As a first-time participant in the U.S. Embassy London’s American speakers program, Deborah Landis, professor and founding director of the David C. Copley Center for the Study of Costume Design at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, spent a week in September reaching out to students in seven schools in London, and the Scottish cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, to talk about film costume, women in film and the role clothing plays in cultural identity. Many of students came from Bangladeshi, African, Pakistani and Indian backgrounds.
The speakers program brings select American cultural and educational experts to the United Kingdom who best exemplify contemporary American cultural achievement and innovation, and who are willing to share their professional experiences with British youth audiences, something that Landis was eager to do.
Landis’ association with the U.S. Department of State began late last year when the then-United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Louis Sussman, his wife Marjorie and the embassy’s Senior Cultural Attachés Monique Quesada and Sue Wedlake toured her landmark “Hollywood Costume” exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. They were impressed by what they saw and the opportunity for partnership that it presented. A few months later Quesada invited Landis to become a cultural ambassador to underserved U.K. communities.
Later this month, she will be in Australia where her husband, filmmaker John Landis, will be honored at the Melbourne Arts Festival. She has been invited by the U.S. State Department to lecture in the country, giving her another chance to connect with a diverse population of students.
“Inspiration is circular,” said Landis, an Academy Award nominee. “It was thrilling to be embraced by these motivated young women, many of whom are Muslim and wear a hijab to school. Cinema storytelling and costume design provided a fascinating look behind the silver screen for these enthusiastic student audiences whose heritage represented vastly different cultural and religious backgrounds. My engagement with these kids was a small contribution to the kindest international diplomacy."
The speakers program brings select American cultural and educational experts to the United Kingdom who best exemplify contemporary American cultural achievement and innovation, and who are willing to share their professional experiences with British youth audiences, something that Landis was eager to do.
Landis’ association with the U.S. Department of State began late last year when the then-United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Louis Sussman, his wife Marjorie and the embassy’s Senior Cultural Attachés Monique Quesada and Sue Wedlake toured her landmark “Hollywood Costume” exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. They were impressed by what they saw and the opportunity for partnership that it presented. A few months later Quesada invited Landis to become a cultural ambassador to underserved U.K. communities.
Later this month, she will be in Australia where her husband, filmmaker John Landis, will be honored at the Melbourne Arts Festival. She has been invited by the U.S. State Department to lecture in the country, giving her another chance to connect with a diverse population of students.
“Inspiration is circular,” said Landis, an Academy Award nominee. “It was thrilling to be embraced by these motivated young women, many of whom are Muslim and wear a hijab to school. Cinema storytelling and costume design provided a fascinating look behind the silver screen for these enthusiastic student audiences whose heritage represented vastly different cultural and religious backgrounds. My engagement with these kids was a small contribution to the kindest international diplomacy."
