bamcinemaFest: Jerry and Me

Part of BAMcinemaFest

Sun, Jun 24 at 4pm
Q&A with Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa

Director: Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa

(2012) 38min

In this bittersweet personal essay film, director Saeed-Vafa traces her journey as an Iranian-American woman, single mother and cinephile-turned-filmmaker, and the changing role of Hollywood in Iranian culture from the 60s to the present, all personified in her ever-shifting identification with Jerry Lewis—the “essence of America” to her younger self.

FOLLOWED BY:
The Disorderly Orderly 

Director: Jerry Lewis

(1964) 89min 

A classic collaboration with Lewis’ mentor Frank Tashlin, featuring a theme song performed by Sammy Davis, Jr., The Disorderly Orderly careens from one imaginative gag to another, fueled by its star’s manic comedic energy. A med-school dropout (Lewis) bears the burden of being excessively empathetic, experiencing every pang of agony along with his patients at a mental institution. When his high school crush is checked in for suicidal tendencies, he devotes all his efforts to lifting her spirits and winning her heart. Screens in a beautiful IB Technicolor 35mm print.