Hamptons Film Festival Raises Curtain On Key Films
Although the box office for the Hamptons International Film Festival doesn’t open until Sept. 26, its organizers are attracting early interest with intermittent announcements of its significant films.
The festival, which will be held over Columbus Day weekend, will open on Oct. 8 in East Hampton with James Vanderbilt’s “Truth,” with Robert Redford, Cate Blanchett, Topher Grace, and Elisabeth Moss. Mr. Vanderbilt served as a mentor for the festival’s Screenwriters Lab in 2009.
In the film, Mr. Redford plays Dan Rather, a former news anchor at CBS who broadcast a report in his final days about how then-President George W. Bush used family connections to avoid combat in the Vietnam War. The film, distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, will open in theaters on Oct. 16.
On Oct. 9, the festival’s Southampton opening night film will be “Youth,” a film by Pablo Sorrentino, which looks at a long friendship between two older men played by Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel and how they each confront thoughts of retirement. The supporting cast includes Jane Fonda, Paul Dano, and Rachel Weisz.
The festival has also announced its narrative competition feature films, which include Matt Sobel’s “Take Me to the River,” Ciro Guerra’s “Embrace of the Serpernt,” Avishai Sivan’s “Tikkun,” Grimur Hakonarson’s “Rams,” and Diasteme’s “French Blood.”
The feature documentaries in competition will be Jon Fox’s “Newman,” David Shapiro’s “Missing People,” Jean-Gabriel Periot’s “A German Youth,” Michael Madsen’s “The Visit,” and Ilinca Calugareanu’s “Chuck Norris vs. Communism.”
The feature jury prizewinner in each category will receive a package of goods and services valued at over $85,000 to be used toward the making of another film and a cash prize of $3,000.
The festival’s jury this year will be Michael H. Weber, who wrote “500 Days of Summer” and “The Fault in Our Stars”; Dan Guando, who is head of United States Production and Acquisitions at the Weinstein Co.; Josh Charles, star of “The Good Wife” and “Masters of Sex”; Marshall Fine, an author, journalist, and film critic, and Sarah Lash, an acquisitions consultant at Conde Nast Entertainment.
Last week, the festival also announced its Views From Long Island and Conflict and Resolution sections. The Views From Long Island films highlight work either filmed on Long Island, created by those from Long Island, or featuring Long Island subjects. Those films that have a majority of their principal photography shot in Suffolk County will be eligible for a $3,000 Suffolk County Next Exposure grant.
This year’s films are Marc Levin’s “The Class Divide,” Ron Davis’s “Harry & Snowman,” Alexandra Shiva’s “How to Dance in Ohio,” Robert Edwards’s “When I Live My Life Over Again,” and Pippa Bianco’s short film “Picturing Barbara Kruger.”
The festival’s Conflict and Resolution program is a selection of films addressing the human drama of war and violence. This year’s films are Nick Louvel and Michele Mitchell’s “The Uncondemned,” Dalibor Matanic’s “The High Sun,” Davis Guggenheim’s “He Named Me Malala,” Camilla Nielsson’s “Democrats,” Abigail Disney’s “The Armor of Light,” Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman’s short film “Last Day of Freedom,” Yasir Kareem’s short film “Kingdom of Garbage,” Dress Code’s short film “Plamen,” and Enric Ribes and Oriol Martinez’s short film “Take Me to the Moon.”
The Brizzolara Family Foundation will award $5,000 to one of the films, which will be followed with a panel discussion after its screening. This year’s selection will be presented by the Tribeca Shortlist, a new video-on-demand service set to launch in October that is a partnership between Lionsgate and Tribeca Enterprises.
Festival passes are now on sale, and festival box offices will open for individual ticket sales on Sept. 26 in New York City, East Hampton, and Southampton. Tickets to the opening night film and after party will be available for purchase this month.