You’d be hard-pressed to find a place better suited to a private dinner than the Lambs Room at Keens Steakhouse, on 36th Street. On the evening of December 5, when AIR MAIL and PEN America hosted a dinner in celebration of director Edward Berger and his Vatican film, Conclave, the room had already adopted its annual holiday glow and was primed for a gathering as intimate—if less fraught—as the one suggested by the movie’s title.
During the dinner, writer and producer Stephen Schiff interviewed Berger, who explained to the audience with great charm the nuances of adapting a book for the screen (Robert Harris wrote the novel on which Conclave is based), the merits of a surprise ending, and why it was important to show cardinals vaping and using cell phones.
