Minnesota Cinematic Arts Award Honoree Producer Sarah Pillsbury Attending
When bored suburban housewife Roberta (Rosanna Arquette) casually decides to roam into New York City to spy on what appears to be a rendezvous in Central Park, she becomes infatuated with the eponymous Susan (Madonna,whose star was on the rise). Shared identities, stolen Egyptian earrings, and a long con are just part of the fun in this influential 1980s comedy.
Influenced by Jacques Rivette’s Celine and Julie Go Boating, and one of the first films written, produced, directed, and even greenlighted by women (at Orion studios), Desperately Seeking Susan is a groundbreaking comedy that helped launch the careers of John Turturro, Laurie Metcalf, Aidan Quinn, and featured Madonna before she became Madonna. Named one of the Ten Best Films of 1985 by The New York Times’ Vincent Canby.
Director’s Biography
Susan Seidelman: Susan Seidelman was born in 1952 in Philadelphia, and attended Drexel University in the hopes of becoming a fashion designer. Upon seeing films in the French New Wave, she enrolled at New York University’s film school. Her debut, Smithereens, was the first independent American movie to screen in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
Sarah Pillsbury: After graduating from Yale University, Sarah Pillsbury moved to Los Angeles to continue her film studies at UCLA, and work on student film projects and produce documentaries. One of the student projects she worked on became Eraserhead (‘77) directed by AFI student David Lynch. She co-produced a short film, Board and Care (1980) that earned Pillsbury an Oscar® for Best Live Action Short Film. In 1981, she teamed up with Midge Sanford to form Sanford/Pillsbury Productions, and went on to produce numerous projects including Desperately Seeking Susan (‘85), River’s Edge (‘86) and the HBO telefilm And the Band Played On (‘93), the latter two earning the team an Independent Spirit Award and an Emmy.
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