Karen Stetler '83 has a cinema lover’s dream job - producing extensive special editions that accompany classic films for the legendary Criterion Collection. Roman Polanski's ground-breaking film Rosemary's Baby is the latest Criterion release produced by Stetler.  She gathered rare archival materials and interviewed director Roman Polanski, star Mia Farrow and producer Robert Evans for the release, which will be available on October 30.

When Rosemary’s Baby was released in 1968, it changed the public’s view of horror films.  Terrifying and darkly comic, the film marked the Hollywood debut of director Roman Polanski.  This wildly entertaining nightmare, faithfully adapted from Ira Levin’s bestseller, stars Mia Farrow as a young mother-to-be who grows increasingly suspicious that her elderly neighbors (Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer) and her husband (John Cassavetes) are hatching a satanic plot against her and her baby.

Stetler first became enamored of art house and foreign films at Cornell Cinema.  Her father, Professor Ned Rosen, taught in the ILR School, and she majored in History in the College of Arts and Sciences.  She later went on to get an MA in Public History from NYU.  

She has worked in some capacity for The Criterion Collection since 1986.  She first joined the staff of its sister company Janus Films, a classic film distributor in New York.  Her first project as a Criterion producer was the original “Director Approved” laserdisc release of Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull in 1987. Since then she has produced several releases each year, including “Director Approved” editions of Robert Altman’s Short Cuts, David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers, Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, Roman Polanski’s Knife in the Water and Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout.  She works closely with Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation to restore and preserve classic films, including the upcoming 6K digital restoration of Laurence Olivier’s Richard III.

The Criterion Collection is a continuing series of classic and important contemporary films on DVD and Blu-Ray.  Read more about it here: http://www.criterion.com/about_us

DATE: Friday, November 2, 2012

TIME: 7:30 pm – Wine/Dessert Reception

            8 pm – Screening and Talk

LOCATION: Playa Vista (off Lincoln & Jefferson Blvds, near Marina del Rey)

PARKING: on-street

COST: $5 per person for CCLA member; $5 for 1 guest of CCLA member; $10 per person for non-CCLA members and additional guests

RSVP: Click here to buy tickets!!! - directions will be emailed

MORE INFO: contact Nancy Mills at NLM5@cornell.edu or 310-545-3321