On Clothing:
Shirley Kurata and John Early with Emily Spivack
To expand the conversation about independent cinema, the festival presents talks between filmmakers and artists from a variety of disciplines, on some of the most relevant themes and artistic practices of today.
Saturday, April 5, 2 p.m. @ Philosophical Research Society
Clothes are always a choice. What people wear on screen can do much to impact our perception of their characters and the cinematic world around them, but also our own self-regard. In contemporary-set films, garments are of utmost importance in our collective consciousness, whether we realize it or not. Artist, writer, and producer Emily Spivack (Worn Stories) moderates a discussion with Oscar-nominated costume designer Shirley Kurata (Everything Everywhere All At Once) and John Early (Stress Positions) on how a seemingly simple piece of clothing can become an iconic cinematic totem.
About Shirley Kurata: Shirley Kurata is a wardrobe stylist and costume designer born and raised in Los Angeles, CA and has worked on various TV shows, short films, commercials, music videos, fashion editorials and print campaigns. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design and won the Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Sci Fi/Fantasy Film for her work on the indie film Everything Everywhere All At Once.
About John Early: John Early is an actor, comedian, writer, and producer. His HBO stand up special, Now More Than Ever, was released to critical acclaim in June 2023 and was nominated for a Critic’s Choice Award and Emmy Award. John was also nominated for an Emmy award for his A24 sketch special Would it Kill You To Laugh co-created with his frequent collaborator Kate Berlant. John stars in and produced the feature film Stress Positions, written and directed by Theda Hammel, for Neon. The film premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition category at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and released theatrically in the Spring of 2024. Previously John starred in five seasons of the critically acclaimed Max Original series Search Party and co-starred in the comedy series The Afterparty with Tiffany Haddish. He wrote, starred, and executive produced his own episode of The Characters and the critically acclaimed web series 555, also with Berlant. In the New York theater world, he produced a revival of Wallace Shawn's Marie and Bruce and directed Jacqueline Novak's hit off-Broadway show Get On Your Knees. Early’s film feature credits include Neighbors 2, Beatriz at Dinner, The Disaster Artist, and Other People. He can also be seen in Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later, Broad City, High Maintenance, 30 Rock, I Think You Should Leave, At Home with Amy Sedaris, Portlandia, and HBO’s Los Espookys.
About Emily Spivack: Emily Spivack is an artist, writer, and producer who turned her New York Times bestselling book, Worn Stories, and the follow-up Worn in New York into a Netflix show. She developed and produced the documentary, Patrice: The Movie, which came out of her book and TV projects. In her column for T: The New York Times Style Magazine, “The Story of a Thing,” Spivack interviewed cultural figures about objects in their homes. As artist-in-residence at MoMA from 2017-2018, Emily invited visitors to contribute to an archive of everything worn to MoMA from November 1, 2017, to January 28, 2018, a permanent part of MoMA’s Archives. She was the host of “Dress Codes”, a Gimlet/Spotify podcast. Emily’s 2017 off-site installation for the Honolulu Museum of Art, Medium White Tee, was a fulfillment of President Barack Obama’s stated fantasy to run a T-shirt shack that sold only medium-sized white tees. She and her work have been featured in The New York Times, New York magazine, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, Vogue, and Art in America.