Maria Irene Fornes is one of America's greatest playwrights and most influential teachers, but many know her only as the ex-lover of writer and social critic Susan Sontag. The visionary Cuban-American dramatist constructed astonishing worlds onstage, writing over 40 plays and winning nine Obie Awards. At the vanguard of the nascent Off-Off Broadway experimental theater movement in NYC, Fornes is often referred to as American theater's "Mother Avant-Garde." When she gradually stops writing due to dementia, an unexpected friendship with filmmaker Michelle Memran reignites her spontaneous creative spirit and triggers a decade-long collaboration that picks up where the pen left off.

The duo travels from New York to Havana, Miami to Seattle, exploring the playwright's remembered past and their shared present. Theater luminaries such as Edward Albee, Ellen Stewart, Lanford Wilson, and others weigh in on Fornes' important contributions. What began as an accidental collaboration becomes a story of love, creativity, and connection that persists even in the face of forgetting.

WINNER! Audience Award, Best Documentary: Frameline Film Festival 2018

WINNER! Jury Award for Best Documentary, Reeling: Chicago LGBTQ+ Int’l Film Festival

WINNER! AARP Silver Image Award, Reeling: Chicago LGBTQ+ Int’l Film Festival

WINNER! Jury Award for Best Documentary, OUTshine Film Festival

Special Mention, Queer Porto 4 - International Queer Film Festival

One of the “Best Movies of 2018” - Richard Brody, THE NEW YORKER

"A lyrical and lovingly made documentary." - THE NEW YORK TIMES

"Memran’s documentary is as untraditional and unpredictable as the woman herself. In it, Memran manages to take us through Irene’s extraordinary life, while capturing the essence of what made it extraordinary - all while transitioning into an impressive artist in her own right."
- NBC NEWS LATINO

Directed by Michelle Memran, 79 min, English

WED JUN 5 | 7:30PM | $10, $7 MEMBERS (+$3 at the door)