CinemaLit: Brooklyn (2015) – 112 minutes

We're going live again at the Mechanics' Institute screening room. Join us at 6pm for a film followed by a lively discussion.

Proof of vaccination and masks are required at onsite events.

July 22 – Brooklyn (2015), 112 minutes, directed by John Crowley, starring Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, and Emory Cohen.

Saoirse Ronan stars in this story of a young Irish woman making her way to New York City in 1951. Struggling under financial hardships and homesickness, we see her slowly but inevitably adapting to her new home, cheered by a romance with an Italian-American man. But Old and New Worlds collide when family duty takes her back to Ireland. Brooklyn neatly combines the historic era of large scale Irish immigration to America with a glowing romanticism. It was a commercial and critical hit, garnering Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Actress, and Adapted Screenplay.

CinemaLit July 2022 – Immigrant Stories

Immigrant stories make for rich cinema. Human relocation, generational conflict, assimilation, and culture shock carry inherent drama, and more than a little bit of comedy. CinemaLit is presenting four films in July that explore the immigrant experience. Our movie characters come from China, Pakistan, Ireland, Syria, and Senegal, but they share the complex pain and joy of leaving their natal homes to find a better, or at least different, life in a far away place. Join us for The Joy Luck Club (1993), My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Brooklyn (2015), and The Visitor (2007).

Programming in "Civil Rights, Artistic Diversity, Historical Reckoning: Exploring the Film, Literature, and Lives of Marginalized Communities" has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.

Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Mechanics' Institute, Mechanics' Institute, San Francisco, United States