Annette Insdorf

Annette Insdorf is a film scholar and educator known for making cinema accessible and intellectually engaging to diverse audiences. Insdorf is the author of several books, including "François Truffaut," "Indelible Shadows: Film and the Holocaust," "Philip Kaufman," "Intimations: The Cinema of Wojciech Has," "Cinematic Overtures: How to Read Opening Scenes," and "Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieślowski." "Indelible Shadows" features a foreword by Elie Wiesel. Her scholarship encompasses close analysis and broad cultural insight, with a focus on European art cinema, Holocaust representation, and filmmaking.

Insdorf began her teaching career at Yale University, where she developed courses in film history and criticism, including a class on the French New Wave, while completing her doctorate in English. Her students at Yale included Jodie Foster, Edward Norton, and Angela Bassett. She later joined Columbia University, where she has contributed to the Columbia Film Program for more than four decades. Insdorf is a professor in the Graduate Film Program at Columbia's School of the Arts and served as director of undergraduate film studies for 27 years. She received the Award for Excellence in Teaching from Columbia's School of General Studies.

Insdorf has hosted "Reel Pieces," a film series at Manhattan's 92nd Street Y, interviewing more than 200 film industry figures, including Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Daniel Day-Lewis, Pedro Almodóvar, Angelina Jolie, and Al Pacino. Ten of her interviews were broadcast on WNYC-TV. She moderates panels at the Telluride Film Festival and serves as the main translator. Insdorf has also been a jury member at the Berlin Film Festival and at festivals in Locarno, Jerusalem, and Galway, Ireland.

Insdorf co-hosted BRAVO/IFC's Cannes Film Festival coverage with Roger Ebert and has appeared on 20/20, Charlie Rose, "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," "Good Morning America," and CNN. She is the executive producer of "Shoeshine," nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short, and co-produced the documentary feature "Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire."

Insdorf has received numerous honors, including being named Chevalier dans l'ordre des arts et des lettres by the French Ministry of Culture and later promoted to Officer in the arts. The San Francisco Film Festival presented her with the Mel Novikoff Award, and the Telluride Film Festival recognized her with the Special Medallion. She also received a Creativity Award from Moment Magazine and is among the recipients of 92nd Street Y's Extraordinary Women Awards, which honor women who contribute to equity, leadership, and their communities.