Film screening of MILK at New York State Writers Institute on Friday, Sept. 7

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ALBANY, NY (08/30/2018) (readMedia)-- EVENT DETAILS:

The film MILK, based on the life of Harvey Milk, University at Albany alumnus (Class of 1951) and nominated for eight Oscars, will be screened at 7:30 p.m. Friday, September 7, at Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue, on the University at Albany downtown campus. The screening, which kicks off the Writers Institute Classic Film Series, is free and open to the public and is shown in association with Sean Penn's visit to the Writers Institute on Friday, Sept, 21.

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The film MILK, based on the life of Harvey Milk, University at Albany alumnus (Class of 1951) and nominated for eight Oscars, will be screened at 7:30 p.m. Friday, September 7, at Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue, on the University at Albany downtown campus.

The screening, which kicks off the Classic Film Series, is free and open to the public and is shown in association with Sean Penn's visit to the Writers Institute on Friday, Sept. 21.

MILK (United States, 2008, 128 minutes, color) was directed by Gus Van Sant (GOOD WILL HUNTING). Sean Penn plays the title role of Harvey Milk, a University at Albany alumnus (Class of 1951) and founding figure of the gay rights movement who was assasinated in 1978. The screening is shown in association with Sean Penn's visit to the Writers Institute on Friday, September 21.

MILK was nominated for eight Oscars and won two: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Sean Penn, and Best Writing, Original Screenplay for Dustin Lance Black.

In reviews of MILK, Penn was praised by San Francisco Chronicle: "At the center of everything is Sean Penn, who disappears into the title role. Gone are his familiar facial expressions. Gone are the pursed lips and the covered, compressed quality. He has Harvey Milk's hair, and from some angles - particularly when Milk is in the public arena - the physical resemblance is uncanny. But what's more striking is the spiritual transformation. Penn gives us a man who was once closeted and now, as if in response, lives his life completely in the open. He's spontaneous as Penn has never been spontaneous. He's emotional, vulnerable and generous with his laughter. Penn plays him as an utterly liberated man, and this liberates Penn as an actor."

Roger Ebert wrote: "Sean Penn amazes me. Not long before seeing MILK, I viewed his work in DEAD MAN WALKING again. Few characters could be more different, few characters could seem more real. He creates a character with infinite attention to detail, and from the heart out."

For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at www.nyswritersinstitute.org.