Bay Street Theater

Sat, 12/7, 4:00pm, 107 min
DIRECTOR: Barbara Kopple

Q&A with Barbara Kopple

PRODUCERS: Barbara Kopple, David Cassidy, Eric Forman
EDITORS: Francisco Bello, Fabian Caballero
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Asad Faruqi, Gary Griffen, Tom Kaufman, Gelareh Kiazand

Legendary documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple revisits the 1979-1981 Iranian hostage crisis with several key players guiding us through the events of the secret rescue mission, aided by previously unreleased audio tapes of privileged conversations between President Jimmy Carter and some of his top aides. Kopple also secured a 20-minute sit-down with the President that offers rare insight into the former president’s mindset during the crisis.

Kopple has won two Academy Awards, the first in 1976 for Harlan County, USA, about a Kentucky miners' strike and the second in 1991 for American Dream, the story of the Hormel Foods strike in Austin, Minnesota in 1985-86. She also directed Bearing Witness, a 2005 documentary about five women journalists stationed in combat zones during the Iraq War. She is known for her work with artists, including A Conversation With Gregory Peck as well as documentaries on Mike Tyson, Woody Allen and Mariel Hemingway. She was on tour with the Dixie Chicks when lead singer Natalie Maines criticized the Iraq War. The film, Shut Up and Sing, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and went on to win a Special Jury Prize at the Chicago International Film Festival and two Audience awards (Sydney Film Festival and Aspen Film Fest).