Part of our Lives of Artists Film Talk Series!

Join Jeffrey Bender as we venture into the inner worlds of filmmakers, writers, musicians, dancers and painters in this six-film survey all about artists and their craft.

75th Anniversary!

#69 on the 2022 Sight and Sound Top 100 Films of All-Time poll.

Nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, and winner of two in Best Art Direction and Best Score. (1949)

Under the authoritarian rule of charismatic ballet impresario Boris Lermontov, his proteges realize the full promise of their talents, but at a price: utter devotion to their art and complete loyalty to Lermontov himself. Under his near-obsessive guidance, young ballerina Victoria Page is poised for superstardom, but earns Lermontov's scorn when she falls in love with Julian Craster, composer of "The Red Shoes," the ballet Lermontov is staging to showcase her talents. Vicky leaves the company and marries Craster, but still finds herself torn between Lermontov's demands and those of her heart.

Jeffrey Bender

Jeffrey Bender has hosted a number of in-person and online Film Talks with the Westdale, most recently a three-film 'select-rospective' on the films of Wes Anderson and Memory Lane, a series of road-trip films from 1973. He joins us this fall to host the Lives of Artists, a selection of films about artistic talent and the creative process, as well as serving as one of the guest speakers for Noir-vember, featuring a survey of classic and contemporary film noir.