AN EVENING WITH JESSE EISENBERG

The Pritzker Family Lecture 

Join us for a conversation with Jesse Eisenberg as he discusses A Real Pain, his moving, beautifully acted, laugh-laced drama about two Jewish cousins – played by a brilliant Kieran Culkin (who took home the Oscar for the role) and Eisenberg, who also wrote and directed – on a heritage trip to Poland, the homeland of their late grandmother, a Holocaust survivor. A poignant portrait of family, intergenerational trauma and the weight of the Jewish past, A Real Pain has been hailed as one of the best films of the year and was nominated for multiple Academy Awards including Best Original Screenplay. Shot in Lublin, Warsaw, Krasnystaw, Kraśnik, and Radom, Eisenberg, who is a dual American and Polish citizen, has called A Real Pain his “love letter to Poland.” 

Peter Stein interviews Eisenberg for this conversation. 

JESSE EISENBERG is an Academy Award-nominated actor and filmmaker as well as an acclaimed playwright and author. His film and tv credits include Roger Dodger, The Squid and the Whale, The Social Network, Now You See Me, Café Society, Justice League, Sasquatch Sunset, and Fleishman Is in Trouble. He made his feature directorial debut in 2022 with the black comedy When You Finish Saving the World. A Real Pain earned him the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay. The film was also named as one of the top ten films of 2024 by the American Film Institute and the National Board of Review. Eisenberg has written four plays, including The Spoils, The Revisionist, Asuncion and Happy Talk. Born in New York, Eisenberg is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, and the author of the collection Bream Gives Me Hiccups.  

PETER L. STEIN is a Peabody and Emmy Award-winning documentary maker and arts producer, creating nonfiction stories for television, theater, museums and online media. He served eight years as the Executive Director of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, and for the last nine years as Senior Programmer for Frameline, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival. He maintains an active career as an onstage interviewer, presenter and performer. www.peterlstein.com 

Made possible through the generosity of Lisa Stone Pritzker and John Pritzker.  

All seating is first come, first served.

Questions? Email support@jccsf.org