QPORIT

Exceptionally fine performances enrich a large number of important films currently in theaters or coming soon.

The spectacularly impressive 2013 NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL NYFF 2013 and the intimately enjoyable 2013 HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL HIFF 2013 (which overlapped slightly in time and partly in film presentations) both coming just before the fall season begins, were showplaces for some of the film acting highlights of the year (with, as a major bonus to the film audience, access in Q&A’s to the stars and directors that made the films).

Talking to the actors and directors of these films suggests a pattern for how great film performances are created: (Note: not all these factors apply to every shoot.)

• Tremendous preparation by the actors before shooting starts
• Improvisation before shooting and on set to help understand the characters and the relationships between characters
• Interaction and discussions between the director and the actors (especially if the director is also an actor)
• A strong, positive relationship among the actors off-screen (especially if the action in the film is toxic)
• Dedication, almost to the point of compulsion, to get both the action and the visual look exactly right in every scene
• Playing the scenes with a natural, moment to moment focus on the character’s actions.

And

• “Trust” by the director that the actors are ideally cast and can nail the performance
• “Trust” by the actor that the director will handle every aspect of the film’s creation other than the actor’s performance.

While none of these elements should be surprising to anyone who has studied acting or film directing, what is evident is that the greater the effort in each of these areas, the better the result – and when the effort is much greater, the result can be much better.

As an aside, one major difference between film acting and theatrical acting is that (usually, not always) film actors must do their own preparation before shooting starts (especially when working with directors who “trust” their actors – as opposed to those who improvise and rehearse on set), while stage actors usually develop their performance during extensive (but never extensive enough) rehearsals together with the other actors, and can then even refine their performance over time based on the reaction of the audience.


Here are some of the great performances – see just below for more details!

Scott Haze -- CHILD OF GOD
Adèle Exarchopoulos & Léa Seydoux -- BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR
Ben Stiller & Kristen Wiig -- THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY
Bruce Dern & Will Forte – NEBRASKA
Samantha Morton -- DECODING ANNIE PARKER
Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Phoenix (and Samantha Morton) – HER
Ralph Fiennes & Felicity Jones -- THE INVISIBLE WOMAN
Isabelle Huppert -- ABUSE OF WEAKNESS
Robert Redford -- ALL IS LOST
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong’O and ensemble -- 12 YEARS A SLAVE
Domhnall Gleeson -- ABOUT TIME
Oscar Isaac -- INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
The Kids: Liana Liberato & Amy Acres -- FREE RIDE
Tanaquil LeClercq -- AFTERNOON OF A FAUN

And here’s some more about these fantastic solo, ensemble, nearly wordless, young, singing, dancing, romantic, courageous, loving, mad and body-less terrific performances:




Scott Haze -- CHILD OF GOD
NYFF 2013. Scott was one of Variety’s 10 Actors To Watch at HIFF 2013

The performance of Scott Haze in Child of God is one of the strongest, most amazing performances of this year or any year. Based on Cormac McCarthy’s short novel, director James Franco has created a compelling (and for some people a completely off-putting, horrible) story of madness, estrangement and seriously misdirected love. An almost impossible character to play, Scott has created a convincing and mesmerizing portrayal. Chosen by Franco because he believed Scott would commit fully to realizing the part, Scott, in fact, immersed himself in the world of the character for months, hanging out with moonshiners, living in a cave, studying the source material, and preparing himself so thoroughly that a film about his preparation would be a gripping film itself.



Adèle Exarchopoulos & Léa Seydoux -- BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR
NYFF 2013. HIFF 2013. Adele and director Abdellatif Kechiche participated in a Q&A at NYFF.

In an unprecedented honor, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux were awarded the Palme d’Or at Cannes, along with the director, for creating this supremely sensual portrait of a young woman’s sexual awakening and its aftermath. Filmed “eating scenes” are almost as memorable as the legendary one in Tom Jones. Making love in splendid sensuality, Adele is examined and revealed in illuminating detail, while Lea is the essence of attraction and rejection.



Ben Stiller & Kristen Wiig -- THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY
NYFF 2013. Ben and Kristen were on hand at NYFF 13.

In one of the smartest, most entertaining, romantic, and comedic romantic comedies in a long time, Ben and Kristen are terrific together, a classic film couple. This will be a great Holiday movie for the family.


Bruce Dern & Will Forte – NEBRASKA
NYFF 2013. HIFF 2013. Bruce Dern and Will Forte were on hand to talk about the film.

Winner of the Best Actor Prize at Cannes, Bruce Dern brings to life a brilliant character. He said (modestly) “It was all on the page,” but it was not until he gave it life that it was all in the film. He was assisted by a terrific supporting performance by Will Forte. Though the premise (a road trip to collect a “million dollar prize”) seems silly, this is a film that is nearly impossible to dislike.


Samantha Morton -- DECODING ANNIE PARKER
HIFF 2013. Winner of the SLOAN prize at HIFF.

In a fearless, totally committed performance, Samantha Morton brings to life the (lightly fictionalized) story of Annie Parker, a victim of the BRCA1 gene mutation that predisposes a person to the likelihood of cancer. Annie Parker, a real person, (who looked terrific appearing in person at the film’s screening) has struggled through a history of recurring cancers. Helen Hunt plays Mary-Claire King, a woman scientist who helped to reveal the role of the BRCA1 gene mutation in causing cancer.


Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Phoenix (and Samantha Morton) – HER
NYFF 2013. HIFF 2013.

In possibly her best performance ever, Scarlett Johansson is the voice of a computer system that Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with. The performance of both Joaquin and Scarlett was created over an extended period of time, first with Samantha Morton working with Joaquin, then with Scarlett and Joaquin, with lots of reshoots and improvisations.


Ralph Fiennes & Felicity Jones -- THE INVISIBLE WOMAN
NYFF 2013. HIFF 2013. Ralph Fiennes attended the premiere at NYFF, then flew out by helicopter to present the film at HIFF.

Two of the most challenging challenges in filmmaking are directing yourself, and making a credible period story of a passionate affair between an older famous man and a young woman. Ralph Fiennes does both. He described his method of working with (the terrific and beautiful) actress Felicity Jones as discussing the work in great detail and reaching a consensus with the actress.


Isabelle Huppert -- ABUSE OF WEAKNESS
NYFF 2013.

Isabelle Huppert created a great performance playing a version of the director herself, Catherine Breillat, who was herself involved in an episode much like the one filmed. Isabelle brilliantly portrays a woman who is the victim of a serious, physically debilitating stroke, and then loses the wisdom to resist a person she knows is a con-man. (In contrast to several other examples, especially the previous one, the actress and the director had almost no contact before the shooting began and did not, according to reports, interact very much on the set either – even though the actress was playing the director!)



Robert Redford -- ALL IS LOST
NYFF 2013. Robert Redford and director J.C. Chandor came to NYFF.

Robert Redford is underappreciated as an actor because he is so natural in every role. In ALL IS LOST he is simply himself at sea. Alone. No one to talk with… and he simply sets himself the task of surviving on a doomed sailboat. He is unfailingly interesting. The situation is totally believable. He is completely natural.



Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong’O and ensemble -- 12 YEARS A SLAVE
NYFF 2013. HIFF 2013.

In this very trying piece of history, the director Steve McQueen keeps many strains of almost melodramatic evil and horror in play to tell the harrowing story of a free black man from New York who, in 1841, is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South – a true story, based on a memoir by the victim. All the acting is exceptional: the ensemble of great acting is needed to keep the story in focus, credible, important and watchable. One key to the success of this movie is the exceptionally clear focus and desire of Ejiofor to escape from the hell into which he has been captured. This film and story is a reminder of the horror of slavery, and institutional evil, and how recent that was in our country. Indeed, with some small changes in detail and characters, and little change in plot, this could be a tale of sexual slavery trafficking today. Nyong’O, who plays a young slave woman is an exceptional actress that I first noticed a few years ago when she was charismatic in a TV special on Africa. She has since directed an interesting film, was a production worker with several great directors including Mira Nair, attended Yale Drama School, and is one of Variety’s Ten Actors To Watch this year.


Domhnall Gleeson -- ABOUT TIME
NYFF 2013. HIFF 2013.

Domhnall Gleeson again proves he is one of the great coming actors of our time. An alumnus of the Harry Potter movies, one of HIFF’s Rising Stars last year, he was a most convincing Russian in last year’s Anna Karenina, and here he is a flawless romantic, time travelling hero. Rachel McAdams is her usual delightful self.


Oscar Isaac -- INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
NYFF 2013.

A film about the early years of folk music in New York features a singular performance by Oscar Isaac as the title character. It is a multilayered performance that catches the failure to be charismatic of a struggling singer. Oscar sings and acts, perfectly, and is in just about every scene. Oscar is one of Variety’s 10 Actors To Watch.


The Kids: Liana Liberato & Amy Acres -- FREE RIDE
HIFF 2013.

This small indie film features terrific performances by Liana Liberato as a teenager and Amy Acres as a pre-teen. Both performances are natural and eye catching. Liana actually was on the cover of the NYT magazine on June 4, 2006, in an article about children trying to make it in Hollywood.


And finally:

Tanaquil LeClercq -- AFTERNOON OF A FAUN
NYFF 2013.

It’s not exactly acting in the usual sense, because this is a documentary, and the footage is archival, but Tanaquil LeClercq, a brilliant dancer crippled with polio at the height of her career, is a charismatic and extremely interesting personality.


Please follow us at www.QPORIT.com. We have many more photos, videos and stories to come about the actors and films above, and many other Film Festival films and events!

Here are some stories about NYFF 2013 and HIFF 2013 currently in QPORIT:

MAIN SLATE: NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL 2013
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2013/08/main-slate-new-york-film-festival-2013.html

21st HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (HIFF 2013)
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2013/10/21st-hamptons-international-film.html

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS -- the NYFF Opening Night Gala film with Tom Hanks:
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2013/07/tom-hanks-stars-opening-night-in-2013.html

HER -- with Joaquin Phoenix and the voice of Scarlett Johansson:
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2013/08/spike-jonzes-her-will-close-nyff-2013.html

TRANSMEDIA AT NYFF 2013
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2013/09/transmedia-at-nyff-2013.html

Labels: Ben Stiller, Bruce Dern, Domhnall Gleeson, Hamptons International Film Festival, HIFF, Kristen Wiig, Léa Seydoux, New York Film Festival, NYFF, Robert Redford, Scarlett Johansson, Scott Haze

The Spotlight films include: BREATHE IN, FREE RIDE, HER, LABOR DAY, LOUDER THAN WORDS, MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM, THE PAST and CAPITAL.This year the festival will pay special tribute to Oscar Award winning director Costa-Gavras before the screening of his latest film CAPITAL.

The Festival will have the World Premieres of AMERICAN MASTERS – MARVIN HAMLISCH: ONE SINGULAR SENSATION as well as the U.S Premiere of Oscar Winner Alex Gibney’s latest doc THE ARMSTRONG LIE about Lance Armstrong. Additional World Cinema highlights include the World Premiere of GERALDINE FERRARO: PAVING THE WAY, the North American Premiere of A FRAGILE TRUST and the Palme d’Or prize winner from the 2013 Cannes film festival, BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR.

Documentary innovator Barbara Kopple (RUNNING FROM CRAZY) will kick off HIFF’s third annual ROWDY TALKS series, taking place at Rowdy Hall in East Hampton on Friday at 10am. On Saturday morning, HIFF’s Golden Starfish Competition contenders Christine Molloy (MISTER JOHN), Dan Shadur (BEFORE THE REVOLUTION), and Gudmundur A. Gudmundsson (WHALE VALLEY) will talk highs and lows of their burgeoning filmmaking careers, while “New York Independent Film: Rewind & Fast Forward” is featured on Sunday morning. Variety Executive Editor Steven Gaydos will moderate a discussion focusing on the past, present and future of independent cinema in New York with director Whitney Ransick (MISFIRE: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SHOOTING GALLERY which is World Premiering at HIFF), Producer John Sloss, and IFP’s Joana Vicente of Independent Filmmaker Project.

In addition to awarding the Alfred P. Sloan film prize to Steven Bernstein’s DECODING ANNIE PARKER, HIFF will present the Sloan Screenplay Readings on Sunday, October 13 at 4:00PM. David Schwab’s FRANCIS TURNBULL and THE BURIED LIFE by Joan Stein Schimke and Averie Storck are the featured selections. Director Terry George will direct the reading of FRANCIS TURNBULL and Joan Stein Schimke and Averie Storck will direct THE BURIED LIFE. Both films were featured in HIFF’s Sloan Screenwriters Lab last April.

New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) members Joshua Rothkopf, Joe Neumaier, Bilge Ebiri and jury member Karen Durbin will serve as mentors, panelists and jurors at various events throughout the Festival. "We in the New York Film Critics Circle are honored to be a part of this festival, an event that's marked by provocative screenings and spirited Q&As. The Hamptons audience is a perfect one in which to see some of the fall's most rewarding work -- our members wouldn't miss it," said New York Film Critics Circle Chairman Joshua Rothkopf.

For World Cinema feature films, HIFF boasts 13 world premieres, seven North American premieres and ten US premieres. The 21st edition will included films from over 35 countries. Five foreign titles in the lineup are in contention for Academy Award consideration including THE ROCKET (Australia), THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN (Belgium), IN BLOOM (Georgia), THE NOTEBOOK (Hungary), and MOTHER, I LOVE YOU (Latvia). HIFF will also present special screenings of THE SHORT GAME, the SummerDoc Audience Award winner at the Southampton Center, and ABSOLUTE WILSON, in partnership with the Watermill Center.

HIFF will present eight programs of short films, including the GSA competition shorts; short films presented with New York Women in Film and Television; and a Student Short Film Showcase, and eight short works to be shown before feature films. Two short films, Jennifer Ash’s DINER EN BLANC and Ralph Macchio’s ACROSS GRACE ALLEY, are also part of the "Views From Long Island" section.

As usual, my favorite event is the introduction of young actors on their way to major careers. One very popular actor, who was at the Hamptons as a HIFF Breakthrough Performer & European Rising Star is Domhnall Gleeson, who is seen this year in ABOUT TIME.





This year's VARIETY 10 to Watch are:

• Dane Dehaan (KILL YOUR DARLINGS - @HIFF Opening Night)
• Scott Haze (Amazing intensity and commitment in CHILD OF GOD)
• Jack Huston (KILL YOUR DARLINGS - @HIFF Opening Night)
• Oscar Isaac (The Coen Brothers' new film, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS in which Oscar sings and performs brilliantly as a 60's folksinger)
• Michael B. Jordan (FRUITVALE STATION, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS)
• Brie Larsen (SHORT TERM 12 @HIFF, UNITED STATES OF TARA)
• Tatiana Maslany (PICTURE DAY, ORPHAN BLACK)
• Lupita Nyong'O (12 YEARS A SLAVE @HIFF)
• David Oyelowo (LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER, MIDDLE OF NOWHERE )
• Lea Seydoux (Prizewinner at Cannes for BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR @HIFF) 

 
SPOTLIGHT FILMS


BREATHE IN
(USA)
East coast Premiere
Director: Drake Doremus

As summer turns to fall, music teacher Keith (Guy Pearce) privately reminisces about his days as a starving artist in the city. When his wife Megan (Amy Ryan) and his daughter decide the family should host foreign exchange student Sophie (Felicity Jones), the British high school senior soon rekindles an impetuous aspect of Keith’s personality. Director Drake Doremus, last seen at HIFF with his stunning coming-of-age film LIKE CRAZY (also starring Jones), penetrates the family’s dysfunction and Keith’s mid-life crisis with a sensitive eye for detail.


CAPITAL “Le capital ”
(France)
Director: Costa-Gavras

The acclaimed master of political thrillers such as Z and MISSING, Oscar-winning director Costa-Gavras unfurls his latest nail-biter in the dog-eat-dog world of high-stakes international banking. Cutthroat corporate climber Marc Tourneuil becomes the CEO of France’s important Phenix Bank, appointed by the company’s board of directors as an interim leadership solution—or so they think. Tourneuil wields his new power with Machiavellian daring, stunning the old guard, producing dramatic financial results, and ultimately catching the scheming eye of Dittmar Rigule (Gabriel Byrne), an American hedge fund honcho and stakes holder at Phenix.


FREE RIDE
(USA)
World Premiere
Director/Screenwriter: Shana Betz

Set in the 1970s, FREE RIDE stars Academy Award® winner Anna Paquin (THE PIANO, HBO’s TRUE BLOOD) as a single mother who moves to Florida with her daughters in search of a better life but gets pulled into the perilous drug-trade business. This accomplished, gritty directorial debut, based on writer/director Shana Betz’s life story, delivers as both a provocative crime thriller and a powerfully rendered family portrait. Paquin’s dynamic star turn and a vivid supporting cast, including Cam Gigandet and THE SOPRANO’s Drea De Matteo, help make FREE RIDE an unforgettable trip.


HER
(USA)
Director/Screenwriter: Spike Jonze

Written and directed by Spike Jonze, HER is an original love story that explores the evolving nature—and the risks—of intimacy in the modern world. Set in Los Angeles in the near future, it follows Theodore, a complex, soulful man, heartbroken after the end of a relationship, who becomes intrigued with a new, advanced operating system promising to be an intuitive and unique entity in its own right. Upon initiating it, he meets “Samantha,” a bright voice who is insightful, sensitive, and surprisingly funny. As their needs and desires grow in tandem, their friendship deepens into an eventual love.


LABOR DAY
(USA)
Director/Screenwriter: Jason Reitman



LABOR DAY, from writer/director Jason Reitman (UP IN THE AIR, JUNO), centers on 13-year-old Henry Wheeler, who struggles to be the man of his house and care for his reclusive mother Adele (Kate Winslet) while confronting all the pangs of adolescence. On a back-to-school shopping trip, Henry and his mother encounter Frank Chambers (Josh Brolin), a man both intimidating and clearly in need of help, who convinces them to take him into their home and later is revealed to be an escaped convict. The events of this long Labor Day weekend will shape them for the rest of their lives.


LOUDER THAN WORDS
(USA)
World Premiere
Director: Anthony Fabian

John Fareri (David Duchovny) and his wife Brenda (Hope Davis) live an idyllic suburban life. After the sudden death of their young daughter, and deeply shaken by the less than ideal conditions of her hospital, the couple decides to build a premier children’s hospital, with the help of consultant Bruce Komiske (Timothy Hutton). Inspired by true events, this touching film portrays a family who instead of being gripped by loss created an extraordinary place of healing for thousands of ailing children and implemented a national standard for family health facilities.


MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM
(South Africa)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Justin Chadwick

The great Idris Elba, best known for his roles on TV’s THE WIRE and LUTHER, transforms into the legendary Nelson Mandela in this exhilarating screen adaptation of the political leader’s autobiography. Director Justin Chadwick’s (THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL) portrait charts the incredible true story of the many struggles that took Mandela from South Africa’s rural Cape region to armed struggle and arrest, and then to the president’s mansion as his nation’s first democratically elected leader. More than just a historical biopic, the film also tracks the incredible love story between Mandela and his wife Winnie, soulfully embodied by Naomie Harris.


THE PAST “Le passé”
(France/Iran)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Asghar Farhadi

Family secrets and domestic strife lurk under the surface of this riveting new drama from Asghar Farhadi, the writer/director of A SEPARATION, the 2011 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film. Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) travels from Iran to France at the behest of his estranged wife Marie (Bérénice Bejo, THE ARTIST) to finalize their divorce. Further escalating their immediate tension, Marie insists Ahmad stay in her home with live-in boyfriend Samir (Tahar Rahim, A PROPHET), and Samir’s children from his own stalled marriage. With this latest film, Farhadi cements his status as one of the world’s preeminent filmmakers.


The full slate of World Cinema films for the Festival is listed below:


WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY


AMERICAN MASTERS – MARVIN HAMLISCH: ONE SINGULAR SENSATION (USA)
World Premiere
Director: Dori Berinstein

This hugely entertaining documentary tracks the supernova career of one of our most beloved modern composers. Touched with an extraordinary musical gift, Hamlisch went from a Julliard-enrolled protégé at age of six, to the young film composer of such classics as THE WAY WE WERE and THE STING, to writing Broadway’s then most successful show of all time, A CHORUS LINE. A real showman with a love for theatrics, Hamlisch became a household name, a rare distinction for a composer. Don’t miss this rousing biographical portrait, bursting with Hamlisch’s hit music and featuring interviews with dozens of performing legends.


THE ARMSTRONG LIE (USA)
US Premiere
Director: Alex Gibney

After years of avoiding doping allegations, Lance Armstrong admitted to lying about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, an admission that led to one of the most notorious defrocks in sports history. Alex Gibney, the Academy Award®-winning documentarian behind TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE, ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM, and MEA MAXIMA CULPA, masterfully pieces together raw, unseen footage and interviews from the 2009 Tour de France, documenting Armstrong’s post-cancer return to cycling and the deafening controversy surrounding his current cultural status as a shamed athlete and role model.


EMPTYING THE SKIES (USA)
North American Premiere
Director: Douglas Kass, Roger Kass

Based on a New Yorker article by best-selling writer Jonathan Franzen, EMPTYING THE SKIES chronicles the poaching of migratory birds in southern Europe and introduces us to the intrepid volunteers trying to stop it. Trapped at “pinch points” near the Mediterranean, these globetrotting songbirds are considered culinary delicacies and reap big bucks on the black market, yet many species are endangered and some face extinction. Directors Douglas and Roger Kass skillfully bring the spirit of Franzen’s words onto the screen and deservedly win this year’s Zelda Penzel Giving Voice to the Voiceless Award. Preceded by the short film, TODAY


THE GALAPAGOS AFFAIR: SATAN CAME TO EDEN (USA)
World Premiere
Director: Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller

Darwin meets Hitchcock in this gripping murder-mystery about European ex-pats in the 1930s searching for utopia on an uninhabited island in the Galapagos. The beautiful, yet brutal landscape of Floreana serves as a perfect background for the drama surrounding Dr. Fredrich Ritter and his lover Dore Strauch. Too soon their lives are invaded by the Wittmer family and the Baroness with her two young lovers. When you’re on an island, there are no good fences to make good neighbors. Featuring rare archival footage not seen in 70 years, and with voice performances by Cate Blanchett and Diane Kruger, THE GALAPAGOS AFFAIR weaves “a human history” with modern-day interviews, spinning an adventurous tale of idealistic dreams gone awry.


GERALDINE FERRARO: PAVING THE WAY (USA)
World Premiere
Director: Donna Zaccaro

In 1984, New York attorney and US representative Geraldine “Gerry” Ferraro made history by accepting the Democratic Party nomination and becoming the first female vice presidential candidate. Featuring interviews with political luminaries and with Ferraro herself before her death in 2011, the documentary traces Ferraro’s journey through the peaks and valleys of political success, providing insight into the outlook of a feminist icon. Compelling and genuine, GERALDINE FERRARO paints a portrait of the woman who inspired countless future trailblazers—including Hillary Clinton, whom Ferraro assisted in the 2008 presidential nomination campaign.


THE HUMAN SCALE (Denmark)
New York Premiere
Director: Andreas Dalsgaard

After one of the worst earthquakes to hit New Zealand, the people of Christchurch took a different approach to rebuilding their city. They studied how their city could serve humans better. They studied car culture, bike lanes, and pedestrian walkways. They studied the work of Jan Gehl, the Danish architect who for 40 years has been analyzing the symbiosis of cities and their inhabitants. With emerging countries and their economies looking at the viability of urban growth, director Andreas Dalsgaard takes us around the world to see how Gehl’s seminal work is being translated within modern city centers like New York, Copenhagen, Chong Quing, and Dahka.


IF YOU BUILD IT (USA)
New York Premiere
Director: Patrick Creadon

In the poorest county in North Carolina, activists Emily Pilloton and Matthew Miller work with students to introduce design and creativity as a tool for community improvement. Barely getting by on grants and loans, Pilloton and Miller are committed to their yearlong initiative to empower their students to re-invent themselves and their struggling community. Culminating with a final project to build a new farmers’ market pavilion, IF YOU BUILD IT, from the director of WORDPLAY, offers a vision for a new kind of classroom and examines design’s power to be an engine of civic transformation. Family Film: Ages 12 and up


THE LAST SAFARI (Kenya/USA)
World Premiere
Director: Matt Goldman

When renowned photojournalist Elizabeth L. Gilbert returns to the Rift Valley in Africa to visit the tribes she photographed just a decade earlier, she bears witness to the changes wrought on the region. After her book is published, she hires a crew from Nairobi to assist her in screening a cinema slideshow to tribes-people, like the Masai, in their remote villages. But her ambitious safari is fraught with inclement weather, security issues, and self-doubt. Matt Goldman’s first feature captures the reunions, the dramas, and ultimately the triumphs of this remarkable journey. Preceded by the short film, SKINNINGROVE


MISFIRE: THE RISE AND THE FALL OF THE SHOOTING GALLERY (USA)
World Premiere
Director: Whitney Ransick

The Shooting Gallery was one of the premier production companies for independent film in the 1990s, responsible for art-house hits like LAWS OF GRAVITY, SLING BLADE, and YOU CAN COUNT ON ME. After the success of fellow alum Hal Hartley, a cabal of grads from SUNY Purchase decided to start a fast-paced company with a can-do, DIY attitude. But success came at a cost. Many of the original founders left, as business self-interest replaced the earlier common purpose and expansion into “new media” came to the fore. Director Whitney Ransick, one of the original crew, retells a fascinating, universal story about the “Enron of independent films. Director Whitney Ransick will participate in a Rowdy Talk on Sunday, October 13 at 10am.


RUNNING FROM CRAZY (USA)
Director: Barbara Kopple

Hopeful and heartbreaking, RUNNING FROM CRAZY opens with a vision of perfection: a blonde modeling in the wilderness. This particular pretty face, however, belongs to Mariel Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway’s youngest granddaughter, famous for her role in Woody Allen’s MANHATTAN. Hemingway’s family history of depression, substance abuse, and suicide is not limited to her legendary grandfather. Two-time Academy Award® winner Barbara Kopple uses fascinating archival footage of the Hemingways to explore mental illness as one of the last American taboos and the family’s struggle to heal while communicating honestly about the past. Barbara Kopple will be featured at Rowdy Talk on Friday, October 11 at 10am.


THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT (USA)
World Premiere
Director: Brian Koppleman, David Levien

When Jimmy Connors arrived at the 1991 U.S. Open, the one-time tennis superstar was eight years removed from his last Grand Slam title, ranked 174th in the world, and approaching his 39th birthday. But on the verge of a first-round exit, Connors unexpectedly re-captured his magic, embarking on an extraordinary run than included an epic contest with Aaron Krickstein. THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT not only illuminates this improbable march past a series of talented and youthful adversaries, but also explores how Connors became a provocative personality who helped make tennis a high-octane spectator sport.


TIM’S VERMEER (USA)
Director: Teller


Tim Jenison, a Texas based inventor, attempts to solve one of the greatest art mysteries: How did 17th century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer (“Girl with a Pearl Earring”) manage to paint so photo-realistically 150 years before the invention of photography? The epic research project Jenison embarks on is as extraordinary as what he discovers. Spanning a decade, the astounding documentary TIM’S VERMEER tracks Jenison to Delft, Holland, where Vermeer painted his masterpieces; on a pilgrimage to the North coast of Yorkshire to meet artist David Hockney; and eventually even to Buckingham Palace to see the Queen’s Vermeer.


WORLD CINEMA NARRATIVE


BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR “LA VIED’ADÈLE, CHAPITRES 1 & 2” (France)
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche

Based on a graphic novel, BlUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR follows the story of Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos), a high school junior who locks eyes on Emma (Léa Seydoux), a blue-haired college student. They soon ignite a complicated and passionate love affair. Stricken with the stress of homophobia and a turbulent relationship, their lives begin to unravel, revealing the difficulties of growing up together. Winner of the prestigious Palme D’Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, this controversial feature has garnered international critical acclaim as a gritty, realistic tale of love and loss. Contains scenes of a sexually explicit nature. Featuring Léa Seydoux: Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch


BOB BIRDNOW’S REMARKABLE TALE OF HUMAN SURVIVAL AND THE TRANSCENDENCE OF SELF (USA)
World Premiere
Director: Eric Steele

Bob Birdnow is a curious candidate for a motivational speaker. Balding, crippled, and past middle-aged. He does have something no one else has though: a remarkable tale of human survival and the transcendence of self. When asked by his old friend to speak at a conference, he avoids the subject, opting for a more traditional speech. However, when forced off the script and desperate, Birdnow takes the audience on an outré, radical, and unforgettable journey that brings us face-to face with one of life’s biggest questions. Based on the hit one-man play/experimental theatre piece by HIFF alum Eric Steele. Preceded by the short film, BALANCE


THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN (Belgium)
Director: Felix Van Groeningen

When Didier and Elise meet, they instinctually know they have both found their match. While his true love was once was reserved only for American bluegrass music, this fiery tattoo artist plucks away all semblance of the brutish bachelor he once was. They bond over music and culture, and dive headfirst into a sweeping romance that plays out on and off stage. When an unexpected tragedy hits, everything they know and love is tested. An intensely moving portrait of a relationship from beginning to end, THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN has been hailed by audiences internationally as a must-see film.


CAMILLE CLAUDEL 1915 (France)
New York Premiere
Director: Bruno Dumont

Academy Award® winner Juliette Binoche stars as the troubled French sculptor Camille Claudel, confined to a mental institution after her doomed love affair with painter Auguste Rodin. This immersive, austere film follows the ill-fated artist over the course of a week, early in her incarceration at the Avignon asylum where she will live for the rest of her life. Director Bruno Dumont and Binoche, in a career-topping performance, channel Claudel with heartbreaking clarity, detailing her struggle to maintain her intelligence and dignity amid grueling conditions and her gnawing paranoia.


CHARLIE VICTOR ROMEO (USA)
Director: Robert Berger, Patrick Daniels
With dialogue taken from actual black box transcripts of six real-life major airline emergencies, CHARLE VICTOR ROMEO is a haunting, riveting theatrical experience superbly translated to film by directors Robert Berger and Patrick Daniels. Started on stage in 1999 at the Collective: Unconscious Theater on the lower East Side, this compelling, almost experimental piece recreates the tense cockpit scenes word-for-word based on the CVR, or Cockpit Voice recorder. With unsparing truthfulness, the film has been embraced by the aviation community and used as a training video for pilots. It is truly unique cinema, stretching the boundaries of film, theater, and the traditional documentary.


EXIT MARRAKECH (Germany)
US Premiere
Director: Caroline Link

When 17-year-old Ben visits his divorced dad Heinrich in Morocco for the summer, he realizes his dad is as foreign to him as the country itself. Struggling to reconnect, their old conflicts bubble up and eventually push Ben to leave the luxury confines of his father’s world for the wonders the exotic country has to offer. From the colorful streets of Marrakech to the Atlas Mountains, with deserts and oases in between, Academy Award®-winning director Caroline Link (NOWHERE IN AFRICA), takes us through the unexpected twists and turns of Ben’s adventures and Heinrich’s search for his son.


IN BLOOM “GRZELI NATELI DGEEB” (Georgia)
US Premiere
Director: Simon Groß, Nana Ekvtimishvili

Early Nineties, in Tbilisi, the capital of the newly independent Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet union. The country is facing violence, war on the Black Sea coast, and vigilante justice plaguing their society. But for Eka and Natia, 14-year-old inseparable friends in bloom, life simply unfolds around them in the streets and at school. It rolls about as friends or elder sisters deal with the brutish dominance of the men, early marriage, and disillusioned love. With two startling lead performances by its young actresses, IN BLOOM is an evocative slice-of-life drama with the capacity to shock. Georgia’s Oscar entry.


JIMMY P. (USA)
Director: Arnaud Desplechin

WWII veteran and Native American Jimmy Picard (Benicio Del Toro) returns from France and is admitted to the Menninger Clinic, a Kansas military mental health facility. He suffers from dizzy spells, temporary blindness, and hearing loss; yet when doctors can’t find anything wrong with him physiologically, he’s labeled a schizophrenic. In a bold move, the hospital decides to seek the opinion of Georges Devereaux (Mathieu Amalric), a French psychoanalyst and specialist in Native American culture, to try the “talking cure.” A showcase for Arnaud Desplechin’s measured direction, JIMMY P also features beguiling performances by two actors at the height of their craft.


LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON (Japan)
Director: Hirokazu Kore-Eda

After learning their six-year-old sons were switched at birth, two families struggle to adapt to their new lives and deal with the emotional rollercoaster that ensues. This powerful story explores issues of class and parenthood in modern day Japan and what lengths one will go through to keep their family together. Portrayed through moving performances and gracefully realized by master director Hirokazu Kore-Eda (STILL WALKING, NOBODY KNOWS), this stunning evocation of family dynamics and relationships was awarded the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.


THE MAID’S ROOM (USA)
World Premiere
Director: Michael Walker

Drina, a young immigrant from Columbia, is hired by the Crawford family as a live-in maid for their second home in East Hampton. When the Crawfords’ son Brandon comes home from college one weekend, something horrible occurs; Drina unwittingly becomes the only person outside the family to know. But before her conscience gets the best of her, the Crawfords have something to say about it. Annabella Sciorra, Philip Ettinger, and Paula Garces star in Michael Walker’s haunting psychological thriller that explores the complex relationships between truth and justice, hubris and power, wealth and fear.


MYSTERY ROAD (Australia)
US Premiere
Director: Ivan Sen

A brutal crime. A rookie cop out of his depth stands alone between two worlds, where the mystery lies just below the surface. In this incendiary and impeccably shot noir-meets-Western by writer/director Ivan Sen, an indigenous cowboy detective, Jay Swan, returns to his Australian outback hometown to solve the murder of a teenage girl, whose body is found under the highway out of town. Alienated from both the white-dominated police force and his own community, including his teenage daughter, Jay stands alone in his determination to fight back for his town and his people.


THE NOTEBOOK “LE GRANDECAHIER” (Germany/Hungary/Austria/France)
US Premiere
Director: János Szász

This stunningly shot tale follows the adventures of 13-year-old twin brothers sheparded by their mother to the Hungarian countryside towards the end of World War II. Once pampered, they must discipline themselves to be tough and emotionless to survive. They write everything down in a notebook, keeping a written record of all they have witnessed during the war and following a strict code: prose free from emotion, notes precise and objective. Yet over time they are initiated into the horrors of a war-torn world, and, after brief post-war visits from each parent, must face their own ultimate separation. Selected as Hungary’s entry for the 2013 Academy Awards.


OH BOY (Germany)
Director: Jan Ole Gerster

The smart aleck Niko drifts through his twenties content to let life (and responsibilities) chug on by. But over the course of a single day, the cosmic balance shifts, imperceptibly at first, and a series of unfortunate and surprising encounters snowball into what could only be described as an existential crisis. If only he could grab a cup of coffee. Jan Ole Gerster’s hilarious and brilliant first feature swept the 2013 German Oscars, and rightfully so: with its sly subversion of Generation Y clichés, assured direction, and timeless black-and-white photography, OH BOY represents one of the most confident debut films in recent memory.


THE ROCKET (Australia)
Director: Kim Mordaunt



THE ROCKET
 

When his mother passes away during his family’s forced exile from their village, young Ahlo is branded as a bearer of bad luck by his father and grandmother. Traveling the picturesque countryside with orphan Kia and her uncle Purple (an alcoholic ex-soldier with a James Brown obsession), Ahlo and this destitute group of misfits might be able to afford a new home if they win an annual rocketbuilding competition in a distant town…but first they must get rid of their self-doubts. This spirited drama was the Audience Award winner for Best Narrative Film at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.


SARAH PREFERS TO RUN “SARAH PRÉFÈRE LA COURSE” (Canada)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Chloé Robichaud

When Sarah has a chance to go to a first-class university and to join its premiere athletic club, her suburban mother is fearful of the change and refuses to help financially. But Sarah’s roommate knows that they will get a grant if they marry. Sarah agrees, only to discover that her true heart lies elsewhere: Sarah prefers to run. A smart, incisive, and charming chronicle of one young woman’s blossoming passions, SARAH PREFERS TO RUN announces two great new voices in Quebec filmmaker Chloé Robichaud and actress Sophie Desmarais.


A SHORT HISTORY OF DECAY (USA)
World Premiere
Director: Michael Maren

Brooklyn hipster wannabe writer Nathan Fisher (Bryan Greenberg, HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA) has a lot of growing up to do. He’s a writer who doesn’t write and a boyfriend who won’t commit. When his father suffers a stroke, he heads to Florida where he also has to deal with his mother’s Alzheimer’s. Nathan gets a crash course in love, loyalty, family, and forgiveness in this dark comedy about stepping up when your parents are going downhill. A terrific supporting cast includes veteran stage and screen stars Linda Lavin and Harry Yulin as Nathan’s stricken parents.


STEPHANIE IN THE WATER (USA)
World Premiere
Director: Ava Warbrick

Pro Surfer Stephanie Gilmore won her first World Title at 17, on a day off from high school, during her rookie season. She led the World Tour for the next four years, spending most of her life at press events or traveling from beach to beach. She never lost a match, despite little formal training. Then, following a terrifying attack, for the first time in her life, she didn’t win. STEPHANIE IN THE WATER is an intimate documentary portrait about the culture of pro surfing, growing up a professional athlete, and what it means to be the best.


TANTA AGUA (Uruguay)
Director: Ana Guevara

Curtains of rain spoil the vacation that divorced dad Alberto has eagerly arranged at a hot springs; because he seldom sees his kids, he refuses to allow anything to ruin his plans. Nothing could be worse for teenage Lucía than to be cooped up indoors with Dad and little brother Frederico. But the springs are closed until further notice, and Lucía’s adolescent rebellion clashes against her father’s efforts toward quality family time. A taught, wondrous gem, TANTA AGUA captures the emotions of this universal domestic transition in the most naturalistic sense, even given the meteorological impediments.


TASTING MENU “MENÚ DEGUSTACIÓ” (Spain/Ireland)
North American Premiere
Director: Roger Gual

A year ago, married couple Marc and Rachel made dinner reservations at the world-famous restaurant Chakula on the Catalan coast. By the big night, however, they’d already spent several months divorced, living in different countries. Upon discovering Chakula is closing its doors forever, they both decide to show up—as do an eccentric Irish widow, a solitary man of mysterious origins, Rachel’s new fiancé, and two Japanese businessmen competing for the head chef’s attention with their overeager translator. An enjoyable ensemble film, TASTING MENU is a love letter to fine dining and fleeting connections.


UNDER THE RAINBOW “AU BOUT DU CONTE” (France)
US Premiere
Director: Agnès Jaoui

Laura meets her prince charming in aspiring composer Sandro… at least until her aunt Marianne’s neighbor Maxime puts an end to her childish fantasies about love. In turn, Marianne, a divorced single mother/actress, finds companionship in her driving lessons with Pierre, Sandro’s father, who is secretly planning his life around a fortuneteller’s prophecy about his date of death. Set in Paris, the world’s most romantic city, and full of characters reminiscent of those in fairy tales, UNDER THE RAINBOW is, refreshingly enough, about everyday life and how it fails to meet (and yet somehow exceeds) our expectations.


VICTOR YOUNG PEREZ (France/Israel/Bulgaria)
International Premiere
Director: Jacques Ouaniche

In the early 1930s, flyweight Tunisian Jewish boxer Victor Young Perez moves to Paris with his coach and older brother Benjamin to become the youngest world champion in boxing history. Their rags-to-riches story takes a tragic turn when Victor and Ben are imprisoned in Auschwitz and forced to box Aryans for the Nazi’s amusement. Based on a true story, VICTOR YOUNG PEREZ features a beautiful, remarkable physical performance from first-time actor (and record-holding athlete) Brahim Asloum, the first Frenchman to win both a light Flyweight World Championship and an Olympic Gold at the 2000 Sydney Games.


WALKING WITH THE ENEMY (USA)
World Premiere
Director: Mark Schmidt

Inspired by a true story, WALKNG WITH THE ENEMY follows the heroic lives of a world leader and a young man during the horrors of WWII in Hungary. Regent Horthy (Academy Award® winner Ben Kingsley) is faced with ceding power to German adversaries or witnessing the execution of his son, while countryman Elek (Jonas Armstrong) watches as his family is ripped away from him. Determined to be reunited, Elek takes on the German enemies by becoming one of them. Disguised as a Nazi Officer, he embarks on an unforgettable mission to save his family and thousands of others.


 
SPECIAL SCREENINGS



 
ABSOLUTE WILSON (USA, 2006)
Director: Katharina Otto-Bernstein

Showing in partnership with the Watermill Center, ABSOLUTE WILSON chronicles the epic life and creative genius of the world’s leading stage director Robert Wilson, intimately revealing for the first time one of the most daring and downright mysterious artists of our era. With humor, verve, and a buoyant pace, filmmaker Katharina Otto-Bernstein followed the restless creator for six years around the world, creating a unique portrait that freely moves between past and present. ABSOLUTE WILSON features candid interviews with the famous artist himself and with an unprecedented array of collaborators, contemporaries, and critics, including Philip Glass, David Byrne, Tom Waits, and the late Susan Sontag.


THE SHORT GAME (USA)
Director: Josh Greenbaum

Winner of HIFF’s SummerDocs Audience Award, this encore screening of THE SHORT GAME follows the young golfers, ages seven and eight, who descend on the World Championship of Junior Golf and dream of being the sport’s next phenom. Debut director Josh Greenbaum turns his lens on eight hopefuls––including Anna Kournikova’s younger brother Allan, and Amari “Tigress” Avery who shares a birthday, hometown, and ethnic background as one Tiger Woods—to form a fascinating and often funny portrait of a group of very young athletes and their families as they navigate the narrowly-focused, peculiar, and highly competitive subculture of junior golf. Family Film: Ages 6 and up




SHORT FILMS
 
SHORT FILMS: JOKE’S ON YOU

TO LEECH (UK)
North American Premiere
Director: Stephen Leslie

In contemporary times, it can be best to settle arguments like in the olden ones... at 12 paces.


CRUSH 472 (UK)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Jess Scott-Hunter

While waiting in line at a coffee shop a man spies the woman of his dreams...again.


MYSTERY “MISTERIO” (Spain)
New York Premiere
Director: Chema Garcia Ibarra

I had two dreams in my life: having cats and traveling into space. However, I’m allergic to cats.


RED CURTAINS “RODE GORDIJNEN” (NETHERLANDS)
North American Premiere
Director: Richard Valk

To spruce up their lackluster relationship, a husband redecorates their apartment. His wife is please, but soon her pleasure gets out of control.


FOOL’S DAY (USA)
Director: Cody Blue Snider

A fourth-grade class bands together to cover up their horrifying prank-gone-wrong before their D.A.R.E officer shows up for his weekly lesson.


A LETTER HOME (USA)
World Premiere
Director: Markus Walter

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever told your parents? Whatever it was, this was worse.


SHORT FILMS: CONNECTIONS


WALKING THE DOGS (UK)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Jeremy Brock

When Queen Elizabeth’s (Emma Thompson) guard takes her Corgis for a walk around Buckingham Palace, an intruder (Eddie Marsan) breaks into the monarch’s room for a chat.


A POET LONG AGO (USA)
World Premiere
Director: Bob Giraldi

Based on a story by Pete Hammil, two friends from Brooklyn grammar school reconnect and realize the impact they and their work had on each other.


DOTTY (NEW ZEALAND)
World Premiere
Director: Mick Andrews

On her bed in a run-down nursing home, a stubborn old woman struggles to send a text message to her daughter.


ACROSS GRACE ALLEY (USA)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Ralph Macchio

A young boy struggling with his parents’ divorce seeks solace in his infatuation with a captivating woman he discovers through a neighboring window.


THE OPPORTUNIST (USA)
North American Premiere
Director: David Lassiter

Over the span of one night, a charismatic social shape-shifter invades a party and becomes everyone’s best friend and possibly their worst enemy.


SHORT FILMS: NEW YORK WOMEN IN FILM AND TELEVISION: WOMEN CALLING THE SHOTS 


DINER EN BLANC: THE WORLD’S LARGEST SECRET DINNER PARTY (USA)
New York Premiere
Director: Jennifer Ash

Bustling cities, incredible locales, fantastic food, and thousands of diners dressed completely in white materialize for the largest secret dinner party in the world.


BEN: IN THE MIND’S EYE (USA)
Director: Iva Radivojevic

Ben is a diagnosed schizophrenic. He wants you to know what it’s like in his head.


#SLUTWALKNYC (USA)
World Premiere
Director Therese Shechter

Relive the huge, global, grassroots anti-rape movement in all of its empowering, shocking, and controversial glory.


EVA (USA)
World Premiere
Director: Stephanie Ahn

What would your 5-year-old self make of you now?


ONE LAST HUG (…AND A FEW SMOOCHES) THREE DAYS AT GRIEF CAMP (USA)
World Premiere
Director: Irene Taylor Brodsky

Oscar nominee Irene Taylor Brodsky’s unflinching documentary profiles a unique camp, where grieving children find comfort in one another to deal with their pain.


SHORT FILMS: THE EDGE OF THE WORLD


JONAH (TANZANIA/UK)
Director: Kibwe Tavares

A mythical fish leaps out of the water. Two friends snap a photograph. The island and their lives are forever altered.


THE SWIMMER (UK)
US Premiere
Director: Lynne Ramsay

A long swimmer journeys through the waterways of Britain set to the country’s seminal music. This short won the 2013 BAFTA for HIFF alum Lynne Ramsay.


RHINO FULL THROTTLE “NASHORN IM GALOPP” (GERMANY)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Erik Schmitt

A young man uses art to reshape the city around him in search of its soul, but a beautiful tourist overtakes his mission in this imaginative love story.


LOST THOUGHTS (USA)
World Premiere
Director: Jeff Scher

An experimental short about memory, with images conjured from the haunting 1944 piano Sonata #7, Variations and Fugue on a Hebrew Folk Tune, by Victor Ullmann.


OH WILLY… (BELGIUM/FRANCE/NETHERLANDS/LUXEMBOURG)
Director: Emma Da Swaef

Returning to the nudist camp where he grew up, Willy stumbles into a life wilder than anything he could’ve ever imagined. Winner of over 80 awards internationally.


A STORY FOR THE MODLINS (SPAIN)
Director: Sergio Oksman

A forgotten suitcase contains the mystery of a little-known character actor from ROSEMARY’S BABY, whose life is stranger than the fiction he acts in.


SHORT FILMS: STUDENT SHORT FILMS SHOWCASE


PISTACHIO MILK (USA)
US Premiere
Director: Avram Dodson

Love finds a way in a busy Indian neighborhood.


STAY (USA)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Brandon Zuck

When Ash is hired to deliver a suitcase to an old houseboat in the Florida Keys, he decides to invite his ex-boyfriend along for the ride. He never mentions the real reason for the trip.


LAMBING SEASON (USA/IRELAND)
New York Premiere
Director: Jeannie Donohoe

An American woman travels to the Irish countryside in search of her long lost father. She finds her path full of sheep, secrets, and shenanigans.


REZA HASSANI GOES TO THE MALL (USA)
New York Premiere
Director: Sara Zandieh

A trip to the mall for a recent immigrant leads to confusion and misunderstanding in this cultures-clash dramedy that looks at one man’s struggle to acclimate to a brave new world.


THE WHITE SEAGULL (USA)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Max Strebel

A dark fantasy about an old woman reflecting on her childhood , when a seagull hatches in her belly.


SHORT FILMS: PASSION & OUTCRY: DOCUMENTARY SHORTS


SLOMO (USA)
Director: Josh Izenberg

Like the best cliché, a depressed and frustrated doctor abandons his stressful career for a pair of rollerblades and the freedom of a California boardwalk.


DECEMBER 25 (USA)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Wendy Dent

A woman writes and rewrites a Christmas letter to her father. Each draft reveals a new truth.


THE FLOGSTA ROAR “FLOGSTAVRALET” (SWEDEN)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Johan Palmgren

Each night, students gather in the Flogsta dorms to scream about whatever ails them, from broken hearts to bad grades to stolen food.


I LOVE HOOLIGANS (NETHERLANDS)
North American Premiere
Director: Jan-Dirk Bouw

A football hooligan wears the love of his team on his sleeve, but is forced to hide his other true love.


THE BATTLE OF AMFAR (USA)
Directors: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman

Two-time Academy Award®-winners Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman tell the story of two very different women––icon Elizabeth Taylor and scientist Dr. Mathilde Krim––who joined forces to create America’s first AIDS research foundation.


SHORT FILMS: TAKE FLIGHT: SHORTS FOR ALL AGES


THE BLUE UMBRELLA (USA)
Director: Saschka Unseld

In the midst of a downpour, a blue umbrella falls in love with another colored red. Stunningly realized in 3D from Pixar Animation.


GET A HORSE! (USA)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Lauren MacMullan

When Mickey Mouse is separated from Minnie, he must use every trick up his sleeve to get her back in this groundbreaking 2D and 3D animated short from Disney Studios.


FEAR OF FLYING (IRELAND)
Director: Conor Finnegan

A small bird is afraid to fly, but with winter approaching and everyone flying south, he must face his fears… for the most part.


WOODY (AUSTRALIA)
New York Premiere
Director: Stuart Bowen

Dreaming of being a concert pianist may seem futile when you’re a wooden doll with paddles for hands, but Woody won’t give up without putting his best hand forward.


MISS TODD (UK)
New York Premiere
Director: Kristina Yee

Inspired by a real person in 1909, this stop-motion musical tells the story of one Long Island woman’s urge to fly and her perseverance to see it through.


A CAUTIONARY TAIL (AUSTRALIA)
New York Premiere
Director: Simon Rippingale

A little girl (Cate Blanchett), born with a tail that expresses her emotions, discovers the pleasures and difficulties of being different in this striking 3D animation.


SHORT FILMS: SHORTS PLAYING BEFORE FEATURES


THE BRUNCHERS (UK)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Matt Winn

A couple (Tom Burke and GAME OF THRONES’ Natalie Dormer) tries to tackle the London brunch scene, but getting a seat is harder than deciding what to eat.


FLO (USA)
Director: Riley Hooper

Nothing can stand in the way of feisty New York sexagenarian photographer Flo Fox from getting the perfect shot. Not even multiple sclerosis, lunch cancer, or visual impairment. Not anything.


BALANCE “DE BALANS” (NETHERLANDS)
US PREMIERE
Director: Mark Ram

When an anchor gives way, two mountain climbers are forced into a balancing act to avoid certain death.


COACH (USA)
Director: Bess Kargman

Hall of Fame basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer proves both on and off the court what it means to be the best.

I THINK THIS IS THE CLOSEST TO HOW THE FOOTAGE LOOKED “ANI CHOSEV SHE’ZE HACHI KAROV LE’EICH SHE’HAZILUM NIRAA” (ISRAEL)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Yuval Hameiri

Objects come to life, in a desperate struggle, to produce one moment that was lost.


TODAY (USA)
East Coast Prmeiere
Director: Phillip Montgomery

What if you were responsible for over four million people, but you struggled with even the most menial of tasks? This is the extraordinary tale of Dr. Pankaj Parekh.


HALEEMA (GERMANY)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Boris Schaarschmidt

A pregnant mother and her two young children are on the search for water and safety from the ruthless Janjaweed in the desert heat of Sudan.


SKINNINGROVE (USA)
Director: Micahel Almereyda

Unpublished photographs bring a forgotten English fishing village and its unique inhabitants back to life.


ABOUT THE HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

The 21st Annual Hamptons International Film Festival will take place this year from October 10th – 14 2013.

The Hamptons International Film Festival was founded in 1993 to celebrate independent film - long, short, fiction and documentary - Taking place among the seaside historic villages of Long Island's East End, the Hamptons International Film Festival’s intimate, informal atmosphere makes the festival an ideal destination for cinephiles (and just plain movie lovers!).

For more information about the 2013 Hamptons International Film Festival, go to




To purchase tickets and get more information about specific films and events:

Labels: Anna Paquin, Brie Larson, Bruce Dern, David Duchovny, Helena Bonham Carter, HIFF, Meryl Streep, Ralph Fiennes, THE HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Timothy Hutton, Will Forte