The many highlights of the festival included Tributes to Errol Morris and Aaron Sorkin;
conversations with Sofia Coppola, Patty Jenkins (AFI
Class of 2000), Angelina Jolie and Loung Ung, Martin McDonagh and Sam Rockwell, Christopher Nolan, Jordan Peele, Andy Serkis and Agnès Varda; the Indie Contenders Roundtable with panelists Sean Baker («The Florida Project»), Richard Gere («Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer»), Salma Hayek («Beatriz at Dinner»), Diane Kruger («In the Fade»), Kumail Nanjiani («The Big Sick»), Robert Pattinson («Good Time»), Margot Robbie («I, Tonya») and Lois Smith («Marjorie Prime»); and the Doc Roundtable with panelists Evgeny Afineevsky («Cries from Syria»), Greg Barker («The Final Year»), Kasper Collin («I Called Him Morgan»), Feras Fayyad («Last Men in Aleppo»), Yance Ford («
Strong Island»), Bryan Fogel («Icarus»), Steve James («Abacus: Small Enough to Jail»), Amanda Lipitz («Step») and Brett Morgen («Jane»).
«Whether one of my students wants to go off and study history or wants to be involved in medicine, what we do in our
class is going to be applicable because they are going to need to speak and write
strong arguments that are part of the larger
conversation in their fields for the rest of their lives.»