Genre
Synopsis
A documentary portrait of Pulitzer-Prize winning composer, writer and gay icon, Ned Rorem THE ARTIST MUST GROW EVER MORE SELFISH offers an immersive experience of the young composer’s journey in Paris in the 1950’s. Drawn from Rorem’s PARIS DIARY with narration and music by Rorem the film offers a candid and intimate portrait of the self-searching young composer moving through a vibrant cultural world of writers, artists and tastemakers. Personal, provocative and deeply revealing, the film captures Rorem’s honesty as he reflects on love, ambition, and the formative experiences that shaped his artistic voice.
Bio
Susan Sandler’s screenplays and teleplays include the Golden Globe nominated CROSSING DELANCEY (just released in 4K edition by CRITERION COLLECTION) and Friends At Last, starring Kathleen Turner and Sarah Paulson, as well as projects for Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Disney, TNT, and Columbia. Her work for the stage has been produced in New York, at major theatres across the country, and around the world. Her plays include Crossing Delancey, Under the Bed, The Renovation, The Moaner, If I Were A Train and The Find. Sandler’s work is published by Smith and Kraus, Vintage Press, and Samuel French. She is a full time professor at NYU Tisch School of the Arts Kanbar Institute of Film & Television, where she also guides the Fusion Film Festival, celebrating women and nonbinary artists. Julia Scotti: Funny That Way won Audience Choice at the Paley Center for New Media Doc Pitch. Her new film THE ARTIST MUST GROW EVER MORE SELFISH, a portrait of composer and gay icon Ned Rorem is currently on the festival circuit.
Screening History
Provincetown International Film Festival, American Documentary Film Festival, Sebastapol Documentary Film Festival, Rhode Island International Film Festival, Palm Springs Film Festival
West Coast Premiere ~ AmDocs Film Festival ~ 2026
World Premiere: NANTUCKET 2025
Sebastopol International Doc Festival 2026
Provincetown International Film Festival 2026