Oscars Talk with Local Film Critics
Get ready for the 2025 Academy Awards with some of Pittsburgh’s finest film critics and experts!
February 16 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
The Lindsay Theater and Cultural Center is offering local cinephiles and awards-season enthusiasts a rare opportunity to hear from experts about the 2025 Oscars.
Amanda Waltz, Pittsburgh City Paper’s entertainment editor, will moderate a wide-ranging discussion and Q&A with a panel comprising Pittsburgh Film Critics Association members Lindsey Bahr (Associated Press), Sean Collier (Pittsburgh Magazine) and Megan McLachlan (The Contending). Josh Axelrod, The Lindsay’s Director of Communications and an active PFCA member, will also be on hand.
This free and non-ticketed event will take place in The Lindsay’s Community Room on Sunday, Feb. 16, at 2 p.m. These professional critics and journalists will provide their thoughts on this year’s Oscars race, films that seem to be over- or underperforming with voters, their ideal Oscars scenarios and much more. They’ll then take audience questions.
Lindsey Bahr has been an Associated Press film critic since 2014. While based in the Pittsburgh area, Bahr is a regular at Hollywood’s glitziest awards shows. She covered this year’s Golden Globes ceremony and plans to be at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the 2025 Oscars.
Sean Collier is Pittsburgh Magazine’s managing editor and film guru. He’s also a stand-up comic, co-founder of Vigilance Theater Group, co-host of The Number One Movie in America podcast, and a regular on WDVE and Pittsburgh Today Live.
Megan McLachlan, a former Awards Daily contributor, recently co-founded the awards advocacy site The Contending. Her work also has appeared in Buzzfeed, Cosmopolitan, The Cut, Paste, Thrillist, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Washington Post.
The Pittsburgh Film Critics Association, formed in 2023 by 15 Western Pennsylvania-based critics, announced its first-ever film awards earlier this year. They collectively crowned The Substance, a Best Picture nominee at the Oscars, as 2024’s best picture.
Hearing from these film aficionados might prove helpful to anyone who hasn’t submitted their ballot for The Lindsay’s annual Oscars contest. Completed ballots—available only at the Theater—will be accepted until Saturday, March 1, at 8 p.m. The film buff who most accurately predicts the highest number of winners—matching the Academy’s Best Picture—will earn a non-transferable pass for free, unlimited movies for the rest of 2025!
