Topkapi: Silver Screen Gems Film Series Cancelled

Thursday, August 15, 2024

Our Silver Screen Film Gems film series returns with a screening of the 1964 film Topkapi and an introduction by School of the Art Institute Professor Bruce Jenkins.

In this thrilling tale, the elegant thief Elizabeth Lipp and the cunning criminal mastermind Walter Harper join forces to orchestrate the heist of a lifetime: the theft of an emerald encrusted dagger housed within Istanbul’s prestigious Topkapi Palace. To execute their intricate plan, they enlist the aid of the unsuspecting small-time hustler who unwittingly becomes their scapegoat. The trailer is available here. Starring Melina Mercouri, Maximilian Schell, and Peter Ustinov. Directed by Jules Dassin. In English.

The film will be introduced by School of the Art Institute Professor Bruce Jenkins, who will contextualize the film and the creative team behind it.

Designed for adults ages 18 and over. Running time is 2:00. Popcorn will be served!

About the Speaker:

Bruce Jenkins has taught with the School of the Art Institute since 2004 and most recently co-authored the second volume of the Andy Warhol Film Catalogue Raisonné for the Whitney Museum and Yale University Press in 2021. In addition to SAIC, Jenkins has taught at Harvard University, University of Cincinnati, Macalester College, University of Minnesota, and SUNY at Buffalo. He has served as the Stanley Cavell Curator at the Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge, MA; Director of Film/Video at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; and Film Programmer at Media Study, Buffalo, NY. His publications include Gordon Matta-Clark: Conical Intersect (2011), On the Camera Arts and Consecutive Matters: The Writings of Hollis Frampton (2009), and 2000 BC: The Bruce Conner Story Part II (1999). He has also authored articles for publications such as Artforum, Millennium Film Journal, and October.

Film still courtesy of United Artists.