War, Justice, and Democracy in the Films of Steven Spielberg: Schindler’s List

ADMISSION:
Admission is free. Reservations required. 

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DESCRIPTION:
Winner of seven Academy Awards®, including Best Picture and Best Director, Schindler’s List tells the incredible true story of enigmatic Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who saved the lives of more than 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust. It is the triumph of one man who made a difference and the drama of those who survived one of the darkest chapters in human history because of what he did.

A screening of the powerful film, whose lessons of courage and faith continue to inspire generations, will be followed by a live Zoom Q&A with Thomas Keneally, Australian author of the non-fiction novel that inspired the film, in conversation with USC School of Cinematic Arts lecturer Luis Gabriel Moreno-Ocampo and professor Ted Braun. 

This event is part of a series of seven screenings and conversations hosted by Moreno-Ocampo and Braun examining how the films of Steven Spielberg have articulated and shaped global narratives of war, justice, and democracy in the 21st century.

About the panelists: 

Thomas Keneally (author) began his writing career in 1964 and has published 33 novels since, most recently Crimes of the Father, Napoleon’s Last Island, Shame and the Captives, and the New York Times bestselling The Daughters of Mars. He is also the author of Schindler’s List, which won the Booker Prize in 1982, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Gossip from the Forest, and Confederates, all of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He has also written several works of nonfiction, including his boyhood memoir Homebush Boy, The Commonwealth of Thieves, and Searching for Schindler. He is married with two daughters and lives in Sydney, Australia.

Luis Gabriel Moreno-Ocampo (USC School of Cinematic Arts) was the founding chief prosecutor of the new and permanent International Criminal Court from 2003–12. There are seven documentaries presenting parts of his work at the ICC, including Darfur Now and Kony 2012. Previously, he had a critical role during the transition to democracy in Argentina. He was deputy prosecutor in the trial against the military junta, a case depicted in the Amazon production, Argentina 1985, a 2023 Academy Award nominee for Best International Feature Film, and 2023 Golden Globe winner. Currently, he lectures at the USC School of Cinematic Arts on films and war, crimes, and justice. Previously he was a visiting professor at Stanford and Harvard University Law School. In November 2022, Oxford University Press published his book, War and Justice in the 21st Century, describing his nine years of practice as the ICC’s chief prosecutor. He is presently involved in private practice assisting Armenian people suffering a genocide in 2023. 

Ted Braun (USC School of Cinematic Arts) teaches screenwriting and is the Joseph Campbell Endowed Chair in Cinematic Ethics. Braun’s feature documentary, ¡Viva Maestro!, about conductor Gustavo Dudamel, premiered theatrically in 2022, was nominated for the WGA award for Best Feature Documentary, and is currently streaming on MAX. Set against unfolding violence and social unrest in Dudamel’s home of Venezuela, the film is an exploration of art in a time of political crisis. It’s his second film with Participant, which co-financed his feature debut Darfur Now. Darfur Now was named one of 2007’s top five documentaries by the National Board of Review and won the International Documentary Association’s Emerging Filmmaker Award and the NAACP Image Award. His docu-thriller Betting On Zero received a WGA nomination for Best Feature Documentary of 2017, and a special jury mention for investigative work at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. In 2018, Variety named Braun one of the world’s Top Ten Teachers in Film and TV. 

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Presented by the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Outside the Box (Office), and USC Visions and Voices.