PELHAM, NY — On Tuesday, October 6th at 7:30 p.m. The Picture House Regional Film Center (TPH) will show an advance screening of the new film Truth followed by a discussion and Q&A with the film’s director James Vanderbilt and producer Brad Fischer. One of the most buzzed about films of the fall season, the film was selected to be screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival and is scheduled to be released nationwide on October 16th.
Written and directed by James Vanderbilt, Truth is American biographical political drama based on Mary Mapes’ 2005 memoir Truth and Duty: The Press, The President and The Privilege of Power (2005, St. Martin’s Press)—her recounting of the Killian documents controversy derailed Dan Rather’s career. The film stars Robert Redford as Dan Rather and Cate Blanchett as Mapes. It is the directorial debut of Vanderbilt.
Mapes was the producer of the an investigative report, produced by Mapes and reported on-air by Rather ,that purported to reveal evidence that President George W. Bush had shirked his duty during his service as a Texas Air National Guard pilot from 1968 to 1974. The piece asserted that Bush had not only exploited family connections and political privilege to avoid the Vietnam War by joining the Texas Air National Guard, but he had failed for many months to show up on base. Within days after the story broke, George W. Bush’s military service record was no longer the focus of media and public scrutiny. Instead, it was 60 Minutes, Mapes, and Rather. The documents supporting their investigation were denounced as forgeries, and the 60 Minutes staff was accused of shoddy journalism or, perhaps worse, accused of being duped. Eventually, Mapes would lose her job and reputation. Dan Rather would step down prematurely as CBS News anchor.
After the film, TPH critic-in-residence Marshall Fine will host a discussion and Q&A with the film’s director James Vanderbilt and producer Brad Fischer. James Vanderbilt has been writing professionally ever since he graduated from the University of Southern California’s Filmic Writing Program. A native of Norwalk, Connecticut, he has written and produced numerous films, including Zodiac, which was nominated for a Writer’s Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and a USC Scripter Award. His writing credits also include The Amazing Spiderman films, White House Down, The Rundown, The Losers, and the upcoming Independence Day: Resurgence. Vanderbilt is a founding member of Mythology Entertainment, a company dedicated to story-driven entertainment and content which he formed with his partner and producer of Truth, Bradley J. Fischer in 2012.
Fischer began his career at Phoenix Pictures in 1998, rising through the ranks to Co-President of Production in 2007 and taking charge of the majority of the company’s motion picture slate. During his 13-year tenure, Fischer was instrumental in discovering, developing, packaging, and producing many high-profile motion picture projects, producing a total of seven films over seven years including Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, the critically-acclaimed David Fincher film Zodiac (2007), and the Darren Aronofsky’s Academy Award nominated film Black Swan starring Academy Award winning actress Natalie Portman which he executive produced.
Tickets to the special advance screening of Truth are $12/general admission, $6/members, $10/students and seniors and are available at www.thepicturehouse.org or at the box office, 175 Wolfs Lane, Pelham, NY 10803.