Oscar Noms on the Big Screen Before the Awards
The seemingly endless parade of movie nominations and awards began its slog toward the Academy Awards in early October. Now that the end is in sight, with Oscar night set for March 4, the Hamptons International Film Festival is focusing a welcome lens on two of the less conspicuous categories, the Academy Award nominees for best animated short and best live action short, with a day of screenings at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor on Saturday.
According to Megan Costello, a HIFF programmer and program coordinator, “At our festival we’ve seen audiences growing year after year for short films, and we had several short programs on rush at the last festival. The fact that it’s cheaper and easier to make short films allows for more creativity and diversity in storytelling and storytellers, and I think audiences are really craving that.”
The program of animated shorts, which will be shown at noon and 5 p.m., includes “Dear Basketball,” “Negative Space,” “Lou,” “Revolting Rhymes,” and “Garden Party.” Three films not nominated will round out the program: “Lost Property Office,” “Weeds,” and “Achoo.”
The live action shorts include “DeKalb Elementary,” “The Silent Child,” “My Nephew Emmett,” “The Eleven O’Clock,” and “Watu Wote/All of Us” and will be presented at 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for any individual screening, $25 for a double feature.
One of the live action shorts, “DeKalb Elementary,” which was inspired by a 911 call placed during a school shooting in Atlanta, was named best narrative short film at the 2017 Hamptons International Film Festival.
“We don’t program for the Oscars,” said Ms. Costello, “but we’re thrilled ‘DeKalb Elementary’ has been nominated by the academy. I think the Hamptons audience is just a bit more in tune with really strong short-form filmmaking. It’s rare for short films to receive theatrical distribution, and there’s a real benefit to seeing them up on the big screen, so we’re always thrilled to bring that to our audiences.”
In another sign that audiences hunger for short films, the United Artists East Hampton Cinema 6 presented programs of the live action and animated nominees every day last week. Leading up to Oscar night, the East Hampton theater will show all nine nominees for best picture on a rotating basis from tomorrow through March 4. The schedule and tickets are available at fandango.com.
Hitchcock Classic
The film festival’s Winter Classic screening of “Strangers on a Train,” Alfred Hitchcock’s psychological thriller based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith, will take place on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Guild Hall. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the actor Alec Baldwin, who is the festival’s co-chairman, and David Nugent, its artistic director. Tickets are $25, $23 for Guild Hall and HIFF members.