Fordham Law's Unique Film Forum Boasts a Cast of Stars--and Faces an Uncertain Future
Thane Rosenbaum
Photo courtesy Fordham University
On a Sunday afternoon in October in New York City, a crowd is filing into the McNally Amphitheatre at Fordham University’s law school. There’s the expected assortment of law students and attorneys in attendance. But the 500 or so people in line also include media executives, retirees, 20-something computer programmers and—most strikingly—three women dressed in Mennonite outfits.
All are there for the same reason: The chance to view Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men, along with an even rarer chance to hear U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor talk about the movie, its effect on her decision to become a prosecutor, and the differences between trials in real life and their portrayal on film.
It’s not every day that a law school can lure a Supreme Court justice to watch a movie with a crowd of civilians during a film festival, but then this is no ordinary film festival.
Five years ago, under the direction of then-Fordham dean William Treanor, the school launched the film festival as the centerpiece of its Forum on Law, Culture & Society.
The unique, nearly weeklong event, which is free to the public, screens a variety of legal-themed movies that include a mix of current releases, classics, documentaries and indies—all with the intention of fulfilling the school’s goal of helping to illuminate the legal system to the public “along with all of its triumphs, failures, moral dilemmas and dramatic moments.”
But, for many, the allure is not so much the films themselves but the chance to hear—and discuss— the movies and related topics with noted artists, lawyers, intellectuals and others connected to each film. Over the years, the film festival has drawn such boldfaced names as right-to-die activist Dr. Jack Kevorkian, film director Peter Bogdanovich and First Amendment litigator Martin Garbus—all of whom have sat on stage with film festival director and Fordham law professor Thane Rosenbaum and engaged in freewheeling discussions.
“The key thing, really, is the guests,” Rosenbaum says. “Otherwise we compete with Netflix.”
Click link to continue reading “The Event” in the January issue of the ABA Journal.
