TUESDAY November 10, 2026 – 10:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
University Memorial Center (UMC) – 1669 Euclid Avenue (at the corner of Broadway & Euclid on the CU campus in Boulder) Glenn Miller Ballroom
Sarah Kozloff, Retired Vassar Film Professor
Lecture: They’re writing Big Studio Contracts, But Not for Me – Women Independent Directors
Sarah Koietyzloff holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. from Stanford University. She served as a Professor of Film at Vassar College for more than thirty years, specializing in American film. As an academic she has published five books and numerous shorter pieces; as a novelist she published a 4-book epic fantasy series entitled The Nine Realms. After moving from the Hudson Valley of New York to Arvada, she has enjoyed teaching adult education courses through OLLI at Colorado State University.
Lecture:
Sarah will explore both the promise and the challenges of independent filmmaking for women directors. Beginning with a historical perspective, she will show clips from the work of pioneering and influential filmmakers including Ida Lupino, Claudia Weill, Susan Seidelman, and Debra Granik.
She will contrast their careers with those of male counterparts such as Spike Lee, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, and Paul Thomas Anderson, examining why talented women directors have often faced greater obstacles in achieving sustained success.
Special attention will be given to the Sundance Film Festival and its role as one of the most consistent institutions in supporting and nurturing women filmmakers. Sarah will conclude by looking at encouraging developments and hopeful signs for women directors in the present and future.
Deadline for reservations is October 27, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.