Prof. Yurko is Director of Media Educators Association and host of the Saturday Morning Film Festival in New York City. MEA is a professional organization of over 150 educators from the New York area who meet weekly to screen major Hollywood and foreign films, often with the filmmakers present for discussion. Recent guest include Dev Patel, the star of SLUMDOG MILLIONNAIRE, Bernhardt Schlink, author of the book on which the film THE READER is based, and Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal, stars of CRAZY HEART. For more information go to www.satmornfilmfest.org.
2010-2011
DATE
FILM
September 11
NEVER LET ME GO - starring Keira Knightly and Carey Mulligan
September 25
FREAKONOMICS - with Seth Gordon, producer, as our guest
October 2
TAMARA DREWE - written by Moira Buffini who also wrote JANE EYRE
October 16
WELCOME TO THE RILEYS - starring James Gandolfini and Kristen Stewart
October 23
FOUR LIONS - a controversial comedy of Four incompetent British jihadists
October 30
FOR COLORED GIRLS - directed by Tyler Perry
November 6
TODAY'S SPECIAL - starring Aasif Mandvi with producer Nimitt Mankad as our guest.
November 13
MADE IN DAGENHAM - starring Sally Hawkinsand Bob Hoskins. Nigel Cole, the film’s director was our guest.
November 20
ALL GOOD THINGS - Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst
December 4
CASINO JACK - starring Kevin Spacey
December 11
THE ILLUSIONIST - Academy Award nominee
December 18
BARNEY'S VERSION - starring Paul Giammatti
January 22
Three Documentary Shorts: STRANGERS NO MORE, LIVING FOR 32 AND POSTER GIRL POSTER GIRL - was directed by Sara Nesson who was our guest. She was nominated for an Academy Award.
January 29
COLD WEATHER - with a Q&A with the film's writer/director, Aaron Katz
February 5
THAT'S WHAT I AM - starring Ed Harris
February 26
3 BACKYARDS - with the writer/director Eric Mendelsohn as our guest.
March 5
JANE EYRE
March 12
WIN WIN - starring Paul Giamatti. Our guest was Mr. Joe Tiboni, an elder lawyer from New Jersey on whom the film was based.
March 19
WHITE IRISH DRINKERS - with the director John Gray and actors Peter Reigert, and Geoffrey Wigdor as our guests.
March 26
IN A BETTER WORLD - Best Foreign Language Film
April 2
MEEK’S CUTOFF
April 9
ATLAS SHRUGGED PART 1 - Our guest was Mr. William R. Thomas who is the Director of Programs at The Atlas Society and a leading speaker and writer on the philosophy of Ayn Rand.
April 30
OCTUBRE
May 7
THE FIRST GRADER
May 14
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS - with Karen Durbin, arts critic for ELLE Magazine, former Editor of the Village Voice and frequent contributor to the NY Times as our guest.
2009-2010
DATE
FILM
September 12
BRIGHT STAR - Golden Palm nominee, Cannes Film Festival Director Jane Campion. Our guest was noted film critic Annette Insdorf.
September 26
PETER AND VANDY - our guest: Jay DiPietro, Director
October 3
AN EDUCATION - winner Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival. Starring Peter Sarsgaard, Carey Mulligan, Alfred Molina, Emma Thompson
October 17
SKIN - Official Selection Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival
October 24
THE MESSENGER - winner: Peace Film Award and Silver Bear Award, Berlin Film Festival. The producer of the film, Lawrence Inglee was our guest.
October 31
PRECIOUS - based on the Novel PUSH by Sappire - Multiple Award Winner at Sundance Film Festival
November 7
OH MY GOD - Peter Rodger and a panel of religious leaders joined us for a Q&A on this documentary.
November 14
BROKEN EMBRACES - new film from Pedro Almodovar, Golden Palm nominee, Cannes Film Festival
November 21
SERIOUS MOONLIGHT - from Night and Day Pictures starring Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, Justin Long, Kristen Bell
December 5
WHITE RIBBON - winner Golden Palm - Cannes Film Festival and Cinema Prize of the French National Education System
December 12
CRAZY HEART - Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges and Academy Award nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal joined us for a Q&A.
December 19
THE LAST STATION - starring Academy Award nominees Best Actress (Helen Mirren) and Best Supporting Actor Christopher Plummer.
January 23
NORTH FACE
January 30
THE LAST NEW YORKER - the director of the film, Harvey Wang, and the star of the film Dick Latessa joined us as guests at the screening.
February 6
THE GOOD GUY - written and directed by Julio DePietro who joined us for a Q&A at the screening.
February 27
THE EXPLODING GIRL - the director of the film, Bradley Rust Gray was our guest at the screening.
March 6
MOTHER - from the Cannes, Toronto and Tribecca Film Festivals. Best Foreign Film Nominee, 2009 Film Independent Spirit Award.
March 13
CHLOE - starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried. The screenwriter, Erin Cressida Wilson was our guest!
March 20
THE GREATEST - starring Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon and Academy Award nominee Carey Mulligan.
April 10
HANDSOME HARRY - our guest was the film’s Director Bette Gordon.
April 17
MOTHER AND CHILD - starring Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, Kerry Washington, Jimmy Smits, Samuel L. Jackson
April 24
CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY - with Academy Award winning Director Alex Gibney as our guest.
May 1
BABIES - the Award-0winning documentary that follows the lives of three babies in three very different parts of the world.
May 8
ONDINE - starring Colin Farrell
May 15
ROBIN HOOD - starring Russell Crowe
2008-2009
DATE
FILM
September 8
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON - with original Mercury Astronaut Jim Lovell as our guest
September 15
FEAST OF LOVE - starring Morgan Freeman and Greg Kinnear
September 29
MY KID COULD PAINT THAT - with the film’s Director Amir Bar-Lev as our guest
October 13
RESERVATION ROAD - starring Joaquin Phoenix, Elle Fanning and Mark Ruffolo
October 20
BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOUR'E DEAD - directed by Sidney Lumet. Our guest was playwright/screenwriter, Kelly Masterson
October 27
MARTIAN CHILD - starring John Cusack and Amanda Peet
November 3
LION FOR LAMBS - starring Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford
November 10
THE SAVAGES - starring Laura Linney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Philip Bosco
November 17
MAN IN THE CHAIR - starring Christopher Plummer and Michael Angarano
December 1
PERSEPOLIS - the multiple award-winning animated film of a young Iranian girl that begins during the Islamic Revolution
December 8
THE KITE RUNNER - our guest was the star of the film Khalid Abdalla
December 15
HONEYDRIPPER - starring Danny Glover and Lisa Gay Hamilton. Famed Director John Sayles was my guest for the screening
January 26
THE BAND’S VISIT - from Israel and an Academy Award nominee, Best Foreign Language Film
February 2
THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION - from Brazil, multiple international awards
February 9
CHICAGO 10 - the Documentary of the eight anti-war protesters put on trial following the 1968 Democratic National Convention
February 16
BONNEVILLE - starring Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates. The legendary Independent Distrbutor and Co-founded October Films and Lot 47 Jeff Lipsky joined us as our guest.
March 1
MARRIED LIFE - starring Chris Cooper, Pierce Brosnan, Patricia Clarkson and Rachel McAdams. The film’s producer Jawal Nga was our guest
March 8
UNDER THE SAME MOON (LA MISMA LUNA) - from Mexico, starring Adrian Alonso and America Ferrera
March 15
FLAWLESS - starring Demi Moore, Michael Caine and Lambert Wilson
March 29
DARK MATTER - starring Meryl Streep. The film’s director Chen Shi-Zheng was our guest.
April 5
YOUNG@HEART - a documentary on a chorus of senior citizens from Massachusetts who cover songs by Jimi Hendrix, Coldplay, Sonic Youth, and other unexpected musicians
April 12
THEN SHE FOUND ME - starring Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Matthew Broderick and Bette Midler
May 3
THE BABYSITTERS - starring John Leguizamo, Cynthia Nixon and Lauren Birkell. The film’s Director David Ross was our guest.
May 10
WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR FATHER? - starring Colin Firth and Jim Broadbent
May 17
THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI - starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Rasha Mitchell and Yun-Fat Chow
