Committed
Lynne Tillman & Sheila McLauglin, 1984, 77 min

Followed by a Q&A with Lynne Tillman moderated by Gareth Evans

To mark the publication of Lynne Tillman’s new selected stories Thrilled to Death, published by Peninsula Press, we will be hosting a rare screening of Committed, her 1984 film, co-directed by Sheila McLauglin.

Committed is the story of movie star and leftist iconoclast Frances Farmer. In 1935, Farmer became an overnight Hollywood sensation; within ten years she was in a state mental hospital. This highly stylized film offers a multi-layered look at the life of this culturally defiant woman that goes beyond the personal story to explore the political and social attitudes of the time.

“Superlatively shot in expressionist black-and-white, Committed has the mean, moody look of the threadbare dream sequence from a low budget noir. In its mixture of female introspection and tabloid Americana, it is the unexpected missing link between Meshes of the Afternoon and Shock Corridor.” – J. Hoberman

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Lynne Tillman’s most recent book, Thrilled to Death (Peninsula Press), is a selection of short stories spanning her career. She lives in New York with the bassist David Hofstra.