One of our favorite actors, Lisa Eichhorn, honored at the Reading Film Festival

Lisa Eichhorn in Yanks

The Berks Arts Council with the Greater Reading Film Festival are celebrating "Women in Film" in this year's edition of the festival. What better choice than Lisa Eichhorn, who was born in Reading and went on to a distinguished acting and teaching career? After studying in Oxford where legend has that she supported herself by gambling on races, she auditioned for the role of a young Northern English woman in Yanks, a film by John Schlesinger. Her acting and accent were so convincing that the famed director selected her even after she revealed she was not English, but an American. She later appeared in the Merchant/Ivory production The Europeans.  Her role in Ivan Passer's Cutter's Way brought her great critical acclaim. In this powerful drama, she plays John Heard's depressive wife while he's an embittered crippled veteran.

Lisa in A Modern Affair by Vern Oakley

We might be biased, but our favorite Lisa Eichhorn movie has to be A Modern Affair. She plays Grace Rhodes, a professional woman who hears her biological clock ticking and decides to resort to a sperm bank. Curious about her donor, known only as "#247," Grace tracks down Peter Kessler, played by Stanley Tucci, a handsome photographer who is skirting any kind of commitment. When Grace and Peter finally meet, they begin the journey down the rocky road to parenthood and possibly from there to love. Lisa understands perfectly the balance a romantic comedy requires, between reflective moments and more comedic or joyous episodes. The film is a natural fit for this year’s festival theme as Lisa’s character Grace Rhodes is a strong female lead in a film exploring the dynamics of modern sex relations.

A Modern Affair will screen this Saturday Nov. 13 2010 at 7 p.m., followed by a Q&A panel. …Around, a film produced by Lisa Eichhorn and directed by David Spaltro, will screen the following day on Sunday Nov. 14 at 3 p.m.


For more information about the festival, go to their website at http://www.berksmoviemadness.com