This week on On Story, AFF Moderator and Senior Programmer, Andy Volk, sat down with writer, director, and producer James Gray for a post-screening Q&A of his coming-of-age drama, Armageddon Time. A deeply personal film inspired by Gray's childhood, Armageddon Time is a reflection on the strength of family, the complexity of friendship, and the realities of class as seen through the eyes of a young Jewish boy growing up in 1980s Queens. Through the brilliant performances of its all-star cast, which includes leading actors such as Anthony Hopkins, Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong, Armageddon Time is a beautiful, detailed, and intimate portrait of how privilege, inequality, and prejudice are integral to the American experience.

AFF was ecstatic to welcome the preeminent writer-director James Gray, not only to speak more about the film but also to honor him as the 2022 recipient of AFF's coveted Bill Wittliff Award for Screenwriting, an annual award presented to leading storytellers within film, television, and new media. A true visionary, Gray made his directorial debut with his acclaimed film, Little Odessa, which earned him nominations for both Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay at the 1994 Independent Spirit Awards. Other acclaimed features in Gray's canon include The Yards, starring Joaquin Phoenix, who is in fact a frequent collaborator of Gray's, and We Own the Night, starring Mark Wahlberg, in addition to his films Two Lovers, The Immigrant, The Lost City of Z, and Ad Astra, all of which are critically acclaimed and set the bar for both screenwriting and direction.

So join us and the legendary director James Gray for a little trip back to the 1980s and a closer look at Armageddon Time.

Clips of Armageddon Time courtesy of AT Picture Ventures LLC.