The Betsy Hotel Presents 4 Independent Films with Artist Talk Backs
Monday, 02/01/2021-05/03/2021, 07:00 pm-08:30 pm
Virtual Location
Cost: FREE
The Betsy Hotel Presents 4 Independent Films with Artist Talk Backs
First Mondays @ 7 PM – Feb thru May 2021
2/1/2021 – Coded Bias
3/1/2021 – The Artist’s Wife
04/5/2021 – OLIVER SACKS – HIS OWN LIFE
05/03/2021 – F11 AND BE THERE
FREE EVENT
South Beach, Florida — The Betsy South Beach Hotel is pleased to present O, Cinema, a virtual Film Festival and Salon Series curated by award winning filmmaker, Kareem Tabsch running from February – May 2021. The program is on the first Mondays of the month. Salon Hosts are Dr. Deborah Plutzik Briggs (VP, Arts, The Betsy Hotel) and John Stuart (Associate Dean, FIU Miami Beach Urban Studios). Films are screened at 7 pm, followed by the Artist Talk Back. RSVP @ https://bit.ly/2M9zneb
FEBRUARY 1, 2021, @ 7 PM – Honoring Black History Month
CODED BIAS – Directed by Shalini Kantayya, follows MIT computer scientist Joy Buolamwini to explore how algorithms encode and propagate bias. Coded Bias is an American documentary film that premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. It was directed by Shalini Kantayya and follows researchers and advocates, principally MIT computer scientist Joy Buolamwini, as they explore how algorithms encode and propagate bias. Shalini Kantayya’s “Coded Bias” effectively brings to light a modern civil rights issue that can be proven with data—the bias within facial recognition programs, particularly against those who are not like the white men who originally formed such technology. (Such powerful data collecting and distributing technology is used in America by the likes of Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.)
With special talk back guests Mark A. Finlayson, Eminent Scholar Chaired Associate Professor of Computer Science at FIU’s School of Computing and Information, Gregory Johnson, a JSK Stanford Fellow and director of Code for South Florida and Ernie Hsiung, a 2015 Code for America fellow and instructor at Wyncode.
MARCH 1, 2021, @ 7 PM – Honoring International Women’s Month
THE ARTIST’S WIFE – Directed by Tom Dolby is about marriage, loyalty, love and rediscovering one’s passions. The greatest art is learning how to love. Claire Smythson, wife of the renowned abstract artist Richard Smythson, is plunged into a late-life crisis when her husband is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and is in danger of not completing the paintings for his final show. Claire attempts to shield his illness from the art community while trying to reconnect him with his estranged daughter and grandson. Claire, who has taken up painting once again, must decide whether to stand with her husband in the shadows or step into the spotlight herself.
Kareem Tabsch, award-winning filmmaker, and co-founder/director of O Cinema, will lead a conversation with Dr. William Vega, Distinguished Professor and Senior Scholar for Community Health, Florida International University and a member of the Us Against Alzheimers Advisory Board.
APRIL 5, 2021, @ 7 PM – Honoring National Poetry Month
OLIVER SACKS – HIS OWN LIFE – Directed by Ric Burns; explores the life and work of the legendary neurologist and clinical storyteller Oliver Sacks, called ‘the Poet Laureate of Medicine’. A documentary that explores the life and work of the legendary neurologist and storyteller as he shares intimate details of his battles with drug addiction, homophobia, and a medical establishment that accepted his work only decades after the fact. Sacks, known for his literary works Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, was a fearless explorer of unknown cognitive worlds who helped redefine our understanding of the brain and mind, the diversity of human experience, and our shared humanity. The film features exclusive interviews with Sacks conducted just weeks after he received a terminal diagnosis, and months prior to his death in August 2015.
Talk back guests are noted director Ric Burns in a conversation with Kareem Tabsch, award-winning filmmaker, and co-founder/director of O Cinema.
MAY 3, 2021, @ 7 PM – Honoring National Photography Month
F11 AND BE THERE – Directed by Jethro Waters, iconic photographer Burk Uzzle comes to life as a prophet and historian, with his IP reflecting on major movements and events in American history and culture.This feature film by Jethro Waters about iconic photographer Burk Uzzle is an electrifying fusion of music, image, and dialogue. For 65 years and counting, Burk Uzzle has created some of the most iconic photographs in American history. From Martin Luther King Jr. to Woodstock to America’s small towns and back roads, Uzzle’s photographs provide a breathtaking commentary on American civil rights, race, social justice, and art. Initially grounded in documentary photography when he was the youngest photographer hired by LIFE magazine at age 23, his work grew into a combination of split-second impressions reflecting the human condition.
Talk back guests are noted director Jethro Waters in a conversation with Kareem Tabsch, award-winning filmmaker, and co-founder/director of O Cinema.
