Conflict + Resolution

The five films in this year’s signature Conflict + Resolution program once again spotlight stories that creatively deal with complex issues and societal effects of war and violence, and engage audiences surrounding the causes. Since this signature section was launched in 2000, it has continued to stimulate discussion about major issues and conflicts of our time.

This year, FOR SAMA will receive the section’s Brizzolara Family Foundation Award for Films of Conflict + Resolution. Following the screening, Alec Baldwin will host a live taping of his NPR podcast Here’s The Thing with the filmmakers.

“Our signature program Conflict + Resolution has opened the eyes of our audiences of the horrors of conflict, and how we can help those in dire need,” said Anne Chaisson, Executive Director.

Browse the HIFF27 Film Guide.


BELLINGCAT: TRUTH IN A POST-TRUTH WORLD

Director: Hans Pool
Director Hans Pool tracks the story of several civilians who came together as Bellingcat, a collective of “citizen investigative journalists” dedicated to combating the spreading of misinformation online and working as a single unit to deploy open source investigations. Using every imaginable resource at their disposal, ranging from social media, video footage, and audio analysis, the collective has uncovered several global stories—including the identification of ISIS agents as well as those responsible for the poisonings of two Russian civilians in the UK. Focusing on the team of dedicated volunteers at the group’s center and the means through which they are redefining modern journalism, BELLINGCAT sheds light on those attempting to keep journalistic integrity alive in a post-truth world.

Credit: National Geographic

THE CAVE

Director: Feras Fayyad
New York Premiere
Coming off his Academy Award-nominated documentary LAST MEN IN ALEPPO, director Feras Fayyad returns to his native Syria, a country still ravaged by an unrelenting war that has spared nothing in its destructive wake, not even the local hospitals. In his new documentary, Fayyad covers a hidden, underground hospital called The Cave, where a dedicated team of mostly female doctors and civilians is led by Dr. Amani, a young female pediatrician. Together, they risk their lives to provide medical care to the besieged local population, ignoring the entrenched conservative and patriarchal pressures in their way. Fayyad’s tender, observational documentary captures not only the tragedy surrounding the doctors, but also the beautiful moments of generosity, compassion, and kindness that glimmer brightly among the turmoil.

Winner: 2019 Brizzolara Family Foundation Award for Films of Conflict + Resolution

FOR SAMA

Director: Waad al-Khateab, Edward Watts
Working with her co-director Edward Watts, 26-year-old Syrian filmmaker Waad al-Kateab documents the story of her life over five years during the uprising in Aleppo, as she falls in love and gives birth to her daughter Sama while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. As she is faced with the decision between leaving the city to protect her daughter’s life or continuing in her country’s struggle for freedom, al-Kateab continues to keep her camera rolling on the daily lives of her and her family. Winner of the Best Documentary and Audience Awards at SXSW and the Golden Eye Award at the Cannes Film Festival, FOR SAMA is a harrowing depiction of one woman’s fight for survival in one of the world’s most dangerous war zones. Followed by a live taping of Alec Baldwin’s NPR podcast Here’s the Thing.

HEARTS AND BONES

US Premiere
Director: Ben Lawrence
War photographer Daniel Fisher (Hugo Weaving) returns home to Sydney from his latest assignment to begin preparations for an upcoming retrospective of his work within many of the world’s most dangerous combat zones. As he prepares for both the opening and, much to his partner’s discomfort, his next assignment abroad, he’s greeted by a surprise visitor: Sebastian Aman (Andrew Lury), a South Sudanese refugee urging Daniel to exclude photographs from a massacre in his village 15 years ago. As the two men come together, a friendship blossoms through the shared trauma they’ve worked so hard to move beyond, in this timely and affecting look at the difficulty of facing years of repression.

THE HUMAN FACTOR

East Coast Premiere
Director: Dror Moreh
The intricacies of the volatile Palestinian-Israeli peace talks are deftly explored in Academy Award-nominated director Dror Moreh’s (THE GATEKEEPERS) latest documentary. With unprecedented access to six key envoys involved in the peace talk negotiations from the late 1980s to 2000, Moreh creates a riveting behind-the-scenes look at how Bill Clinton, Yasser Arafat, and Yitzhak Rabin came within reach of pulling off the impossible, and how their dreams for a peace accord would eventually unravel in tragedy. THE HUMAN FACTOR is a fascinating look at the missed opportunities and lost chances of the negotiations, with consequences that still reverberate around the world.


The 27th annual Hamptons International Film Festival will take place Columbus Day Weekend: October 10 – 14, 2019. The Festival is pleased to welcome back returning Premiere Sponsor Audi, Lead Sponsors Delta, Altour and Netflix, Signature Sponsors Douglas Elliman and JP Morgan, and Official Media Sponsors WNBC, The East Hampton Star, and Purist Magazine.