Cinema Soirée 2026

Al Roker is the weather and feature anchor of NBC News’ TODAY as well as a co-host of TODAY. Roker served as co-host of the morning show “Wake Up with Al” on the Weather Channel. Until January 2000, he also served as the weekday weather forecaster for News Channel 4’s early evening newscast Live at 5 on WNBC-TV. Roker came to WNBC-TV as a weekend weathercaster in December 1983 from Cleveland. Roker has been named Best Weatherman twice by New York Magazine, has won three Daytime Emmy Awards, co-hosts Sirius XM’s “Off the Rails” with Dylan Dreyer and Sheinelle Jones and hosts “Cold Cuts with Al Roker” on Today.com and YouTube. He made his Broadway stage debut in Waitress in October 2018 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in New York City. Among many highlights of his career as an interviewer, Roker interviewed Peanuts creator Charles Shultz, as well as Willie Nelson, Burt Reynolds, and James Earl Jones. Roker also co-hosts the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Rose Bowl Parade. For ten years, Roker’s “Lend a Hand Today” initiative took him across the country and raised millions to help small charities work towards improving conditions in their communities. He is also a bestselling author with 13 acclaimed books.

Kelly O’Sullivan is writer, director, and actor originally from North Little Rock, Arkansas. Saint Frances, which premiered at SXSW and won the Audience Award and Special Jury Prize for Breakthrough Voice in 2019, was her first screenplay. She was nominated for a Gotham Breakthrough Actor Award for her role in Saint Frances and the Independent Spirit Cassavetes Award. She was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film”, and was part of Film at Lincoln Center’s 2019 Artist Academy. Her second feature film, Ghostlight, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024 and was named one of the Top 10 Best Independent Films by the National Board of Review, is on Hulu now after a theatrical release, distributed by IFC Films. The film was nominated for both Gotham and Independent Spirit Awards. She co-directed two upcoming films, Mouse and The Steel Harp, with partner Alex Thompson, and wrote the screenplays for both.

Alex Thompson is an Illinois-based, Kentucky-born film director, producer, and screenwriter. He directed and produced Saint Frances (2019), which won the Audience and Special Jury Award at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival. His sophomore feature, Rounding, premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival and was recently distributed by Music Box Films. He produced and co-directed Ghostlight, which opened the Sundance Film Festival in 2024 and was named one of the Top 10 Best Independent Films by the National Board of Review. He was nominated for the Bingham Ray breakthrough director prize at the Gotham Awards in 2020 and is a two-time nominee of the Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards. He co-directed two upcoming films, Mouse and The Steel Harp, with partner Kelly O’Sullivan.

Gillian Flynn made her mark as a novelist unafraid to explore humanity’s shadows, and she brings that fearless storytelling into television and film.

Best known for penning the twist-filled bestseller Gone Girl (and nominated for a Golden Globe for her acclaimed screenplay adaptation directed by David Fincher) as well as the haunting Sharp Objects (later adapted as a TV series at HBO starring Amy Adams), Flynn has become synonymous with modern psychological suspense and reinventing female protagonists.

In film, she is currently writing a new thriller for director/producer Darren Aronofsky, and previously co-wrote Widows with director Steve McQueen.

In television, she is currently adapting Dark Places as a series, based on her iconic second novel.

Now a multi-hyphenate screenwriter, producer, and author, she continues to expand her reach — launching a publishing imprint to champion bold voices and watching new adaptations of her work emerge — all while maintaining the edgy, intelligent tone that made her a cultural phenomenon.

Photo credit: Heidi Jo Brady

Ben Foster is an American actor and producer with over 30 years of experience, known for his intense, immersive performances and dedication to complex roles.

Foster next stars in Potsy Ponciroli’s Motor City, which premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival before screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film will open in theaters nationwide on July 24th. The film, set in 1970s Detroit, follows a man framed and imprisoned by a ruthless gangster, who returns for revenge.

Foster can be seen opposite Sydney Sweeney in David Michôd’s Christy, which premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. The film chronicles Christy Martin’s (Sweeney) rise to becoming America’s most well-known female boxer in the 1990s, and her abusive relationship with her coach and husband, James V. Martin (Foster).

Foster also appears in John Swab’s King Ivory as “George ‘Smiley’ Greene,” which debuted at the Venice Film Festival in 2024. The film offers an unflinching look at fentanyl trafficking in America at Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester.

Foster starred alongside Jessica Lange, Ed Harris, and Colin Morgan in Jonathan Kent’s acclaimed production of Long Day’s Journey Into Night.

In 2022, Foster starred in Antoine Fuqua’s feature for Apple TV+, Emancipation, opposite Will Smith, and appeared alongside Adam Sandler and Queen Latifah in Jeremiah Zagar’s Hustle on Netflix.

Foster received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Broadcast Network or Cable Limited or Anthology Series in 2022 for his performance in Barry Levinson’s HBO Max feature The Survivor, which he also executive produced.

He cemented his reputation as a powerhouse performer in Debra Granik’s Leave No Trace, one of the most acclaimed films of 2018 and among the highest-rated films in Rotten Tomatoes history.

Prior to this, he appeared in Scott Cooper’s Hostiles opposite Christian Bale. Additionally, in 2017, he won the Independent Spirit Award in the category of Best Supporting Male Actor and was nominated for the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor in David Mackenzie’s Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water, opposite Chris Pine and Jeff Bridges.

In addition to his acting work, Foster has served as a producer on Rampart, The Survivor, Cow Boy, and Stalemate.

Other film credits include Stephen Frears’ The Program, John Krokidas’ Kill Your Darlings, Pete Berg’s Lone Survivor opposite Mark Wahlberg, David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints opposite Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck, Oren Moverman’s Rampart and The Messenger, James Mangold’s 3:10 to Yuma opposite Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, and Barry Levinson’s Liberty Heights.

Foster has also appeared in critically lauded works on television and on stage. He recurred as “Russell Corwin” in HBO’s Six Feet Under, and won a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for his inclusion in the show in 2004. On stage,  Foster drew in rave reviews as “Stanley Kowalski” in A Streetcar Named Desire, opposite Gillian Anderson, in Benedict Andrews’ production at London’s Young Vic in 2014 and Brooklyn’s St. Ann’s Warehouse in 2016. He previously made his Broadway debut in 2013 in a revival of Lyle Kessler’s play Orphans opposite Alec Baldwin.

Photo credit: Ursula Coyote