Today I had the privilege of attending The New York Times Arts & Leisure Weekend talk with award-winning actress Carey Mulligan.

For over an hour, New York Times journalist Charles McGrath spoke to the young star about a career, which has included a string of highly, regarded roles on both stage and screen.

Hers is a journey of a girl who had a theater in her blood and despite no formal theatrical training, found herself making her film debut as a supporting player in Joe Wright’s Pride and Prejudice.

From there, she went on to co-star in well-received The Seagull first at the Royal Court Theatre (UK) then on Broadway. McGrath and Mulligan then went on to discuss at great length some of her most popular roles to date – her breakthrough performance in An Education; the largely under-appreciated Never Let Me Go; and two critically acclaimed films of 2011 – Drive and Shame; each discussion was accompanied by a clip from the film being discussed.

At the tender age of 26, Carey Mulligan finds herself in an enviable position that many other actors could only dream of. Clearly she is a fan of the medium because, as she says, partly what attracts her to the roles she seeks is the opportunity to work with people whose work she greatly admires. This was the case with Drive (director Nicholas Winding Refn) and Shame (director Steve McQueen and actor Michael Fassbender). 

Ms. Mulligan came across as an affable person who is passionate about her craft and seeks to challenge herself at every possible opportunity. During the audience question and answer period, she was very open and engaging.

She mentioned a couple of her upcoming projects as well: finishing touches on Baz Luhrmann’s highly anticipated The Great Gatsby and preproduction on the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis.

For those in attendance, the evening featured a series of short films including - Repercussions (directed by Dallas Alexis) and Whatever Happened to Black Love? (directed by John Smooth). Anita Bryant, Marketing and Promotional Director of the Sol Film Festival presented each film.

The first short of the evening, Repercussions is a narrative piece with a very interesting plot twist. Based on the positive audience reaction, I am sure the filmmaker feels encouraged and will continue to create intriguing and audience-accessible stories. You can view the trailer here:

The second feature was an unfinished documentary entitled Whatever Happened to Black Love?  The filmmaker, John Smooth, conducted a series of interviews in which the respondents spoke openly about love, relationships and the like. Based on the portion of the documentary that we watched, Whatever Happened to Black Love? has the making of a fascinating look at real people and their experiences, hopes and fears. During the Q&A session that followed, this seemed to be the prevailing view of many in the audience, to which the director was very receptive. You can catch that trailer here.

I encourage anyone interested in film to seek out opportunities like this in their own areas. Not only is it great to see what people are out there creating, it also gets you closer to the whole filmmaking process.

* Stayed tuned to this space for a similar posting on an event I will be attending in NYC as part of the Sundance Institute’s ‘First Look’ Screening Series.

Here is a video from the BFI which offers a little more insight in to the Blonde Crazy season:

As I previously stated I am very interested in the aspect of this piece that primarily deals with Alfred Hitchcock. For those interested in academically studying this topic I promise that it is very fascinating.

Photo Credit: Film Society of Lincoln Center (Click on Image)

If you are in the NYC area you have until March 21st to view some great contemporary French imports.

With a $45 premium pass to the Tribeca Film Festival Virtual, you can watch 8 or more feature films that will be shown simultaneously at TFF in NYC from April 23-30. TFF Virtual Premium will also offer short films, filmmaker Q&As, live red carpet coverage, and more. Tribeca can only sell a limited number premium passes, so get yours today!

For a sneak peek: check out some exclusive videos on TFF Virtual right now for free: http://www.tribecafilm.com/virtual

Starting April 21, movies curated by Tribeca Film will come to your living room via your cable provider’s On Demand service. With 15 titles to choose from, there will be something for everyone. In April, visit http://www.tribecafilm.com/tribecafilm to search for your cable provider by your ZIP code.

As a reminder if you DO live in the NYC area, the Festival is from April 21 to May 2! Check out the online Film Guide at http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide and see which films look good to you. Ticket packages are now on sale: http://www.tribecafilm.com/festival/tickets/packages.html, and individual tickets go on sale April 13.

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