The Official Blog of Laemmle Theatres.

blog.laemmle.com

The official blog of Laemmle Theatres

You are here: Home / Theater Buzz / Claremont 5

Our Filmic Cup Runneth Over: Drink Deep of the Oscar-Nominated Foreign Features and Documentaries.

by Leave a Comment

Now is the time to enjoy fantastic films from around the world. All five of the Oscar-nominated documentary features — THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY, THE CAVE, FOR SAMA, AMERICAN FACTORY and HONEYLAND are in theaters now, before the awards show on February 9. Four of the five Oscar nominees for Best International Feature — LES MISÉRABLES, PAIN AND GLORY, PARASITE and HONEYLAND (deservedly, it’s nominated twice!) are now in theaters.

We hope to open the Polish drama CORPUS CHRISTI, the fifth foreign film nominee and the dark horse in the race, on March 6 at the Monica Film Center, Playhouse and Town Center.

The film is about 20-year-old Daniel, who is released and sent to a remote village to work as a manual laborer after spending years in a Warsaw prison for a violent crime. The job is designed to keep him busy, but Daniel has a higher calling. While imprisoned he became deeply religious and now aspires to join the priesthood, but his criminal record makes it impossible. When Daniel arrives in town, one quick lie allows him to be mistaken for the town’s new priest, and he sets about tending to his newfound flock. An international sensation with an electrifying lead performance by a previously unknown actor, CORPUS CHRISTI is the twelfth Polish film to earn an Oscar nomination. Only one of them has taken home the prize, IDA in 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B27ORUHlp6E&t=4s

Culture Vulture 2020 Commences.

by 3 Comments

Begin the new year and the new decade by taking in some of the esoteric cinema of our Culture Vulture series, now entering its seventh year.

January 13 & 14 ~ THE PRADO MUSEUM: A COLLECTION OF WONDERS celebrates the 200th anniversary of the storied Prado Museum — one of the most-visited museums in the world.  Hosted by Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons, this cinematic journey offers viewers a spell-binding experience, telling the story of Spain and beyond, through the works of Vélazquez, Rubens, Titian, Mantegna, Bosch, Goya, El Greco, and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSIvsf5-COg

 

AFTERWARD January 20 & 21 ~ Jerusalem-born trauma expert Ofra Bloch forces herself to confront her demons in a journey that takes her to Germany, Israel and Palestine. Set against the current wave of fascism and anti-Semitism sweeping the globe, AFTERWARD delves into the secret wounds carried by victims as well as victimizers, through testimonies ranging from the horrifying to the hopeful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSw1jeyE6NI

 

GAUGUIN FROM THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON January 27 & 28 ~ This fascinating new cinema event, Gauguin from the National Gallery, London, opens with a brand-new documentary about the life and work of Paul Gauguin, one of the world’s most popular and important artists. Filmed in Tahiti, France, the Marquesas Islands and the UK, this cinematic film explores Gauguin’s extraordinary – and at times controversial – artistic achievement, with commentary from his descendants, artists and world experts. It is followed by an exclusive private view of the National Gallery exhibition, The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Gauguin Portraits.

https://vimeo.com/365857943?utm_source=Full+Exhibitor+List&utm_campaign=0f6f2c4ca5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_11_19_04_37&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_11aeb814de-0f6f2c4ca5-216267177

 

IN SEARCH OF BEETHOVEN February 3 & 4 ~ The makers of IN SEARCH OF MOZART return with a new feature-length bio-doc about Beethoven. Director Phil Grabsky brings together the world’s leading performers and experts on Beethoven to reveal new insights into the legendary composer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAkWBMdoBrQ

 

February 10 & 11 ~ EARTH was filmed at seven locations that humans have transformed on a grand scale: Entire mountains being moved in California; a tunnel being sliced through rock at the Brenner Pass; an open-cast mine in Hungary; a marble quarry in Italy; a copper mine in Spain; the salt mine used to store radioactive waste in Wolfenbüttel; and a tar sands landscape in Canada. Initially shown from above as abstract paintings, these terrains are subsequently explored on the ground: The film weaves together observational footage of machines in operation with conversations with the workers.

February 17 & 18 ~ MATTHEW BOURNE’S ROMEO + JULIET has been hailed as ‘the single most eagerly awaited dance show for 2019’ by The Daily Telegraph. This passionate and contemporary re-imagining of Shakespeare’s classic story of love and conflict is set in the not-too-distant future in ‘The Verona Institute.’ Here ‘difficult’ young people are mysteriously confined by a society that seeks to divide and crush their youthful spirit and individuality. Our two young lovers must follow their hearts as they risk everything to be together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsSFV8B4CI4

 

February 24 & 25 ~ GISELLE touches upon great and universal romantic themes. In this brand new production, renowned choreographer Alexei Ratmansky brings a fresh perspective to one of the oldest and greatest works of classical dance, giving the audience an opportunity to discover this iconic ballet anew.

Our 12th Annual Christmas Eve FIDDLER SING-ALONG is Just Around the Corner – Tickets On Sale!

by

UPDATE! We’re pleased to announce our Fiddler Hosts for 2019!  Click here for bios.
(skip to main article)

Town Center 5
Stephen Sass (4:30pm) – of the Jewish Historical Society of Southern CA – BUY TIX
Cantor Mike Stein (7:30pm) – NEW! – singer, fiddler, and Grammy winning artist – BUY TIX

NoHo 7
Cantor Aviva Rosenbloom – Jewish songwriter and woman cantor pioneer –  BUY TIX

Royal
Isaac Wade  – accomplished thespian and Laemmle General Manager  – BUY TIX

The Fine Arts Theatre
Kenny Ellis (7:30pm) – entertainer, comedian, singer of Hanukah Swings! – BUY TIX

Playhouse
Judy Sofer – of Jewish Federation of the San Gabriel and Pamona Valleys – BUY TIX
Jason Moss – of Jewish Federation of the San Gabriel and Pamona Valleys – BUY TIX

Lumiere Music Hall
Dan Messinger – NEW! – writer, comedian and renowned baker – BUY TIX

Claremont 5
Cantor Paul Buch  – of Temple Beth Israel – BUY TIX

Jump below to find out more about our hosts.

—————————————————–

Can you believe it’s the 12th year of our Christmas Eve FIDDLER SING-ALONG!?  Join us in coming together as a community to celebrate the song, shtick, and shenanigans of Laemmle’s legendary Christmas Eve experience.

For 2019, this ever-popular event will be occurring in several of our neighborhood venues (see below for full listing and ticket links).  PLUS, due to the convergence of Xmas and Chanukah (3rd night!), we’ll be celebrating the Festival of Lights with candle lighting and song.

(Jump down to watch the Sing-A-Long trailer.  For tickets, visit Laemmle.com/Fiddler).

In addition to movie and song, the evening will feature TRIVIA with PRIZES being awarded to Fiddler buffs with the quickest recall.  Dressing in COSTUME is not required, but highly encouraged! Who knows, perhaps the best costume will garner a prize?  Or perhaps this is the year you’ll be given an opportunity to do your best Tevye or Golde impression?  That will be up to the emcee.  Indeed, each location will feature its own host (to be announced).

As Greg Laemmle is fond of saying “Christmas Eve isn’t just Chinese food!”  He elaborates, “This is your once-a-year chance to be the star of the shtetl. Join with friends and neighbors and sing your heart out alongside Fiddler’s screen legends. And it’s okay if you haven’t memorized all the songs. We provide the lyrics.”

Song highlights include the iconic “TRADITION”, “IF I WERE A RICH MAN”,  “TO LIFE”, “SUNRISE SUNSET”, “DO YOU LOVE ME?” and “ANATEVKA”, among many, many more.

Don’t be late! Those who wish to attend the program are advised to purchase tickets in advance as the program has traditionally sold to capacity. We welcome all those in the community who are looking for an alternative Christmas Eve.

See you in the shtetl…

PROGRAM DETAILS
DATE: Tuesday, December 24th
TIME: 7:30pm

PRICING:
General – $18
Senior 62 & Over / Child 11 & Under – $15
Premiere Card General – $15
Premiere Card Senior 62 & Over / Child 11 & Under – $12
Note: Premiere Card pricing not available at the Fine Arts Theatre or Lumiere Music Hall.

LOCATIONS:
Claremont – Get Tickets
The Fine Arts in Beverly Hills – Get Tickets
Lumiere Music Hall – Get Tickets
North Hollywood – Get Tickets
Playhouse in Pasadena – Get Tickets
Royal in West L.A. – Get Tickets
Town Center in Encino – Get Tickets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=CnuyNaOEBt4&feature=emb_logo

Fiddler Hosts – 2019

Mike Stein at the Town Center 5 (Encino, 7:30pm show)
Cantor and world renowned performer, composer and recording artist MIKE STEIN will be our 7:30pm host at the Town Center 5 in Encino. A GRAMMY AWARD WINNER (cELLAbration) and nominee (Dreamosaurus), his songs have been recorded by the late PATSY MONTANA and have been included in many films. He has recorded fiddle for artists such as MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER and TOM PAXTON. Stein also serves as the cantor at Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills, California. He has taught extensively in communities in Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Poland. He has produced albums for the late THEODORE BIKEL, the Abayudaya and the Lemba Jews of Zimbabwe. Stein is the father of three sons who are accomplished musicians of their own. Together with his wife, Kelley, they perform nationally with their group, The Rolling Steins. Stein’s appearance will benefit our community partner, the JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. BUY TIX

STEVE SASS at the Town Center 5 (Encino, 4:30pm Show)
Community leader STEPHEN SASS currently serves as President of the JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. As founding president of the BREED STREET SHUL PROJECT, he has been instrumental in the ongoing revitalization of one of L.A’s earliest synagogues built in 1915 in Boyle Heights. He co-wrote and executive-produced “Meet Me at Brooklyn & Soto” an award-winning documentary on East L.A.’s Jewish Heritage. What’s more, Sass is the chair of the L.A. COUNTY HISTORICAL LANDMARKS AND RECORDS COMMISSION, appointed by Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. In professional life, he is the Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs for HBO. Sass’ appearance will support our partner, Jewish Historical Society of Southern California. BUY TIX

Cantor AVIVA ROSENBLOOM at the NoHo 7 (N. Hollywood)
Creator of the FEMINIST SHABBAT at Temple Israel of Hollywood and female cantor pioneer AVIVA ROSENBLOOM headlines proceedings at Laemmle’s NOHO 7. An anti-war activist and veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, Rosenbloom’s life trajectory changed after a transformational trip to Israel. With the realization that Jewish music was her calling, her journey soon led her to become the first full-time woman Cantor in Los Angeles. She served as Cantor at TEMPLE ISRAEL OF HOLLYWOOD for over 30 years from 1975 to 2008. She is also a songwriter, with several recordings of Jewish music to her credit, including the career retrospective “Viva Aviva: A Life in Song.” BUY TIX

KENNY ELLIS at the Fine Arts Theatre (Beverly Hills)
Known as “The Man Behind the Matzoh Ball,” cantor and comedian KENNY ELLIS will be our host at the Fine Arts Theatres in Beverly Hills. He appears in support of our partner, the LOS ANGELES JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL. As a cantor and comedian, Ellis has entertained audiences all around the globe. His television credits include recent appearances on CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM as well as LAW & ORDER. Ellis achieved further success with HANUKKAH SWINGS! a recording that broke new ground as the first ever big band Hanukkah album. Large YouTube audiences have enjoyed “Swingin’ Dreidel” and other tracks from the hit record. BUY TIX

JUDY SOFER at the Playhouse 7 (Pasadena, 4:30pm Show))
Cantor JUDY SOFER is the Cultural Arts Program Coordinator of the JEWISH FEDERATION of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valley’s Cultural Arts program, as well as the Cantor at TEMPLE BETH SHALOM of Long Beach. She began her music and theatre studies at UC Irvine. While living in Israel from 1974-1985, she performed at Tel Aviv’s CAMERI THEATER and appeared in a number of programs for Israeli educational television. Sofer also toured the country with her own children’s theater and taught music and piano. Upon her return to California, she received the Award for Excellence in Children’s Theater for her play, A Journey to Noteland. She is well known for conducting Adult and Teen Choirs, and producing/directing concerts and show throughout the Greater Los Angeles area. BUY TIX

jason-photo_02_edit_cropJASON MOSS at the Playhouse 7 (Pasadena, 7:30pm Show))
Executive Director of the JEWISH FEDERATION of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys JASON MOSS will be our host at the Playhouse 7 in Pasadena. Under his leadership, the Federation has doubled its programming with the creation of such programs as the Cultural Arts Program, PJ LIBRARY, a nationally recognized program to reach and connect with unaffiliated Jewish families. In addition, Moss recently launched JLife SGPV, a lifestyle magazine celebrating Jewish life in the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys. BUY TIX

ISAAC WADE at the Royal (West L.A.)
Laemmle’s very own ISAAC WADE is the General Manager of our Monica Film Center location and has been working with the company for over 16 years. He will be hosting at the LAEMMLE ROYAL. Wade is the former GM of the storied LAEMMLE SUNSET 5 in W. Hollywood as well as the company’s signature ROYAL venue in West L.A. Additionally, the talented Wade is an accomplished thespian, working overseas and with several local companies such as the L.A. THEATRE ENSEMBLE and cARTel: THE ARTS COLLABORATIVE. During his youth in Kansas, he performed the role of TEVYE in the Galena High School production of Fiddler. Laemmle audiences who love and appreciate Wade in his role as theater manager are in for a treat as he reveals yet another facet of his dynamic persona. BUY TIX

DAN MESSINGER at the Lumiere Music Hall (Beverly Hills)
World-class baker and entertainer DAN MESSINGER will be our host at the Lumiere Music Hall in Beverly Hills. Messinger is the owner of Bibi’s Bakery and Café and the founder of The Kosher Cookie Company.  Prior to entering the world of baking, Dan was a writer, producer and standup comic, performing for audiences across North America.  He is a longtime fan of Fiddler on The Roof and is so delighted by Sholem Aleichem that he sings a song about him every Friday … he is also a loyal member of “Team Horse.” BUY TIX

Paul Buch_prCantor PAUL BUCH at the Claremont 5 (Claremont)
Cantor PAUL BUCH has served Temple Beth Israel in Claremont since 2003. He came to the cantorate after a 25 year career in TV and film production in Los Angeles, New York, and Portland. In addition to his cantorial duties, Buch is President of the Claremont Interfaith Council and serves on the Faith-Based Roundtable of the Pomona Unified School District. He is also Chair of the City of Claremont’s Human Relations Committee and serves on an advisory committee at the Claremont School of Theology. This will be his sixth year as our Fiddler host in Claremont! BUY TIX

Show Me the Popcorn! Buy Tickets Online and Save on Concessions.

by

Listen up Laemmle-ites!

For a limited time, receive $1 off concessions for EACH ticket you buy on Lammle.com.  We know, “unthinkable!”  But we made it happen.

Here’s the scoop:

• Good at all Laemmle locations EXCEPT the Fine Arts.

• No menu restrictions – good for ANY concession item!  “Even booze?” you ask.  “Yes, indeed!” we reply.

• Not valid for merchandise.

• You can only use savings for ONE purchase, in-person, during the show you purchased tickets for.

• You can’t redeem it for cash.  Meaning, there’s no money back if the price of your order comes in below the value of your discount. (But hey, if that does happen, you’ll get your entire order gratis!  Not too shabby.)

To access these savings, simply buy your next movie on our website.  Your ticket confirmation info will specify the amount of your discount.  Just print out or be ready to present on your phone at the concessions stand.

Of course, such things never last!  Offer expires on December 12th.

So get in while the gettin’ is good…

 

GOING ATTRACTIONS, a Love Letter to Historic Movie Theaters, to Premiere October 24 at Our Historic Ahrya Fine Arts with Director & Expert Q&A’s.

by

Laemmle Theatres and the Culture Vulture series present GOING ATTRACTIONS: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace, a tribute to the spectacular monuments created as temples for the enjoyment of movies.

The film’s L.A. run kicks off Thursday, October 24 with the world theatrical premiere at the historic Ahrya Fine Arts, followed by a discussion with filmmaker April Wright and subject Escott O. Norton, executive director of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation. Several of the film’s other subjects will be in attendance as well!

Other countries built palaces for royalty. In the United States, we built them to watch movies.

Following the premiere, GOING ATTRACTIONS will play for a week, from October 25-31, at the Music Hall (showtimes here), and Monday, October 28 & Tuesday, October 29 at four additional Laemmle theatres — the Claremont, Playhouse, Royal and Town Center — as part of the Culture Vulture series (see list of shows and ticketing links below).

GOING ATTRACTIONS captures the splendor and grandeur of the great historic cinemas of the U.S., built when movies were the acme of entertainment and the stories were larger than life, as were the venues designed to show them: Giant screens, thousands of seats, ornate interiors, amazing marquees, in-house organs and orchestras, and air conditioning back when peoples’ homes had none. The film also tracks the eventual decline of the palaces, through to today’s current preservation efforts — with a special focus on Los Angeles, which enjoys two separate historic theater districts (downtown and Hollywood).

“I feel passionately about both the text — these beautiful structures —  and the subtext of GOING ATTRACTIONS, how we have changed so much in the past 50 years as a people in how we spend our time, socialize and experience entertainment,” director April Wright said. “Our content is personalized now, at our fingertips — but I fear we are losing something important by not having the local, communal experiences we used to have with our friends, families and fellow movie-going audiences.”

“Awesome and Wonderful!” — TC Kirkham, ECinemaOne

Escott O. Norton, who will participate in a Q&A at the October 24 premiere.

Culture Vulture screenings:

Claremont:
Oct. 28, 7:30 pm
Oct. 29, 1 pm
Playhouse:
Oct. 28, 7:30 pm
Oct. 29, 1 pm
Royal:
Oct. 28, 7:30 pm
Oct. 29, 1 pm
Town Center:
Oct. 28, 7:30 pm
Oct. 29, 1 pm

Speakers after three of the Culture Vulture screenings:

Mon., Oct. 28 7:30 pm at the Playhouse: David Saffer, LAHTF board member, and Ross Melnick, film historian, UCSB professor
Mon., Oct. 28 7:30 pm at the Royal: Mike Hume, LAHTF board member and filmmaker April Wright
Tue., Oct. 29 1 pm at the Town Center: filmmaker April Wright

CHASING EINSTEIN Q&A with Filmmakers at the Claremont.

by

CHASING EINSTEIN director Steve Brown and writer Eric Myerson will participate in a Q&A following the 7:30 pm show on Saturday, 9/28.

https://youtu.be/A3NebXesuFc

 

Paulo Sorrentino and Toni Servillo Conjure Berlusconi in LORO, Opening September 27 at the Royal and October 4 at the Playhouse, Claremont & Town Center.

by

Sex, drugs, power, and vice: welcome to the mid-2000s Italy of Silvio Berlusconi, the egomaniac billionaire Prime Minister who presides over an empire of scandal and corruption. Sergio (Riccardo Scamarcio) is an ambitious young hustler managing an escort service catering to the rich and powerful. Determined to move up in the world, Sergio sets his sights on the biggest client of all: Berlusconi (Toni Servillo), the disgraced, psychotically charming businessman and ex-PM currently plotting his political comeback. As Berlusconi attempts to bribe his way back to power, Sergio devises his own equally audacious scheme to win the mogul’s attention. Exploding with eye-popping, extravagantly surreal set-pieces, the dazzling, daring new film from Academy Award-winning director Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty) is both a wickedly subversive satire and a furious elegy for a country crumbling while its leaders enrich themselves.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:

Loro, a film in two parts, is a fictional story, a sort of costume drama, which narrates probable or invented facts that took place in Italy, between 2006 and 2010.

Using a variety of characters, Loro seeks to sketch, through glances or intuitions, a moment of history – now definitively closed – which, in a very synthetic vision of events, might be defined as amoral and decadent, but also extraordinarily vital.

And Them [Loro] also seeks to describe certain Italians, simultaneously new and old. Souls in an imaginary, modern purgatory who decide, on the basis of heterogeneous impulses such as ambition, admiration, love, self-interest, personal advantage, to try to revolve around a sort of paradise in flesh and blood: a man by the name of Silvio Berlusconi.

Toni Servillo e Elena Sofia Ricci. Foto di Gianni Fiorito.

These Italians, to my eyes, contain a contradiction: they are predictable but indecipherable. A contradiction which is a mystery. An Italian mystery which the film tries to deal with, but without being judgmental. Inspired only by a desire to understand, and adopting a tone which today, rightly, is considered revolutionary: a tone of tenderness.

But here comes another Italian. Silvio Berlusconi. The way I imagined him.

The story of the man, above all, and only in a marginal way of the politician.

Someone might object that we know plenty not only about the politician, but also about the man.

I doubt that.

Nella foto Toni Servillo. Foto di Gianni Fiorito.

A man, as far as I am concerned, is the result of his feelings more than a biographical total of facts. Therefore, within this story, the choice of facts to be recounted does not follow a principle of relevance dictated by the news agenda of those days, but only tries to dig, groping in the dark, in the man’s conscience.

What, then, are the feelings that stimulated Silvio Berlusconi’s days in this period? What are the emotions, the fears, the delusions of this man in dealing with events that appear to loom like mountains? This, for me, is another mystery the film deals with.

Men of power in the generations before that of Berlusconi were other mysteries, because they were unapproachable. Remember there was a time when we spoke of the disembodiment of power.

Toni Servillo. Photo by Gianni-Fiorito.

Silvio Berlusconi, instead, is probably the first man of power to be an approachable mystery. He has always been a tireless narrator of himself: think, for example, of the picture story Una storia italiana that he had sent to everyone in Italy in 2001, and for this reason too he inevitably became a symbol. And symbols, unlike mere mortals, are public property. And therefore, in this sense, he also represents a part of all Italians.

But, naturally, Silvio Berlusconi is much more. And it is not easy to provide a synthesis. For this reason I have to appeal to a much better man than me: Hemingway.

In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway writes: “Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bullfighters.” Paraphrasing things, perhaps the most concise image we can have of Silvio Berlusconi is that of a bullfighter. ~ Paolo Sorrentino

Return Engagements of TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM

by

On August 5 we lost one of our most brilliant writers and thinkers, Nobel Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Toni Morrison. As it happens, an acclaimed biographical documentary, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, came out this summer and in light of her passing Laemmle Theatres will return the film to theaters starting Friday at the Music Hall in Beverly Hills and Saturday at the Playhouse and Claremont. If you haven’t yet seen it, please consider doing so. Writing in the New York Times, A.O. Scott said “The Pieces I Am offers something else, as a dividend yielded by [Morrison’s] achievements and her years on the earth: the profound pleasure of her company.” Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal wrote that the film “reminds us how long she had to wait for the recognition she so richly deserved, and what a distinctive, generous, funny, astute, self-doubting, unstoppable and formidable figure she was along the way.”

L.A. Times entertainment reporter Christie D’Zurilla published this interview with the director of Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, Morrison’s longtime photographer-turned-friend, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. The headline: “Filmmaker says Toni Morrison was wickedly funny and made a mean carrot cake.”

“Novelist and book editor Toni Morrison was a private person who never wrote a memoir and turned away biographers, according to her friend Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. But she did allow the photographer-director to interview her extensively for the documentary “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am,” which explored her life as well as elements of black history.

“After Morrison died late Monday at 88, Greenfield-Sanders — who was also the writer’s “photographer of choice” for her book jackets and publicity shots — opened up to The Times exclusively via email about his memories of her. He remembers her as a woman who saw the big picture and, even in dark times, “managed to be philosophical.”

“For those who missed the Oscar-buzzy documentary the first time around, encore screenings of “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” are being held for a week beginning Aug. 16 at the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills and Aug. 17 and 18 at Laemmle’s Claremont 5 in Claremont and Playhouse 7 in Pasadena.

“Here are some of Greenfield-Sanders’ memories from his decades-long friendship with the Nobel Prize winner.”

Q: Describe the type of friendship you had with Toni Morrison. What was it like?

A: I first met Toni Morrison 38 years ago, in the winter of 1981, when she came to my East Village studio for a Soho Weekly News cover portrait. She wore a dark suit with a white blouse and smoked a pipe. (Many years later she told me that Angela Davis had gotten her “into pipes.”) I was a young photographer and Toni had just finished her fourth novel, “Tar Baby.” I was impressed by her confidence on the set. Toni liked my work and we became friends … and I eventually became her photographer of choice, for book jackets, publicity photos and the like. Her trust in me began way back then.

Q: Can you share something that most people don’t know about her?

A: Did you know Toni makes the world’s greatest carrot cake? Ask anyone who has tasted one of her carrot cakes and they will tell you. In the film, author Paula Giddings shares that during her early days working in the secretarial pool at Random House, Toni asked her to do some typing for her first novel, “The Bluest Eye.” As a thank you, Toni baked her a carrot cake.

Q: What is the most profound or useful thing you learned from her over the course of your friendship?

A: Toni had a way of looking at the big picture. Even in dark times she managed to be philosophical.

Q: Talk a little about the things you filmed during your documentary interview that didn’t make the cut.

A: In creating “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am,” the most difficult challenge was cutting it down to a two-hour film. We had to edit out a riveting section about Morrison on Shakespeare and her play “Desdemona,” wonderful insights into her father and his influence on her, and an emotional piece about the death of writer Toni Cade Bambara. When Bambara died with an unfinished book, Toni [Morrison] devoted a year to finishing it so it could be published posthumously for her dear friend.

Q: What did you learn about her legacy in researching the film?

A: At the beginning of the film, Toni remarks that she learned early on in life that “words have power.” As we’ve taken the film out, I’ve been able to see the depth of gratitude for her words. Her writing has empowered and nourished so many around the world … to heal, to imagine, to develop their own voices. Toni was a pioneer — taking her hard-earned place alongside the white men who had dominated the publishing establishment. Her ascent to the literary canon was a significant breakthrough that allowed other women and African Americans to be seen and heard.

 

Q: Some people don’t like to have their picture taken. What was it like to photograph her? How was it the same as or different from filming her?

A: Toni’s strength and confidence were part of her DNA, and both were particularly evident when she was in front of the camera. I think she had a profound understanding of portraiture and her image in the world. Our photo sessions were not only quite fun over the years but also resulted in big ideas for my own career. It was during a lunch break in 2005 that Toni proposed a book on “Black Divas”… we were shooting portraits for her opera, “Margaret Garner.” That idea morphed into my film series on identity, starting with “The Black List: Volume 1,” focusing on the African American community. Toni was the first to sit for that film.

Q: Did she make you laugh?

A: Toni had a world-class sense of humor. Being with Toni was a lot of fun. Many people who only know her through her books and interviews don’t realize how much Toni loved to laugh. She was wickedly funny in addition to being such a profound, philosophical and visionary thinker.

This 1995 image is Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ favorite picture of writer Toni Morrison.(Timothy Greenfield-Sanders / Random House)