Award-winning director Martin Scorsese headlines ABA Presidential Speaker Series program

Martin Scorsese, Academy Award-winning director, producer and screenwriter and director of the new film, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” along with Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, principal chief of the Osage Nation are featured in the next installment of the ABA Presidential Speaker Series.

Scorsese and Standing Bear will be interviewed by ABA President Mary Smith and Jimmy K. Goodman, president, American Bar Foundation, and attorney at Crowe & Dunlevy. The program will be available at 3 p.m. today, Nov. 15. No advance registration is required. The program can be viewed at /www.americanbar.org/groups/leadership/office_of_the_president/presidential-speaker-series.

Scorsese is the recipient of many major accolades, including an Academy Award, four BAFTA Awards, three Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and two Directors Guild of America Awards.

He won the Palme d'Or at Cannes with his 1976 psychological thriller “Taxi Driver,” which starred Robert De Niro, who became associated with Scorsese through eight more films including “New York, New York” (1977), “Raging Bull” (1980), “The King of Comedy” (1982), “Goodfellas” (1990) and “Casino” (1995). In the following decades, he garnered box office success with a series of collaborations with Leonardo DiCaprio. These films include “Gangs of New York” (2002), “The Aviator” (2004), “The Departed” (2006), “Shutter Island” (2010) and “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013). He reunited with De Niro with “The Irishman” (2019) and “Killers of the Flower Moon” (2023), the latter also featuring DiCaprio.

Geoffrey Standing Bear is the great-grandson of Osage Principal Chief Fred Lookout. Now, in his third term as Osage Nation Principal Chief, he continues the work of protecting and enhancing the Osage culture, language, and lands. Before his election, Chief Standing Bear practiced law for 34 years. He concentrated on federal Indian law, receiving national recognition by Best Lawyers in America, Oklahoma Super Lawyers, and a listing with Chambers and Partners.

He sees the Osage Nation expanding its land base, maintaining its vibrant traditions, and returning the Osage language to daily use. His belief is that this and much more can be done through the power of the Osage child, and it is, therefore, the duty of all his people to protect and nurture the children of the Nation.

Smith is the first Native American woman to serve as ABA President. She is vice chair of the VENG Group, a national consulting firm and an independent board member and former CEO of a $6 billion national healthcare organization, the Indian Health Service. She founded and serves as president and chair of a foundation named after her mother and grandmother, respectively, the Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation, to train Native American girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (carolineorasmithfoundation.org).  

Goodman is serving as president of the ABF for the 2022-24 term. He co-founded Crowe & Dunlevy’s Diversity Committee to highlight the strength that women, minority and LGBTQ lawyers add to the fabric of the firm. He is also actively involved with the American Bar Association’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, having been on the ABA’s Council on Racial and Ethnic Justice, Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence, Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity, Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Commission on Hispanic Rights and Responsibilities.

The ABA Presidential Speaker Series, an initiative of ABA President Smith, is a collection of diverse virtual conversations with globally recognized figures, spotlighting trailblazers and thinkers shaping our collective future. Under the theme “Lifting Our Voices, Charting the Future,” these fireside chats promote dialogue, civility and exposure to diverse viewpoints, innovative ideas and career insights.