‘The Sopranos’ Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary And Gets Its Own Festival, You Got A Problem With That?

It has been 20 years since The Sopranos changed not only the landscape of cable television on HBO but the lexicon of pop culture, so it is only fitting that it will be honored with its own festival in New York City.

In the words of Tony Soprano, “You gotta problem with that?”

The Sopranos Film Festival, a weeklong tribute to David Chase’s groundbreaking HBO series, will take place Wednesday, January 9 through Monday, January 14 with an opening night celebration at the SVA Theatre followed by five days of live events at IFC Center.

Presented by the Split Screens Festival and organized by Split Screens creative director Matt Zoller Seitz, TV critic for New York magazine, the program will screen classic films and Sopranos episodes to explore the series’ influences and legacy on the occasion of its 20th anniversary.

“From the very beginning, The Sopranos was a show that wore its cinematic aspirations on its sleeve, and that often took inspiration from movies of the past,” noted Seitz.

“During its eight-year run on HBO, the series drew critical scrutiny from both television and film critics. It is probably as responsible as the original Twin Peaks for giving viewers permission to talk about TV in language that had previously been more often applied to movies and discuss how the two art forms borrowed from each other, influence each other, and were in conversation with each other,” he continued in a statement published by Split Screens.

“This festival is a showcase for that dialogue,” Seitz concluded.

The program opens Wednesday, January 9 at 7 pm with a special event at the SVA Theatre, co-presented by HBO, Woke Up This Morning: The Sopranos 20th Anniversary Celebration.

Series creator and executive producer David Chase, along with executive producers Terence Winter, Matthew Weiner, Ilene S. Landress, and cast members will take part in a special program of clips and conversation, moderated by Seitz (co-author of the new book The Sopranos Sessions), to discuss their experience making one of TV’s landmark shows.

After the opening night event, fans will be treated to a screening films of from the gangster milestone The Public Enemy to art-house classics Blow-Up and Barry Lyndon, to Chase’s own feature debut, Not Fade Away, along with key episodes of the series and panel discussions with Sopranos cast and crew and other special guests.

The lineup also includes the world premiere of the documentary My Dinner with Alan in which TV critics Seitz and Alan Sepinwall meet at the New Jersey diner that was the setting for the show’s controversial final scene.

Tickets for the opening night at SVA Theatre on January 9 are $20 general admission/$15 IFC Center members; tickets to individual events in the festival are $15 general admission/$11 seniors/$10 IFC Center members. A 10-ticket pack, valid for 10 festival admissions, is available for $120 general admission/$80 IFC Center members here.