CCNY alumna Shalini Kantayya, an award-winning film director, will deliver the 2023 Dortort Lecture.
Award-winning film director and producer Shalini Kantayya, whose latest film, “TikTok, Boom,” was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, delivers the David Dortort Lecture in the Dramatic Arts at The City College of New York on Oct. 4. Free and open to the public, her talk, 5:30 – 7 p.m. in Theatre B of CCNY’s Aaron Davis Hall, is entitled “What happens to human rights when we let technology encroach on our social systems?"
“TikTok, Boom” investigates TikTok’s algorithm and users to paint a picture of the world’s most downloaded app, and how it can be wielded more safely and ethically.
Kantayya’s critically-acclaimed 2020 Sundance film, “Coded Bias,” was broadcast nationally on PBS’s Independent Lens and globally on Netflix in April 2021. It was nominated for a Critics’ Choice, and an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Documentary. The film won Best Director at the Social Impact Media Awards, and the Visionary Filmmaker Award at GlobeDocs. Her debut feature, “Catching the Sun,” released globally on Netflix on Earth Day 2016 with Leonardo DiCaprio as executive producer, was named a New York Times Critics’ Pick.
Kantayya is a Sundance Fellow, a William J. Fulbright Scholar, a TED Fellow and a Concordia Studios Artist Fellow. She is an Associate of the UC Berkeley School of Journalism and has received recognition from the Sundance Documentary Program, IFP Spotlight on Documentary, New York Women in Film and Television, and the Jerome Hill Centennial. She’s a 2005 graduate of CCNY’s MFA Film Program. Click here to read more.
Click here to register for the lecture. Aaron Davis Hall is located at 140 Convent Ave., New York, NY, 10031.
About the Dortort Lecture
The Dortort Lecture in the Dramatic Arts was endowed in 2004 by David Dortort (1916-2010), the famed Hollywood screen writer, executive producer, and 1936 CCNY alumnus. He sought to bring to his alma mater the most creative and talented writers, directors and other artists from stage, film and television. The annual lectures aim to provide thought-provoking insights on the media, the creative process and artistic and political issues. Dortort was the creator, writer and executive producer of “Bonanza,” one of the longest-running primetime dramatic series in television history, lasting 14 years. He also created, wrote and produced “The High Chaparral,” the first primetime series to feature Latino characters in starring roles. Dortort’s film credits include “The Lusty Men,” “Reprisal,” “Cry in the Night,” “The Big Land,” and “Clash by Night.” He received the Motion Picture and Television Foundation’s Golden Boot Award for Distinguished Work in Western Films and Television in 1999.
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi (now Lightcast) puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. This year, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.