Film Festival's Winter Series Roars Into March
Like a lion, the Hamptons International Film Festival is coming in strong this month, with a variety of programs ranging from rock documentaries to a master class on film interpretations of “Romeo and Juliet” to animated family fare.
The festival’s Now Showing series will resume on Saturday at 6 p.m. with a screening of “Concert for George” at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. The film captures the November 2002 tribute to George Harrison staged at London’s Royal Albert Hall a year after his death.
Directed by David Leland, the documentary includes performances by Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Billy Preston, Ravi and Anoushka Shankar, Ringo Starr, and many other rock luminaries.
“Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami” focuses on both the public and private worlds of the pop culture icon whom the Hollywood Reporter critic Stephen Dalton labeled an “art-rock glamazon supreme” in a review that described the film as “a sumptuous sensory treat.”
Directed by Sophie Fiennes, the 2017 film follows Ms. Jones to her home in Jamaica, into the studio with longtime collaborators Sly and Robbie, and onstage with performances of “Slave to the Rhythm,” “Love Is the Drug,” and other hits. “Grace Jones” will be shown at Bay Street on March 18 at 1 p.m.
The festival will present a free screening of “The Breadwinner,” Nora Twomey’s award-winning animated feature about Parvana, an 11-year-old girl growing up under the Taliban in Afghanistan, on March 25 at 1 p.m. at the Southampton Arts Center.
When her father is arrested, Parvana disguises herself as a boy so she can work to support her family. Peter Debruge, a Variety critic, wrote, “ ‘The Breadwinner’ proves nothing short of exceptional, celebrating as it does a young woman who faces adversity head-on.”
As part of the Hamptons Arts Weekend Festival, a.k.a. THAW Fest, HIFF will present a master class at Guild Hall on March 24 at 4 p.m. on the cinematic interpretations of “Romeo and Juliet” by Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann. Guild Hall’s own production of the play, which runs from Wednesday through March 25, will be on the stage that night at 7 p.m.