On July 1 at 7:30 p.m., the Philosophical Research Society (PRS) of Los Angeles will host book talks by authors Thomas Allbaugh, author of the dark humor novel, Apocalypse TV, and Dahlia Schweitzer, author of Going Viral: Zombies, Viruses, and the End of the World, in the PRS auditorium.

Playfully entitled "Apocalypse Blues: Two Authors, Two Views," the program will feature two views-one fiction and one nonfiction-of "Apocalypse Anxiety" in the 21st Century.

The evening will include a Power Point presentation by Dr. Schweitzer, and Q&A session.

Joint event with Astoria Bookshop and Astoria Cat Rescue for The Cat Men of Gotham. Details TBD.

Join us for an afternoon with Library Foundation, Jessica Strand in conversation with Maya Montañez Smukler. Books provided by Skylight Books.

Liberating Hollywood: Women Directors and the Feminist Reform of 1970s American Cinema is the first ever examination of the professional experiences and creative output of women directors during a unique moment in history when the social justice movements that defined the 1960s and 1970s challenged the enduring culture of sexism and racism in the U.S. film industry. The 1970s was a crucial decade for women directors working in Hollywood.

The influence of the feminist movement, in particular the political action spearheaded by the Women’s Committees of Hollywood’s most prominent guilds—the Directors Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Writers Guild of America —led to the increase of women directors making feature films for the first time in forty years.

Maya Montañez Smukler (Ph.D., Cinema & Media Studies, UCLA) heads the research and study center at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. She began her career in film as an assistant to director Allison Anders on the film Grace of My Heart (1996); and went on to work for the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women and Women Make Movies; and starting in 2015 has conducted oral histories for the Visual History Program at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science.

Since 2002, Maya has been a lecturer in the School of Media Studies at the New School. In addition, she taught film and television studies at Otis College of Art & Design, the New York Film Academy, and UCLA. Her audio commentary is available on Olive Films’ Blu-ray of Elaine May’s film A New Leaf.

https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/liberating-hollywood-maya-monta%C3%B1ez-smukler

Michael Hoberman presents his book, A Hundred Acres of America, at the Knesset Israel Congregation/Jewish Federation of the Berkshires.