In Conversation with Gena Rowlands

Last month's John Cassavetes retrospective at TIFF Bell Lightbox was launched with a visit by his widow and favorite collaborator, Gena Rowlands. In spite of her age (she turned 81 in June), Rowlands managed to offer witty, detailed answers throughout. With the combination of admiring audience questions and even a special guest in the audience (Carole Kane), the event felt a bit like an episode of Inside the Actor's Studio, but with an emphasis on a particular collaboration, rather than an entire career. While Jesse Wente's questions followed Rowlands' collaboration with Cassavetes film-by-film, he somehow managed to bypass Love Streams, arguably the couple's greatest achievement. (For complicated legal reasons, Love Streams is still not available on DVD in North America.) Fortunately, Rowlands had plenty to say about the rest of their films -- and you can hear it all below.-- JD