Films Alfresco: Warm Summer Nights and Classic Celluloid
Outdoor films are a South Fork tradition, one that dates back to 1955, when the Hamptons Drive-In opened in Bridgehampton on the site of the future Bridgehampton Commons. It closed in 1983, but recent summers have seen a proliferation of outdoor screenings at various South Fork locations.
As if its October festival and SummerDocs programs weren’t enough, the Hamptons International Film Festival is leading the way, with more than 25 showings in Montauk, East Hampton, and Southampton.
Its outdoor series launches at the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter tomorrow with “Hook,” Steven Spielberg’s take on “Peter Pan” starring Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, and Julia Roberts. Screenings will happen every Friday evening at 7:45 outside the RECenter through Sept. 22.
Among the 13 titles on the Y.M.C.A.’s schedule are “Back to the Future,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Addams Family Values,” and “West Side Story.” The screenings are free, as is the popcorn.
As in years past, the Southampton Arts Center will turn itself into an outdoor venue with free films courtesy of HIFF. “Independence Day,” in which Bill Pullman, Will Smith, and Jeff Goldblum try to save the world, will open the series on Friday, July 7, at 8:30 p.m.
Other titles include “Young Frankenstein,” “Airplane,” and “The Artist.” In what has become an annual tradition, the series will end with “Jaws” on Sept. 1. In the event of rain, screenings take place in the center’s theater.
Three HIFF screenings will happen in Montauk, beginning July 16 at Gurney's with “Twenty Feet From Stardom." Also at Gurney's, “Open Water” will screen on Aug. 13. The Surf Lodge will show “Searching for Sugar Man,” an Oscar-winning documentary, on Aug. 6.
The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill will present a special outdoor program of film and music on Aug. 11. “Afripedia” will feature two 30-minute documentaries from Senegal and Ghana about Africa’s young generation that is challenging preconceptions and stereotypes. Concerts of African music by Ismael Kouyate and Band will take place at 7:30 and 9:30, bracketing the 8:30 screening.
Forever Bungalows on Route 114 in Sag Harbor has jumped on the bandwagon with five outdoor films set for Sunday evenings at 8. Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” will screen Sunday evening. Subsequent programs include “The Lost Boys,” “Mars Attacks,” “Hot Fuzz,” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”
Hamptonsdrivein.com, which provides the large, inflatable screens for many summer screenings, is another source of information, although details can be scarce. Outdoor screenings will take place at Amagansett Square on July 12, 19, 26, and Aug. 2. The John M. Marshall Elementary School has scheduled a screening for Sept. 8, and the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum will present “Emerging Artists in Film” on Sept. 9.
Several other venues that have held screenings in past summers, among them Cooper’s Beach in Southampton and the Mulford Farm in East Hampton, have yet to announce their plans.
As of press time, Marders in Bridgehampton had not determined if it will reboot its Films on the Haywall series, long a pillar of the South Fork’s outdoor screenings.
All venues suggest that viewers take beach chairs and blankets.