The Hamptons International Film Festival Announces
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
THE HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES HILARY SWANK AND JOEL SCHUMACHER WILL EACH TAKE PART IN “A CONVERSATION WITH…” AND BOTH WILL ALSO RECEIVE INDIVIDUAL AWARDS HIFF ANNOUNCES ANNUAL GOLDEN STARFISH COMPETITION FILMS East Hampton, NY (September 10, 2014) – The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is proud to announce part of its extensive lineup of signature programs for the 22nd annual festival. Since the festival’s inception, “A Conversation With…” has been an integral part of HIFF, and this year Hilary Swank and Joel Schumacher will participate in individual talks as part of the annual program. In another signature program, 20 films have been selected for this year’s Golden Starfish competition, including the US premieres of Melanie Laurent's BREATHE, Gabriel Mascaro's AUGUST WINDS, and Tamara Erde's THIS IS MY LAND, and the East Coast premieres of Peter Strickland's THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY and Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz's GETT: THE TRIAL OF VIVIANE AMSALEM. HIFF will take place on Columbus Day Weekend, from October 9-13. The Golden Starfish Awards (GSA) honor emerging directors from around the world in narrative feature, documentary feature and short film competitions along with the newly added category for documentary short films. Juried by world-class filmmakers and industry professionals, these competitions represent the important, provocative premieres by cinema’s next wave of filmmakers. We are very excited to once again be working with long-time sponsors The Wall Street Journal and A&E Indie Films, who will sponsor the Golden Starfish Award Narrative Competition section and Golden Starfish Award Documentary section, respectively. The Golden Starfish Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, October 13th in East Hampton and the 2014 jury will be announced at a later date. Please find the full list of competition films below. "Our competition sections are always a highlight of the festival for us as they focus on new films by emerging artists. With 20 films, made by artists from 15 different countries, our audiences get a real sense for cinematic trends all around the globe," said David Nugent, HIFF Artistic Director. "With this year's festival we are also inaugurating a competitive section for Best Short Documentary, as our commitment to non-fiction cinema is something on which we pride ourselves." “A Conversation With…” Joel Schumacher will take place on Saturday, October 11th at 11:00am at Bay Street in Sag Harbor. Jess Cagle, Editorial Director of People and Entertainment Weekly, will lead the talk and will present Schumacher with the Golden Starfish Lifetime Achievement in Directing Award. Hilary Swank’s “A Conversation With…” will be held on Sunday, October 12th at 3pm at Bay Street. Along with this Master Class discussion moderated by Variety Executive Editor, Steven Gaydos, she will also be honored with Variety’s Creative Impact in Acting Award. Swank is attending on behalf of the Corcoran-sponsored Sunday Centerpiece film, THE HOMESMAN, which will mark its East Coast premiere at HIFF. Actress and producer Hilary Swank began acting at the age of 15; during her more than twenty-year career she has worked on a wide range of films, including starring in and executive producing the following: CONVICTION; Mira Nair’s AMELIA, the story of the legendary aviatrix; and FREEDOM WRITERS, directed by Richard LaGravenese based on the inspiring story of teacher Erin Grumell and her “at-risk” class. Additional acting credits include Christopher Nolan’s INSOMNIA, Richard LaGravenese’s romantic drama P.S. I LOVE YOU, her break out and Academy Award Best Actress winning performance in BOYS DON'T CRY; and a second Academy Award for Best Actress starring opposite Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman in MILLION DOLLAR BABY. Joel Schumacher is renowned for his versatility, style and ability to move seamlessly between film genres with equal popular success and critical acclaim. Known for such iconic fare as ST, ELMO’S FIRE, THE LOST BOYS, COUSINS, FLATLINERS, DYING YOUNG, FALLING DOWN, and later THE CLIENT, A TIME TO KILL, two installments of the Batman film franchise (BATMAN FOREVER and BATMAN & ROBIN). As his career entered the 21st century, Joel brought audiences the films 8MM, FLAWLESS, TIGERLAND, PHONE BOOTH, BAD COMPANY, VERONICA GUERIN, THE NUMBER 23, TRESPASS and his 2004 film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Most recently, Joel returned to television, directing two episodes of the Emmy-nominated Netflix series HOUSE OF CARDS, starring Kevin Spacey and executive produced by David Fincher. FIND FULL LIST OF GOLDEN STARFISH COMPETITION FILMS GOLDEN STARFISH AWARD: Narrative Feature AUGUST WINDS “Ventos de Agosto” (Brazil) US Premiere Director: Gabriel Mascaro On a tiny coastal village in Brazil, Shirley and Jeison pass the time by working on a coconut plantation. On their spare time, he dives for seafood while she sunbathes and dreams of being a tattoo artist. Their restless but tranquil life is provoked as intense tropical storms approach, washing ashore a corpse. Drawing on his documentary roots, Gabriel Mascaro deliberately eschews a traditional narrative in favor of an atmospheric and lyrical approach. Weaving the textures of the landscape with superb, natural performances, Mascaro delicately reveals a thoughtful and, sometimes humorous, meditation on life and death. BREATHE “Respire” (France) US Premiere Director: Melanie Laurent Famed actress Melanie Laurent (INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, ENEMY) steps behind the camera for BREATHE, an assured and refined look at fragile adolescent friendships. Entering the private world of Charlie and Sara, whose raw attraction quickly makes them inseparable, we see tenderness turn sour as Sarah shifts her attention to a young pilot, leaving Charlie heartbroken. Superbly acted by Josephine Japy (Charlie) and Lou De Laage (Sara), BREATHE is an honest look at young friendships, where passion can easily turn into obsession and the harsh reality of trying to find your voice means you may be left lost, wounded, and devastated. THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY (United Kingdom) East Coast Premiere Director: Peter Strickland Similar to a larva transforming into a caterpillar only to cocoon and bloom into a butterfly, Peter Strickland’s THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY shifts and twists from a classic melodrama into a perverse and psychedelic sadomasochistic lesbian experience – all done with an artists eye for mood and detail. Both the gothic scenery and haunting score envelop the senses and manipulate the viewer into a feeling of frenzy. Elevated by powerful and sensual performances by the two leads, Strickland’s strange film achieves a unique beauty and profundity somewhere between David Lynch’s MULHOLLAND DR. and Luis Buñuel’s BELLE DE JOUR. GETT: THE TRIAL OF VIVIANE AMSALEM “Gett” (Israel, France, Germany) East Coast Premiere Directors: Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz This final piece of the trilogy by Israeli siblings Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz explores the unfolding of a marriage under the jurisdiction of a rabbinical court in which a Jewish marriage may only end if the husband presents a "gett," a divorce document, to his wife. Calling attention to a male-dominant process that can take years, sometimes decades, and set entirely in the courtroom, this brilliantly written and acted film reveals the slow dissolution of a marriage between Vivane (Ronit Elkabetz) and Elisha (Simon Abkarian). Balancing the seriousness of what’s at stake with an often-humorous tone, GETT offers a deeply moving take on an otherwise painful process. LITTLE ACCIDENTS (United States) New York Premiere Director: Sara Colangelo A haunting portrait of the unintended consequence, LITTLE ACCIDENTS follows the wake of tragedy in small town America where a mining disaster leaves 10 dead and the delicate social fabric of a community in tatters. When the son of the chief executive goes missing, his wife; the lone survivor to the disaster, Amos; and Owen, a local boy left fatherless by the tragedy, become bound to one another by their shared grief and through a series of shocking revelations. A stunning work by first-time feature filmmaker, Sara Colangelo, it features a stellar cast, including Elizabeth Banks, Boyd Holbrook and Chloe Sevigny. GOLDEN STARFISH AWARD: Documentary Feature THE GREAT INVISIBLE (United States) New York Premiere Director: Margaret Brown On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded devastating communities throughout the Gulf Coast of the United States. Eleven lives were lost, the natural ecosystem was destroyed, and the pollution forced countless local businesses to shut down. Margaret Brown’s THE GREAT INVISIBLE, winner of the Grand Jury prize at SXSW, is a thought provoking and complex human drama that lifts the curtain on a corrupt and negligent industry driven by greed. With harrowing testimonies from survivors, families, local fisherman, an others perpetually effected by the disaster, Brown seeks to tell a sobering and layered account of a tragedy still unfolding. KILLING TIME (The Netherlands) New York Premiere Director: Jaap Van Hoewijk On June 12, 2013 in Huntsville, Texas, preparations take place for the lethal injection of Elroy Chester, a man convicted of the rape of two teenage girls and the murder of their uncle. After 15 years on death row, Chester will be executed at precisely 6:00PM. While his family prepares to say goodbye, the victims and their family prepare for closure. KILLING TIME is the emotional follow up to the 1995 film, PROCEDURE 769, WITNESS TO THE EXECUTION, which examined those who came to Chester’s court sentences. Returning to Texas once more, director Jaap van Hoewijk turns his lens on the people most affected as they pass the final hours. THE SPECIAL NEED (Italy, Germany) East Coast Premiere Director: Carlo Zoratti We all have needs. Some are more difficult or specific to fulfill than others. For 29-year- old Enea, his need is even more special, as his autism directly hinders his goal of love - especially of the physical kind.