Peter Bogdanovich's Unreleased Squirrels to the Nuts

In 2014, what would turn out to be Peter Bogdanovich's final feature (starring Owen Wilson, Imogen Poots, Jennifer Aniston and Will Forte) was eviscerated by its producers, who demanded Bogdanovich recut and rescore his film, removing over a half an hour while adding superfluous narration and additionally shot scenes that went against his vision. It was released as She's Funny That Way and was soon forgotten, and Bogdanovich thought his version was forever lost. However, in an incredible story, in 2020 Bogdanovich aficionado James Kenney discovered the only exisiting copy of Bogdanovich's original cut, Squirrels to the Nuts, for sale on eBay, which has lead to the release of Bogdanovich's original vision, premiering in March 2022 at New York's Museum of Modern Art. Film critic Glenn Kenny called the resurrected Squirrels "a really special picture [that] exceeded my expectations. See it if you can!", the New Yorker's Richard Brody said Bogdanovich "develops an aspect of his world view, of his artistic cosmology, which energizes the very best of his films," and film scholar Farran Smith Nehme wrote "My husband and I had a great time last night at Squirrels to the Nuts, the [rescued] Peter Bogdanovich film ….A very funny movie that the audience clearly enjoyed." As Bogdanovich himself wrote to Kenney before his passing in January 2022, "It really is such a better film than the released version...It is like a lost child being found." This screening will include a discussion of the film and its discovery by Kenney and film critic Carrie Rickey, plus a Q & A.