The Graduates // Director Hannah Peterson in Conversation w/ Students Demand Action
Run Time: 87 min. Release Year: 2024
TICKETS $15
Doors 6:30 p.m.; Film 7 p.m.
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THE EXPERIENCE
Join us for the Portland premiere of The Graduates, presented by The Future of Film is Female. Following the film, McDaniel High School Senior Jorge Sanchez Bautista will be in conversation with Director Hannah Peterson. Jorge is a member of the Students Demand Action National Organizing Board, a group of young activists committed to ending gun violence.
“A moving slice of life, capped off with a stirring performance from Mina Sundwall.” — Kate Erbland, Indiewire
“If there was ever a film to watch about mourning and learning to adjust to a new normal, it’s Peterson’s poignant masterpiece.” — Mae Abdulbaki, Screenrant
ON SCREEN: The Graduates
2024. Directed by Hannah Peterson. Runtime: 87 minutes.
A powerful and sharply introspective coming-of-age drama, The Graduates follows a young woman, Genevieve (Mina Sundwall), as she prepares to graduate high school after a tragic event. As she navigates an uncertain future alongside a community searching for ways to heal, they turn to each other to find hope and a way forward.
Written, directed, and edited by Hannah Peterson, The Graduates is executive produced by Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao (Nomadland), Kara Durrett, Meena Harris, Juliet Liu, and John Cho (Columbus), who also stars in the film. The producers are Josh Peters, Saba Zerehi, Taylor Shung, and Jessamine Burgum.
Featuring Mina Sundwall, John Cho, Alex Hibbert, Yasmeen Fletcher, Ewan Manley, Maria Dizzia, and Kelly O’Sullivan. The Graduates premiered at Tribeca Festival in 2023 where it was awarded Best Cinematography in U.S. Narrative. Its European premiere was at the 2023 Deauville American Film Festival.
ON STAGE
Jorge Sanchez Bautista
Jorge (he/they/el) is a rising senior at McDaniel High School in Portland, Oregon, and a member of the Students Demand Action National Organizing Board. In addition to Jorge’s commitment to youth community organizing around the issues of climate change, affordable housing, and education equality, he leads Portland’s Students Demand Action group to advocate for state gun violence prevention legislation.
Hannah Peterson
Hannah Peterson is an LA-based writer and director. She is a graduate of the MFA program in Film Directing at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and has worked closely with filmmakers Sean Baker and Chloé Zhao. Filmmaker Magazine named Hannah as one of 25 new faces of independent film in 2018. Her film, East of the River, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and Slamdance Film Festival 2019 where it won a jury honorable mention and Hannah was awarded the Russo Brothers fellowship. Her work has been supported by the Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, and SFFilm.
ABOUT THE FUTURE OF FILM IS FEMALE
The FOFIF amplifies the work of all women and non-binary filmmakers early in their career through their grant program for short films, their unique programming commitment to theatrical representation (including distribution), their community building with women in the industry to facilitate necessary culture change, and through ensuring equal representation within all of their programs. The FOFIF believes that gender equality is intersectional with racial and LGBTQI+ equality and is therefore committed to creating industry-wide partnerships to work in solidarity towards an equitable future of film.