The film stars Griffin Dunne (After Hours) as Kahn, alongside Alexis Bledel (The Handmaid’s Tale), Ben Rosenfield (Mickey and The Bear), Molly Ephraim (A League of Their Own), and Jennifer Beals (Flashdance). Written and directed by Max Korman, it marks his feature debut.
Set in the early 1970s, Joy Will Prevail finds Kahn at the height of his powers, designing monumental structures around the world while quietly managing a tangled personal life: children with three women—his wife, Esther Kahn (Beals), and two longtime partners, including landscape architect Harriet Pattison (Bledel)—all living with the knowledge of one another.
When young father Steve Korman (Rosenfield), and his wife, Toby Korman (Ephraim), asks Kahn to design a country home, the architect first declines. But as pressures build, he unexpectedly accepts, returning to residential architecture for the first time in years and beginning a friendship that will shape his final chapter.
Before drawing a single room, Kahn asks Steve a deceptively simple question: How does he want to live? Together, they search for an answer, turning the house into a test of Kahn’s belief that architecture begins with the people who will inhabit it.
Their collaboration forces the aging architect to confront his ideas about work, family, and legacy, and it culminates in the final house Kahn ever designed, completed shortly before his sudden and mysterious death.
Max Korman’s period drama finds an intimate human story in the spaces we build and the lives that give them meaning.
Filming took place at key architectural landmarks in Fort Washington and Philadelphia, including the Kahn Korman House, Margaret Esherick House, and Vanna Venturi House, as well as sites across Lancaster, including Armstrong World Industries and Penn Square.
Writer-director Max Korman is Steve Korman’s grandson. Born and raised in the house, he frames the film not only as a portrait of one of history’s great architects, but also as a meditation on his own family and origins. A Q+A with director and special guests will follow.
Prescreening VIP Meet + Greet Reception
Join director and producer, Max Korman, and special guests for a prescreening VIP reception (21+) in the museum sculpture garden, adjacent to the theater. Enjoy wine, charcuterie, cheeses and hors d'oeuvres created by Chef Gabriel Woo from his restaurant, Liv's Cafe, and mingle with fellow film and architecture enthusiasts before the film begins.
Film is 107 minutes, Trailer: Joy Will Prevail; joywillprevail.com
Joy Will Prevail - Official Festival Trailer (Griffin Dunne, Alexis Bledel, Jennifer Beals)