Since earning her MFA at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (TFT) in 2012, writer-director Garrett Bradley has been based in New Orleans where she has developed a refreshing, impressionistic cinematic vocabulary attuned to the struggle of a younger generation to ground itself in an ever-changing, often hostile world. In her first two features, Below Dreams (2014) and Cover Me (2015), which premiered at the Tribeca and Rotterdam film festivals respectively, Bradley explores this struggle—as it is complicated by race, class and gender—through a nuanced sense of space and place. Through her kaleidoscopic vision—and an equally expressive use of sound—the storied New Orleans neighborhoods through which her characters move exist as both obstacle and inspiration, dead end and leaping off point. The Archive and TFT are pleased to host Bradley in person for a discussion of her recent work and future projects.
Special thanks to: William McDonald, Chair—Department of Film, Television and Digital Media.