James Ivory & Ruth Prawer Jhabvala: Two Films

A cinematic collaboration spanning decades, continents, and multiple Academy Awards, director James Ivory and the late screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala—two-thirds of the celebrated Merchant Ivory team—created some of the twentieth century’s most acclaimed literary adaptations.

Now based in the Hudson Valley, Ivory is joined by Jhabvala’s daughter, Firoza Jhabvala, and special guests for a day of film and conversation to celebrate their creative partnership and the publication of Disinheritance: The Rediscovered Stories (2025), a new collection of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s fiction.

Saturday, August 29, 2026

3:00 PM — The City of Your Final Destination (2009, 1 hr 57 min)
Directed by James Ivory; screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala based on the novel by Peter Cameron
Starring Omar Metwally, Anthony Hopkins, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Laura Linney

5:00 PM — Conversation & Book Signing
With James Ivory, Firoza Jhabvala, novelist Peter Cameron, and special guests

6:00 PM — A Room with a View (1986, 1 hr 57 min)
Directed by James Ivory; screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala based on the novel by E. M. Forster
Starring Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott, Daniel Day-Lewis, Simon Callow, and Judi Dench

8:00 PM — Continue the conversation at Red Dot Restaurant & Bar (dinner reservations encouraged, cash bar)

Tickets

All ticket holders are invited to attend the 5pm Conversation & Book Signing with James Ivory, Firoza Jhabvala, and Peter Cameron.

• One Film + Conversation: $18 (plus $2 fee)
• Full Day Pass (Two Films + Conversation): $29 (plus $3 fee)
• Picnic Dinner Box Add-On: $30 (plus $5 fee)

Picnic Dinner Box

In the Tuscan spirit of A Room with a View, pre-order a Picnic Dinner Box prepared by Hudson-based chef Hannah Black to enjoy between films. A generous meal for one, or a light supper to share with a friend.

The Picnic Dinner Box ($30 plus $5 fee) includes:
- Pressed focaccia sandwich with salami, mozzarella, roasted peppers, arugula, and olive tapenade (also available vegetarian or gluten-free)
- White bean and celery salad with parsley and lemon
- Selection of cheeses and local fruit

The City of Your Final Destination (2009, 1 hr 57 min)

Iranian-born graduate student Omar (Omar Metwally) faces the collapse of his academic career and financial ruin when the family of Latin American novelist Jules Gund, who died by suicide, refuses to authorize the biography he has been commissioned to write. Desperate to change their minds, Omar travels to the family’s lavish estate in Uruguay.

There, he becomes entangled in the lives of those left behind by his literary hero: Gund’s guarded widow (Laura Linney), his younger mistress (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and his enigmatic older brother (Anthony Hopkins). As ambition gives way to attraction, jealousy, and intrigue, Omar enters a world of heartbreak and eroticism he had encountered only in novels—and begins to discover how profoundly it may change his own life.

A Room with a View (1986, 1 hr 57 min)

In Merchant Ivory’s ravishing adaptation of E. M. Forster’s classic novel, a young Englishwoman’s encounter with Florence, first love, and the discovery of a fiery passion threatens to derail the respectable future awaiting her at home. Filmed amid the sunlit piazzas and villas of Tuscany and the green beauty of the English countryside, A Room with a View pairs sumptuous costumes and luminous cinematography with a soaring soundtrack of Puccini, Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert. The film cemented Merchant Ivory’s international reputation, helped launch a new generation of British stars, and earned eight Academy Award nominations, including wins for costume design, art direction, and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s adapted screenplay.