The Hamptons International Film Festival has announced it has a new parent company and logo and some additional films to round out its screening schedule for its main event beginning today.
HamptonsFilm is the new name for an umbrella organization that will include the October festival as well as the other series and educational initiatives it produces and participates in throughout the year. These include SummerDocs, the Now Showing film series, the Screenwriters Lab, and its school programs and filmmaking camps, mentorships, and scholarships.
Anne Chaisson, the executive director of the festival and now of HamptonsFilm, said the change, which had been in the works for a while, wasn’t feasible to announce until now. HamptonsFilm was the natural choice as it has been the name of the website and it is the handle for social media, she said.
“We have had a year-round presence since the inception,” she said, “although maybe not as robustly in the beginning as we have in recent years.” She added that over the life of the festival, “anyone who has gone to school here has been touched by something we did.” The name change is a reminder that the group is much more than the actual festival itself.
This year, the festival continues to address concerns such as the environment and gender parity in film production. In the competition sections for narrative and documentary features and shorts, women filmmakers continue to make up 50 percent of the selections, she said.
In terms of films addressing the environment, “when we first began our Air, Land, and Sea section four years ago, it was difficult to find those kinds of movies the first year and second year. Now it’s not difficult at all.” In addition to “Earth” and “The Hottest August,” “Flint” will be screened, with a panel to follow addressing local water issues. Two short films round out the program.
Three films that were added after the program guide went to press are “3 Days, 2 Nights” (detailed in an article on C1), “Knives Out,” and “Red Penguins.”
A murder mystery by Rian Johnson, “Knives Out” stars Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, and Michael Shannon. It will be screened on Saturday at 9 p.m. and Sunday at 4:45 p.m., both at the East Hampton Cinema. Tickets are $28.
“Red Penguins,” a documentary by Gabe Polsky, is about the collapse of the Soviet Union and much more, featuring a partnership between the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team and the Red Army that highlights the lawlessness and corruption of the era. Screenings will be tomorrow at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 10:15 a.m. at East Hampton Cinema. Tickets are $15.