The Silver Mirror, a feature-length global documentary film on the topic of Aging in 21st century written, directed and produced by Ali Habashi, a faculty member at the Department of Cinema and interactive Media and shot entirely by Ed Talavera, the Department chair, had its New York premiere on Tuesday, February 11th at Myrna P. Daniels Auditorium in Columbia University.

The premiere was hosted by the Center for Bioethics at Columbia University and followed up by an engaging panel discussion that included Dr. Ruth Fischbach, the Director of the Center for Bioethics and Dr. Ursula Staudinger, the Director of Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at Mailman School of Public Health in Columbia University and Ali Habashi. 

Shot over three years in 12 countries, The Silver Mirror (trailer: www.vimeo.com/30368552) is a search for a universal voice that fearlessly and intimately conveys humanity’s ancient, collective and fundamental struggle with the fragility of the human condition imposed by the inevitability of aging – while also pondering that for the first time in history, impending scientific surges in our health-span will drastically change how we live our lives.

 Made possible by a major grant from the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation, The Silver Mirror features many renowned experts such as John Beard of the World Health Organization, Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn of UCSF, Hal Kendig of University of Sydney, Cynthia Kenyon of UCSF, Thomas Kirkwood of Newcastle University and Leonard Guarente of MIT. The Silver Mirror is narrated and hosted by two-time Emmy Award®-winning and Golden Globe®-nominated actress Blythe Danner, with special guest Dr. Maya Angelou and an original film score composed by Thomas Sleeper a Professor at the Frost School of Music and performed by the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra in Czech Republic.