The New York State Writers Institute will host a screening of the documentary Algren, on Saturday, April 2nd, as part of the 2022 Albany Film Festival. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Russell Banks and Algren director Michael Caplan.
Algren is a journey through the gritty world, brilliant mind, and noble heart of writer Nelson Algren. Exploding onto the national scene in 1950 after winning the first-ever National Book Award for The Man with the Golden Arm, Algren helped define post-war American urban fiction with his gritty depiction of working class Chicago.
Including never-before-seen archival footage, newly uncovered audio recordings and his own rarely seen, personal photo collages, Algren charts the rise and fall of a man whose transgressions, compassion and thirst for justice pushed him to dedicate his life and career to giving a voice to the voiceless.
Through interviews with Algren’s friends, literary experts and artists – including William Friedkin, Russell Banks, Philip Kaufman, Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins) and John Sayles – the film is an intimate, witty and even antagonistic portrait of a tireless champion of America’s most marginalized.
This program will take place at 10:45 am, at the Campus Center West Multi-Purpose Room at the University at Albany. For more information and to view the Algren trailer, click here.
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