Six Degrees of Separation—with Production Designer Patrizia von Brandenstein

1993, 112 mins. 35mm. Dir. Fred Schepisi. With Stockard Channing, Will Smith, Donald Sutherland, Ian McKellen, Mary Beth Hurt, Heather Graham. Patrizia von Brandenstein is one of the most revered production designers in film, with an Academy Award for Amadeus and nominations for The Untouchables and Ragtime. Her many other credits include Mike Nichols’s Silkwood, Working Girl, and Postcards from the Edge; Robert Benton’s Billy Bathgate; Milos Forman’s The People vs. Larry Flynt. (She is currently designing the Max series Julia). Von Brandenstein will discuss her remarkable career following a screening of one of her personal favorites, Six Degrees of Separation. Based on John Guare’s play about a Manhattan socialite and art collector (Stockard Channing) and her husband (Donald Sutherland), whose evening is interrupted by the arrival of a blood-soaked young man (Will Smith), Six Degrees is that rare stage-to-screen adaptation that preserves the theatricality and language of the play while also expanding it to become a truly cinematic experience. The elegance, beauty, and sophistication of the apartment where most of the action takes place exemplify the qualities that make von Brandenstein’s work so special. The post-screening conversation will be moderated by David Schwartz, MoMI Curator-at-large. 

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission. Review safety protocols before your visit.