There's no need to travel all over the world to see the best in cinema. The Hamptons International Film Festival is entering its 32nd year of presenting the planet’s best and brightest flicks at various venues in East Hampton and the surrounding area.
The festival, presented by Regina K. Scully’s Artemis Rising Foundation, runs Oct. 4 through Oct. 14. As evidence of its success, the film festival has been expanded to 11 days and also offers more films with as many as 174 this year.
The venues outlined on the Hamptons International Film Festival website include Regal UA East Hampton Cinema, Sag Harbor Cinema, East Hampton Middle School and Guild Hall with registration at First Presbyterian Church and Morning Talks at Village Bistro, both in East Hampton.
Hamptons Film Artistic Director David Nugent spoke with South Shore Press about the process behind collecting these cinematic gems from around the world.
“Our films come from a combination of those found from the thousands of blindly submitted films that we evaluate starting in February each year as well as those that my colleagues and I see at festivals around the world and through relationships that we have established over the years. The exposure of being at a prestigious festival benefits artists getting started as many emerging artists have had their work exhibited here alongside the masters of cinema that have attended over the years.”
Nugent reflected on the success of both “Black Swan” and “American Fiction” after the first screening of these films at the Hampton Fest. Both went on to great acclaim with “American Fiction” star Cord Jefferson winning an Oscar for his performance. He also noted that the East Coast premiere of “The Whale” preceded that film’s success, including an Oscar for Brendan Fraser.
Among this year’s highlights, Nugent said, is the opportunity to view 174 screenings and share the venue with many of the featured films' stars. Even more exciting due to the festival's knack for choosing films that go on to earn critical acclaim. Nugent cited a “10-year stretch of consecutively screening the film that went on to be the Best Picture winner,” an accomplishment that no other festival in the world could claim at that time, he said.
Nugent is also excited about “Our Conversations With” several highly acclaimed actors, including actress/producer Demi Moore, actor and filmmaker Liev Schreiber and Tony and Golden Globe-winning actor Andrew Garfield. To mark her work in the critically acclaimed “The Substance,” Moore will be receiving the Career Achievement in Acting Award, according to the Hamptons website. Schreiber will be recognized with the 2024 Dick Cavett Artistic Champion Award for those who support the arts in education and other ways.
For up-and-coming talent, other awards go out to Malcolm Washington as breakthrough director for “The Piano Lesson” and Clarence Maclin as breakthrough performer in “SING SING.”
The Morning Talk conversation on Oct. 13 will feature the screenwriters of “Inside Out 2”: Academy Award nominee Meg LeFauve and Golden Globe nominee Dave Holstein, both of whom will receive the festival’s Achievement in Screenwriting Award.
“It's an honor to celebrate an esteemed group of accomplished artists and their indelible contributions to cinema at this October's festival. Our awardees have all experienced career-defining moments this year, and we are thrilled to share in their successes with our audiences,” Nugent said in a press release.
His advice to South Shore Press for festival newcomers is to utilize the rush lines to gain access to films and to “take a chance on a film you’re not familiar with.”
On an educational note, he said, the festival is packed with inspiration for future talent as it allows other artists and students “to meet and foster future collaboration and to see and experience each other’s work."
The nonprofit HamptonsFilm was created in 1992 to celebrate the art of film. The premiere film festival doles out prizes in cash, goods and services of more than $130,000 annually to filmmakers, which adds up to over $5 million in recent decades. Visit the website at hamptonsfilm.org for more on how to utilize rush lines and to obtain passes and packages.