the 2018 Gotham Awards. In addition, Asher produced Zhao’s debut feature Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015); Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ Swallow  (2019), which won Best Actress at the Tribeca Film Festival; Fort Tilden (2014) by writer/director team Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers; and Anja Marquardt’s Spirit Award nominated She's Lost Control (2014). Asher recently co-founded the production company The Population, which is currently in post-production on Josef Kubota Wladyka’s thriller Catch the Fair One. Asher earned her MFA from NYU’s graduate film program and is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Students, faculty, staff and the community are invited to a free virtual screening of Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ Swallow (2019), available for viewing from May 14 to 19. Produced by Mollye Asher, Swallow was an official selection at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and won Best Actress at the festival. On Wednesday, May 19th at 4pm (PDT), join us for a live, remote Q&A with Producer Mollye Asher who will discuss the film and share how a producer supports a director’s vision.

The free screening of Swallow will be made available online through the Eventive streaming platform and requires advance registration. Registrations are limited to the first 150 viewers on a first-come, first-served basis. Once you have pre-ordered (registered) successfully, the film will be accessible from 7:00 pm (PDT) on Friday, May 14, 2021 to 6:59 pm (PDT) on Wednesday, May 19, 2021. After you “unlock” the film, you will have 72 hours to finish watching. Please read the Eventive streaming instructions for more information. 

If you're new to Zoom or are having trouble connecting to the Q&A, please read these instructions. 

SWALLOW | 2019 | 94 MIN | RATED R
TW // Self Harm, Eating Disorder
CW // Reference to Sexual Violence

On the surface, Hunter (Haley Bennett) appears to have it all. A newly pregnant housewife, she seems content to spend her time tending to an immaculate home and doting on her Ken-doll husband, Richie (Austin Stowell). However, as the pressure to meet her controlling in-laws and husband’s rigid expectations mounts, cracks begin to appear in her carefully created facade. Hunter develops a dangerous habit, and a dark secret from her past seeps out in the form of a disorder called pica - a condition that has her compulsively swallowing inedible, and oftentimes life-threatening, objects. A provocative and squirm-inducing psychological thriller, SWALLOW follows one woman’s unraveling as she struggles to reclaim independence in the face of an oppressive system by whatever means possible. 

Students, faculty, staff, and the community are invited to a free virtual screening of Chloé Zhao's Nomadland (2020), available for viewing from May 21 to 26. Produced by Mollye Asher, Nomadland is one of the most acclaimed films of 2020, winning Best Director and Best Picture at the 2021 Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards in addition to numerous other awards. 

On Wednesday, May 26th at 4pm (PDT), join us for a live, remote Q&A with Producer Mollye Asher who will discuss the film and share how a producer supports a director’s vision. Advance registration is not required for the Q&A and is free and open to the community. Please connect to the Q&A at the button above. 

If you're new to Zoom or are having trouble connecting to the Q&A, please read these instructions. 

The free screening of Nomadland will be made available online through Searchlight Pictures' streaming platform, Debut, and required advance registration by May 18 at 12:00 pm (PDT). If you registered for the screening, you will receive an email on May 21st from Searchlight Pictures' streaming platform, Debut, with viewing instructions on how to watch the film. The film will be accessible from 7:00 pm (PDT) on Friday, May 21, 2021 to 7:00 pm (PDT) on Wednesday, May 26, 2021 and you will have 72 hours to finish the film once you start watching it.

NOMADLAND | 2020 | 108 MIN | RATED R

Following the economic collapse of a company town in rural Nevada, Fern (Frances McDormand) packs her van and sets off on the road exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad. The third feature film from director Chloé Zhao, NOMADLAND features real nomads Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells as Fern’s mentors and comrades in her exploration through the vast landscape of the American West.

Nomadland is directed by Chloé Zhao (Songs My Brothers Taught Me, The Rider) is based on the book Nomadland: Surviving America In The Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder and stars Frances McDormand (Fargo, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck, Lincoln), Linda May and Swankie. The producers are Mollye Asher (Songs My Brothers Taught Me, The Rider), Dan Janvey (Beasts of the Southern Wild, Heart of a Dog), Frances McDormand (Olive Kitteridge) and Peter Spears (Call Me By Your Name). The director of photography is Joshua James Richards (Songs My Brothers Taught Me, The Rider).

Thank you to our cosponsors

Asian Studies Program, Creative Writing Program, Department of Art, Department of Comparative Literature, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, 
Department of English, Department of German and Scandinavian, Department of History, Department of Romance Languages, Department of Sociology, Department of Theatre Arts,
Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship, Native American Studies, School of Journalism and Communication/Media Studies, School of Music and Dance

Funded by the generous Harlan J. Strauss Visiting Filmmaker Endowment

Photo Credits:  
Nomadland:  Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2020 20th Century Studios
Swallow: Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release