Hollywood’s elite gathered on Thursday evening at Alice Tully Hall in New York City for the premiere of Susan Lacy’s documentary Spielberg, chronicling the rise to fame of film icon Steven Spielberg. The New York Film Festival red carpet was abuzz as Spielberg and Lacy stepped out together, discussing the wide breadth of films Mr. Spielberg has created during his tenure in movie-making. “I have all the movies I’ve made in my head, but I can’t find my socks in the morning!” Spielberg joked.
It was a nostalgic night for all guests as they debated their favorite Spielberg films from the archive. Actor Mike Myers in particular identified Close Encounters of the Third Kind as his personal favorite, while the film’s director Lacy noted that “the film that probably resonates most with me… is Schindler’s List… it’s like a child, you can’t pick your favorite child.” Jurassic Park, The Color Purple, Saving Private Ryan, and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial were top of mind for many other guests in attendance.
Spielberg dissects various aspects of Steven’s life, depicted through his films’ personal themes of optimism, American suburbia, father-son relations, and emancipation. The movie portrays Spielberg as a family man, storyteller, devout Jew, artist, innovator, and philanthropist. Through interviews with colleagues like Oprah Winfrey, Francis Ford Coppola, Laura Dern, and Leonardo Dicaprio, the viewer learns of the famed director’s instinctive genius that has landed him in the cinema pantheon. It also provides a behind-the-scenes view into his films, from how he filmed the fear-inducing shark in Jaws to the tortured emotions he experienced while shooting Schindler’s List in Auschwitz. The film screening ended with a Q&A session with the director, where she teased the upcoming 2018 Spielberg movies Ready Player One and The Post.
Following the film screening, family, friends, and Hollywood allies of Spielberg gathered at Lincoln Ristorante for a sophisticated dinner party overlooking the Julliard School and Lincoln Center’s gorgeous central plaza. It was a fitting venue, in the epicenter of New York’s fine art scene, to toast a creative hero at the top of his craft. Meryl Streep in a chic black ensemble chatted intimately with Spielberg during the cocktail hour, while Blythe Danner sat for dinner surrounded by Spielberg’s iconic film posters. Party goers dined on burrata, king salmon, and prime ribs in an elegant setting among pink and rose centerpieces, discussing the merits of Spielberg’s accomplishments, spanning from Empire of the Sun to The Adventures of Tintin. It was the perfect way to celebrate a man typically seen behind the camera, this time up front.
Watch Spielberg on Saturday, October 7th on HBO
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