Art + Cinema: Northern Lights

In partnership with the University of Utah Department of Film and Media Arts, the UMFA is excited to host a special screening of Northern Lights (1978), the critically acclaimed film directed by John Hanson and Rob Nilsson. 

Winner of the 1979 Camera d’Or, Northern Lights, a unique work of political cinema from the late 1970s, dramatizes small North Dakotan wheat farmers’ political struggle against the bankers and railroad magnates pushing them into bankruptcy. Two young lovers get swept up in the turmoil surrounding the formation of the populist Nonpartisan League in the mid-1910’s. Shot on location in black-and-white 16mm with a cast of nonprofessional actors, this deeply moving, politically committed film is a masterpiece of American independent cinema. The 4K digital restoration of Northern Lights was created by IndieCollect and Metropolis Post in collaboration with directors John Hanson and Rob Nilsson. 

Following the screening, join us for a post-film discussion with special guest Alex Smith, filmmaker and a Professor of Fiction Film in the Department of Film and Media Arts at the University of Utah.

This film contains mature themes. Viewer discretion is advised.

Meet the Presenter

Alex Smith is a filmmaker & educator. He hails from Montana. He and his twin brother, Andrew, have written and directed three award-winning feature films: WALKING OUT; WINTER IN THE BLOOD, based on the landmark First Nations novel, the film that first introduced Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone; and THE SLAUGHTER RULE, starring Ryan Gosling, which, along with WALKING OUT, was a Sundance Grand Jury nominee. The Brothers have written scripts and created television shows for, among other HBO, Disney, Columbia Pictures, Amazon, Focus, FX and Fox Searchlight. Alex is an Assistant Professor of Fiction Film at the University of Utah. He is also the Artistic Director of the Woodstock Filmmaker Residency. He has taught at many universities including UT Austin, where he was the Creative Director of the University of Texas Film Institute. He is a Sundance, Rauschenberg & Michener Fellow.

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Header Image: A scene from Northern Lights. A Kino Lorber release.