Smithereens with Susan Seidelman

SUSAN SEIDELMAN
2026 LOFTY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

The Loft Film Fest is honored to present Susan Seidelman with a 2026 Lofty Achievement Award for her groundbreaking films and extraordinary contribution to cinema culture.

Seidelman will be signing copies of her 2024 memoir, Desperately Seeking Something on Saturday, Nov 14 from 2:45pm – 3:30pm in Open Air Cinema.

Susan Seidelman was the first American director to have an independent film, Smithereens, screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. This 1982 feature was followed by Desperately Seeking Susan, which co-starred Madonna, in her first film, and Rosanna Arquette, a guest at the first Loft Film Fest in 2010.  Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) was named as one of 100 greatest films directed by women by the BBC; it resulted in a Cesar Award nomination and in 2023 was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for its “cultural, historical or aesthetic significance”.

Seidelman’s other feature films include Making Mr. Right with John Malkevich; Cookie, co-written by Nora Ephron; She Devil, starring Meryl Streep and Rosanne Barr in her first feature film, Gaudi Afternoon, Boynton Beach Club, Musical Chairs and The Hot Flashes.

Seidelman, and screenwriter Jonathan Brett, were nominated for an Oscar for the live-action short film The Dutch Master in 1994. Her television credits famously include the pilot of Sex and the City.

The Lofty Achievement Award will be presented to Susan Seidelman before the screening of Desperately Seeking Susan. She will introduce the screening of Smithereens.

SMITHEREENS
Seidelman’s first feature, Smithereens follows a narcissistic young woman from New Jersey who comes to New York City hoping to become a figure in the punk subculture, only to find that it has gravitated towards Los Angeles. In order to pay her way across country, she engages in a number of parasitic relationships, shifting her allegiances to new “friends” in an ongoing effort to ultimately endear herself to someone who will finance her desired lifestyle.

Directed by Susan Seidelman 1982, USA, 93 minutes, R

Guest Artist Appearances Supported By Sue Ellen Schuerman & Bob Erbe