QPORIT

HERE'S A TWEET FROM

THE HAMPTON'S INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

2012

HIFF Hamptons (@HamptonsFilm) August 21, 2012

Morning! We’re busy programming #HIFF12.

 We have quite a few surprises in store so stay tuned!

What would u like 2 see at #HIFF12 this year?

Got that tweet from HIFF Hamptons (@HamptonsFilm) this morning so I started thinking about what I would like to see at HIFF this year.

PRETENDING

TO HELP PROGRAM HIFF12

THE HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2012

(Note that HIFF is a terrific festival: compact, on-site, over the Columbus Day Weekend, with great films, great parties, and many opportunities to meet filmmakers. See the bottom of this article for links to earlier stories in QPORIT on earlier HIFF's). 

I’ll take my role as amateur, volunteer, unpaid, unheeded(?) HIFF Programming “consultant” quite seriously, and suggest some ideas for the Hamptons International Film Festival 2012.

Note that I haven’t seen any of the films I’m mentioning; they are film’s I’d love to see at HIFF, not films I can “recommend”; I’m expressing an interest, based on the director, cast, and story, not making a recommendation.

First of all, I’d like to suggest some panels:

A – PANEL SUGGESTIONS

1 – WEB VIDEO PANEL

Short narrative films on the web are rapidly gaining in importance and quality. The web is a natural destination for this format (a format that has not had great traction in theaters since the invention of the feature film!) Comedy sites and webisodes enhance the prominence of web video.

HIFF itself posted a story recently about web video and online video festivals.

It would be interesting to have a program of the best web short narrative films, comedies and webisodes, followed by a panel discussing this new opportunity for filmmakers.

2 – 3D FILM AND VIDEO PANEL

Last year there were many feature films in 3D. The trend is continuing.

HIFF showed PINA in 3D.

There are also 3D consumer cameras. A new VR device (Oculus Rift) that made a big stir on KickStarter (raising over $1M is 24 hours) in an indication of continued development of improved 3D viewing outside of theaters.

It would be very interesting to have a panel discussing both feature films in 3D and consumer 3D filmmaking. The panel could discuss technical issues, creative quality issues, and projections for the future.

3 – FILMS OF CONFLICT AND RESOLUTION PANEL

It would be interesting to have a wide ranging discussion based on issues raised in this category of film presentations with filmmakers and public figures. It would be great also to have Angelina Jolie’s LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY shown (out of competition) together, perhaps, with a retrospective of best films from previous years, related to this panel.

4 – BREAKTHROUGH FILMMAKERS PANEL

Like the panel with the Breakthrough Actors, it would be interesting to have a panel to meet Breakthrough Filmmakers, directors coming to HIFF early in their career.

Here are some other programming ideas:

B - INSTANT WEB VIDEO SCREENING ROOM

I am planning to videotape interviews – mostly in 3D – throughout the festival. Many journalists and many “civilians” attending HIFF will be taking pictures and videos of things they see, and their reactions.

Web video uploads are becoming ubiquitous.

It would be very interesting to have a (lightly curated!) channel on YouTube (and/or Google+) where videos could be uploaded and then have a screening room with a large screen monitor (3D I hope!) connected to a computer. The room would be monitored, and selections from the uploaded videos could be played continuously – either randomly, at the selection of the curator, or on demand by the audience.

Additionally, some events (eg Red Carpets) could be streamed live through Google+ Video Hangouts or other streaming services.

This room would also be the natural venue for a PROGRAM OF NARRATIVE WEB VIDEOS and for the WEB VIDEO PANEL and the 3D FILM AND VIDEO PANEL.

Note: The YouTube Channel, Google+ circle, twitter feed, etc would be visible publicly and externally. The screening room would make it possible and easy for HIFF attendees to view it conveniently on a large screen (and in 3D when the source is 3D) on site.

C – RISING STARS AND RISEN STARS

I do hope there will be many of the European Rising Stars at this year’s festival. It would be interesting, also, to have new films from Breakthrough Actors of previous years. Alba Rohrwacher is in one film mentioned below; Anais Demoustier has been in many fine films; Anamaria Marinca & Hannah Herzsprung (at HIFF twice!), Zrinka Cvitesic, etc are all having very interesting careers.

D - SOME FILMS I’VE HEARD ABOUT BY PEOPLE WITH GREAT TALENT:

(Note: I have no idea if the films in this next section are ready or available for the festival.)

Robin Singer and Mikal Evans were nicely paired in KISSES CHLOE shown recently at HIFF. They each have new projects I’d like to see. Robin has made a short film called POST. She’s currently starting an OOB run in Electra. She’s terrific and smart. Mikal appeared in GAME CHANGE and is in a new film HOW WE GOT AWAY WITH IT (so new it may not be finished). She’s also a great singer, with a new, exciting and interesting sound – Aside from her film, I’d love to hear her do a set at the OPENING NIGHT PARTY.

CERTAIN PEOPLE (aka KATINKAS KALAS) is a Swedish film shown at the Tribeca Film Festival, starring Mia Mountain. Mia is potentially (depending on the role) one of the most beautiful women around or one of the most tormented. I’ve seen her at a LAByrinth Theater event in a monologue she wrote, and she was powerful. She was nominated as a Rising Star in Sweden, and is currently in the cast of the (amazing) show, Sleep No More.

ANOTHER KIND (shown at the Woodstock Film Festival) is a low budget thriller by Jonathan Blitstein, a smart, energetic, ambitious producer/director/actor. Jonathan won a NYIT playwriting award recently for Keep Your Baggage With You, an OOB play at Theater For the New City.

Brit Marling was a breakout star at Sundance with ANOTHER EARTH (which she co-wrote and starred in). She’s articulate, with a fresh perspective on films and filmmaking. She’s in Robert Redford’s THE COMPANY YOU KEEP, ARBITRAGE with Richard Gere (which will probably be commercially released in September), and in THE EAST (which she also co-wrote) with Alexander Skarsgård, Ellen Page and Julia Ormond.

Actually, I was in a short film myself: Andrew Serban’s WEST SIDE GIRL, which has been in a number of festivals. It would be great fun to be able to interview (as a journalist) myself (as an actor) on the Red Carpet.

E - THE OPENING NIGHT PARTY

I have some thoughts about the Opening Night Party…

a) It should be a big enough venue to hold everyone (and their parked cars) comfortably. It should have a lot of good food that can be circulated easily. Gurney’s Inn was better than last year’s venue, but something needs to be done at Gurney’s Inn to provide more parking.

b) It should be possible to take pictures and video inside and outside throughout the evening. The Opening Night is the best opportunity for publicity for everyone – the filmmakers, the actors and the festival itself. There are more photographers there at the Opening Night Party, more interested in taking pictures, than on any other night. And, anything that comes out right away at the beginning of the festival helps the entire festival. (Last year, picture taking inside was not allowed.)

c) It would be nice to have an opportunity for filmmakers and actors to be introduced. Until their films have been shown, almost all the filmmakers are completely anonymous. It is hard to provide publicity for someone (or some film) you are interested in but have never met (and cannot recognize). An introduction event should not last long, but it could be very valuable both for actors and filmmakers that have come, and for the Press. (Indeed, it would also be a highlight and very valuable for Patrons/Founders who have paid a lot of money to come to a party with filmmakers, but have no clue who is actually there.)  It could be coupled – as I suggested above – with a short set from a great performer like Mikal Evans. (After this event everyone would return again to random partying – but people would know who they could approach to talk to.)

d) If filmmakers and actors had large name tags with the name of their film in large letters, that would also help both them and the Press (and the Patrons/Founders).

e) On Red Carpets (RC) it is usually difficult to identify the subject. It would be FANTASTIC if next to the Red Carpet there was a computer and someone took a baseline picture of each RC personality and posted it with their name and associated project next to the RC on the computer (and online) (I saw this done at an OOB awards event; it worked well and it was very, very helpful.)

F – FAREWELL PARTY

A casual buffet on the last day of the festival is a nice way to meet again with people you’ve seen during the festival, and find other people you’ve missed connecting with the last few days!

G – FILM AND FILMMAKER PROMOTIONS

One of the main reasons for films and filmmakers (including actors) to participate in a film festival is the promotional benefits they may obtain to further their commercial objectives (successful film run, more jobs, more money, etc).

To this end, it would help both the filmmakers and the press if every accepted film was strongly encouraged to provide, both online and in print, well before the festival begins, a press kit that includes:

The printed Press Kit should be available in sufficient numbers and conveniently filed, so any request for a press kit can be simply and quickly fulfilled, through the end of the festival.

H – MORE PARKING

To make it easy for the audience to attend films, East Hampton and other towns showing films at HIFF should make more parking available, closer to the film venue, with more than a 1 hour limit.

Probably the easiest way to accomplish this – other than changing to a 3 hour time limit for everyone during HIFF -- would be to issue a parking pass along with every film ticket that hangs on the rear view mirror or lies under the front window and allows parking for, say, 30 min before the film through 45 min after.

I – FILMS I’D LIKE TO SEE AT HIFF -- EXCITING SOUNDING FILMS FROM RECENT FILM FESTIVALS –

(Again, I haven’t seen these; they just sound good from descriptions I’ve read in press reports from the festivals.)

VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

Terence Malick’s TO THE WONDER

Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams, Rachel Weisz, Javier Bardem and Amanda Peet

Harmony Korine's SPRING BREAKERS

James Franco, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens

Brian DePalma's PASSION

Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace (great actress and a disappointing no-show as a former HIFF Breakthrough Performer)

Paul Thomas Anderson's THE MASTER

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams |

Marco Bellochio's BELLA ADDORMENTATA (aka SLEEPING BEAUTY, aka DORMANT BEAUTY)

Isabelle Huppert, Tony Servillo and Alba Rohrwacher (A recent HIFF Breakthrough Performer / European Rising Star)

.

Mira Nair’s THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST

Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, and Liev Schreiber (Mira Nair was recently at HIFF)

Jean Pierre Ameris’ L’HOMME QUI RIT

Gérard Depardieu and Emmanuelle Seigner

NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL

Ang Lee’s THE LIFE OF PI (in 3D, and also a first in 3.14159265 dimensions!)

Lee Daniels’ THE PAPERBOY

Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack

Abbas Kiarostami' LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE

90-year-old Alain Resnais' YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET.

and a lot of other films... NYFF is huge this year and just about anything is worth taking a look at for possibly showing at HIFF

SUNDANCE

Ben Lewin’s THE SURROGATE (aka THE SESSIONS)

Helen Hunt, John Hawkes and William H. Macy

Antonio Campos’s SIMON KILLER

Brady Corbet

James Balog’s CHASING ICE (Documentary)

Don Coscarelli’s JOHN DIES AT THE END

Paul Giamatti

TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL

Ben Affleck’s ARGO

Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman and Kyle Chandler.

Robert Redford’s THE COMPANY YOU KEEP

Julie Christie, Susan Sarandon, Terrence Howard, Anna Kendrick, Stanley Tucci, Chris Cooper, Brit Marling and Nick Nolte.

Roger Michell’s HYDE PARK ON HUDSON

Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Samuel West and Olivia Colman

Joe Wright’s ANNA KARENINA

Keira Knightley, Jude Law and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski’s ‘CLOUD ATLAS

Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent and Hugh Grant

Noah Baumbach’s FRANCES HA

Greta Gerwig

Sally Potter’s GINGER AND ROSA

Elle Fanning, Alice Englert, Christina Hendricks, Annette Bening and Alessandro Nivola.

Yaron Zilberman’s A LATE QUARTET

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Mark Ivanir, Imogen Poots, Christopher Walken and Catherine Keener.

Joachim Roenning & Espen Sandberg ‘s KON-TIKI – (Documentary)

Dustin Hoffman’s QUARTET

Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins as

Maiken Baird’s VENUS & SERENA (Documentary)

Josh Boone’s WRITERS

Liana Liberato, Jennifer Connelly, Greg Kinnear, Lily Collins and Kristen Bell.

TRIBECA

Kim Nguyen’s WAR WITCH

Daniel Burman’s ALL IN

Petter Ringbom’s THE RUSSIAN WINTER

Lucy Mulloy’s UNA NOCHE

Dariel Arrechada, Anailin de la Rua de la Torre, Javier Nuñez Florian

CANNES

Michael Haneke’s AMOUR

Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anne Emmanuelle Riva

Matteo Garrone's REALITY

Brandon Cronenberg’s ANTIVIRAL,

BERLIN

Bernardo Bertolucci’s ME AND YOU

Tea Falco, Jacopo Olmo Antinori and Sonia Bergamasco

Pablo Larraín’S NO

Gael Garcia Bernal

Carlos Reygadas’ POST TENEBRAS LUX

Adolfo Jiménez Castro, Nathalia Acevedo and Willebaldo Torres

Angelina Jolie’s IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY

Kevin Macdonald’s MARLEY (Documentary)

Zhang Yimaou’s THE FLOWERS OF WAR

Christian Bale

Tsui Hark’s THE FLYING SWORDS OF DRANGON’S GATE in 3D

Jet Li

HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

OFFICIAL SITE

http://hamptonsfilmfest.org/

HIFF 2010 WITH PARTY PIX & RED CARPET SNAPSHOTS!

http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/10/hiff-2010.html

THE SLOAN FOUNDATION AT HIFF 2010 (& BEYOND...)

http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/10/sloan-foundation-at-hiff-2010-beyond.html

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMERS (including a list of the Breakthrough Performers each year!)

http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/10/breakthrough-performers.html

QUICK FIRST REVIEW OF HIFF 2009

http://qporit.blogspot.com/2009/10/quick-first-review-of-hiff-2009.html

EMMY ROSSUM AND DARE (Video Interview) (2009)

http://qporit.blogspot.com/search/label/Dare

HANNAH HERZSPRUNG AND VIER MINUTEN (2008)

http://qporit.blogspot.com/2008/11/vier-minuten-and-hannah-herzsprung.html

ALAN HRUSKA AND THE WARRIOR CLASS (2005)