Hamptons International Film Festival Announces Special Centerpiece Presentation, Achievement In Directing Award, World Premiere Screenings, Documentary + Spotlight Features + much MORE!!
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theater + film :: The Hamptons International Film Festival
HamptonsFilm, the home of the Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF), announced today that the New York Premiere of Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney’s IN RESTLESS DREAMS: THE MUSIC OF PAUL SIMON will screen as this year’s festival Centerpiece presentation on Friday, October 6, sponsored by UBS. The festival also announced that Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Todd Haynes will attend the festival to screen his latest narrative feature MAY DECEMBER, and will receive the festival’s Achievement in Directing Award. The festival is also set to host five World Premiere screenings of narrative and documentary features at this year’s edition. The 31st annual Hamptons International Film Festival will run October 5-12, 2023, with in-person screenings and events across The Hamptons. Directed by Alex Gibney, IN RESTLESS DREAMS: THE MUSIC OF PAUL SIMON is the definitive portrait of Paul Simon that follows him inside the studio as he makes his new album Seven Psalms, while also looking back on his six-decade, Grammy Award-winning career with countless musical peaks from Sounds of Silence to Graceland. Gibney is scheduled to attend the festival and will participate in a post-screening conversation on the film. “We are honored to be able to share this exclusive look into the creative process and legacy of Paul Simon, who is undoubtedly among the most influential artists of the twentieth century,” said Anne Chaisson, HamptonsFilm Executive Director. “Alex Gibney is one of the foremost documentary storytellers of our generation, and we look forward to hosting him and the incredible film he created with Paul Simon at this year’s event.” The festival will also present filmmaker Todd Haynes with the Achievement in Directing Award. Haynes is an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, director, and producer whose work has spanned more than four decades. Haynes’ critically lauded films include POISON (1991; Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize recipient), SAFE (1995), VELVET GOLDMINE (1998; Cannes Film Festival Special Jury Prize recipient), FAR FROM HEAVEN (2002; Academy Award nominee for Best Original Screenplay), I’M NOT THERE (2007), CAROL (2015), DARK WATERS (2019), and THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (2021), his first feature length documentary. Haynes will attend the festival to receive the award in person and participate in an “A Conversation With…” discussion on Monday, October 9, sponsored by The Macallan. Haynes is also attending on behalf of his latest narrative feature MAY DECEMBER, which will screen as a Spotlight selection as part of this year’s program. The film, which stars Academy Award winners Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, follows a married couple who, twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, buckles under the pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their past. MAY DECEMBER premiered in competition at the 76th Cannes Film Festival and is scheduled to be released by Netflix later this year. “MAY DECEMBER is a gripping exploration of scandal and its influence over American society,” said HamptonsFilm Artistic Director David Nugent. “Todd Haynes has a unique ability to captivate audiences through his provocative explorations of identity and performance, and we are thrilled to welcome him back to HIFF to speak about his latest film and his prolific career.” As part of this year’s event the Hamptons International Film Festival will also host the World Premiere screenings of five films, including Spotlight selections AVENUE OF THE GIANTS, directed by Finn Taylor and starring Stephen Lang, Elsie Fisher, Robin Weigert and Luke Blumm, which tells the true story of Herbert Heller, a 74-year-old man carrying a traumatic secret who befriends an isolated teenager in an emotional story of multigenerational healing; and I’LL BE RIGHT THERE, directed by Brendan Walsh and starring Edie Falco, Charlie Tahan, Jeannie Berlin, and Bradley Whitford, a comedy following a single mother who has her hands full. Additional World Premiere screenings include documentary feature TELL THEM YOU LOVE ME, directed by Nick August-Perna and screening in competition, which weaves a riveting and endlessly nuanced story about communication, race, and sex; and World Cinema Documentary selections STORY & PICTURES BY, directed by Joanna Rudnick, which takes audiences behind the scenes to meet the boundary pushers who create children’s picture books; and Max Original THEY CALLED HIM MOSTLY HARMLESS, directed by Patricia E. Gillespie, in which a mystery unravels when an unidentified hiker is found deceased in the Florida wilderness. As previously announced, the 2023 edition of the festival is set to open on October 5 with a screening presented by Audi of Netflix’s NYAD, the narrative feature debut from Academy Award-winning documentary filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. The film tells the remarkable true story of athlete Diana Nyad who, at the age of 60 and with the help of her best friend and coach, commits to achieving her life-long dream: a 110-mile open ocean swim from Cuba to Florida. Passes and packages for the 31st edition of HIFF will be on sale beginning September 5, 2023, at the HamptonsFilm website. Additional programming will continue to be announced in the coming weeks. The 31st annual Hamptons International Film Festival will run as a live and in-person event from October 5-12, 2023. HIFF thanks the supporters for this year’s festival, including returning Premiere Sponsor Audi; Signature Sponsors The Macallan and Variety; Supporting Sponsors Naturopathica, Dragon Hemp, Netflix, Silvercup, and Regal Cinemas; as well as official Media Sponsors WNBC, The East Hampton Star, The Purist, and new Signature Sponsor The Atlantic; and long term support from New York State Council on the Arts, and Suffolk County Film Commission. 2023 Hamptons International Film Festival Lineup – Additional Films Lineup
IN RESTLESS DREAMS: THE MUSIC OF PAUL SIMON Spotlight Selections AVENUE OF THE GIANTS I’LL BE RIGHT THERE MAY DECEMBER Documentary Feature Competition TELL THEM YOU LOVE ME World Cinema Documentary STORY & PICTURES BY THEY CALLED HIM MOSTLY HARMLESS About The Hamptons International Film Festival
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