The 23rd edition of the Hamptons International Film Festival launched its five-day run last Thursday with Opening Night selection Truth, the true newsroom drama starring Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford. With a healthy selection of world premieres and Oscar hopefuls (including nine foreign language submissions), the festival is primed to bring some of the world’s best cinema to Long Island. Here’s a small sampling of what’s on the slate.
It’s a good time to be a movie fan in New York. Two of the country’s preeminent film festivals—New York Film Festival and Hamptons International Film Festival—are upon us. The 53rd edition of the New York Film Festival (NYFF) kicks off tonight, September 25, and runs through October 11 at Manhattan’s Lincoln Center. The 23rd edition of Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is next in line with a program running from October 8–12 in Long Island. (I’ve proudly served on the screening committee of HIFF for the past five years.) Given their fall festival dates, both have historically made good on delivering some of that year’s top Oscar contenders, and this year will likely be no different. Here are each festival’s Opening Night, Centerpiece, and Closing Night films. Check out each festival’s website for its full slate of programming. (All film synopses below are courtesy of their respective festivals’ websites.)
(Read about the entire process of making short film, “In-Kind,” by checking out the “Anatomy of a Short Film” section of this blog.)
Saturday, October 12, 2013
My film partner Stephanie and I attended the Hamptons International Film Festival this past weekend. I’ve been serving on the festival’s screening committee for the past few years and have been to the festival just once before. After waking up far earlier than I would ever wish to on a Saturday morning, I got together with Stephanie and we headed to Penn Station to catch our train to East Hampton. Along the way, we continued work on the shotlist for our short film, “In-Kind,” which we had begun several weeks earlier. Our progress has been slow, but fruitful. I’m excited about some creative shots we have planned, including one inspired by my filmmaking idol, Alfred Hitchcock (let’s hope we can execute it and do it justice).
Continue reading Anatomy of a Short Film: Goldfish and Lemonade
For the past two years, I’ve been a member of the Hamptons International Film Festival’s (HIFF) screening committee. I watch dozens of submitted films and write brief reviews for and rate each, helping the programmers to decide which films to accept into this prestigious festival. This year, HIFF turns 20 and I made sure to attend for the first time.
My friend Erin and I took the train from the western tip of Long Island to the eastern side, a three-hour ride. (There’s a reason it’s called “Long Island.”) This was my first trip to the Hamptons, home of New York’s well-to-do and known for some of the most pristine beaches on the East Coast.
Continue reading 2012 Hamptons International Film Festival: A Personal Account
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