Saturday at #HIFF25: It’s Showtime!

Can you believe today is the halfway point of HIFF?

And there’s still so much more to see, including A Conversation With Patrick Stewart, our second Winick Talk, featuring our 2017 class of Variety 10 Actors to Watch, Chilean tour-de-force A FANTASTIC WOMAN, Air, Land & Sea highlight FROM THE ASHES, and incredible documentaries such as THE WORK, VOYEUR and THE FAMILY I HAD. We’re also pleased to present the world premiere of LARGER THAN LIFE: THE KEVYN AUCOIN STORY and our Saturday Centerpiece film, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI. Read on, movie fans!

Browse today’s schedule here:
SATURDAY 10717


Patrick StewartA Conversation With Patrick Stewart

Perhaps you know him as Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Or maybe he’s more familiar as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-MEN Universe? However you know him, chances are you’ve enjoyed the silky smooth performances Sir Patrick Stewart has been offering up on stage and screen for over 40 years.

Today at 1pm, Stewart receives the Variety Creative Impact Award for Acting at #HIFF25, followed by A Conversation With… Variety VP and Executive Editor Steven Gaydos.

TODAY | 1pm | East Hampton Middle School


variety10towatchVARIETY 10 Actors to Watch

Winick Talks at Rowdy Hall
Join this year’s breakthrough performers for a lively discussion about what it takes to make it as a young actor (and maybe also writer, director, producer…) in today’s film industry. The actors will share stories about their work and experiences in a casual and intimate setting. Moderated by Steven Gaydos of Variety.

> Meet this year’s honorees!

10am | Rowdy Hall in East Hampton | Free; no ticket required
Breakfast will be served!


Fantastic Woman 650A FANTASTIC WOMAN

Directed by Sebastián Lelio | East Coast Premiere
A shatteringly intimate and nuanced performance from newcomer Daniela Vega anchors this Hitchcockian drama. Transgender woman Marina (Vega) and Orlando (Francisco Reyes) are in love and are planning to spend the rest of their lives together until Marina finds herself under criminal investigation. Lelio offers a complex portrayal of a strong female character unsure how to navigate a hostile environment defined by prejudice and intolerance.
Chile’s official submission for the Oscar® for Best Foreign Film.

TODAY | 10:00am | UA East Hampton


From the Ashes 650FROM THE ASHES

Directed by Michael Bonfiglio
Moving beyond the rhetoric that frequently muddies the debate, this new film reflects on the United States’ long and often fraught relationship to the coal and mining industry, and ponders its uncertain future under the current administrationA compelling series of stories of environmental consequences that speak to what is at stake for our economy, health, and climate.

Followed by a panel discussion addressing the compelling and crucial issues discussed in the film. Learn more about the panelists here.

Screening TODAY only | 12:3opm | UA East Hampton


Family I Had 650THE FAMILY I HAD

Directed by Katie Green & Carlye Rubin
Charity Lee recalls the harrowing moment her teenage son shattered her family with one unthinkable act of violence. Ten years into the wake of this unimaginable tragedy, the grieving mother is forced to come to terms with her new reality. With great empathy and unrivaled access, THE FAMILY I HAD forgoes true-crime sensationalism for a nuanced exploration of the family’s complicated history with mental illness, addiction, and domestic abuse. Highlighting our capacity to adapt to even the most unmooring of circumstances, this is a moving testament to human resilience.

TODAY (one screening only) | 1:30pm | UA East Hampton


Work 650THE WORK

Directed by Jairus McLeary & Gethin Aldous
Twice a year, the maximum-security Folsom State Prison allows free citizens to participate in an intensive group therapy program with the incarcerated men inside. THE WORK documents these raw and revealing sessions—capturing harrowing moments of human vulnerability, catharsis, and connection in the process. Awarded the Best Documentary at the SXSW Film Festival, this extraordinary feat of verité filmmaking looks behind prison walls to reveal a movement of redemption that transcends what we think of as rehabilitation.

TODAY | 1:15pm | UA East Hampton
Encore screening Sunday | 10:15am | UA East Hampton


Voyeur

VOYEUR

Directed by Myles Kane & Josh Koury
In 2016, legendary journalist Gay Talese published in The New Yorker an excerpt from his upcoming book The Voyeur’s Motel, which quickly proved to be one of the most controversial stories of his career. The filmmakers track Talese as he investigates the story of the Colorado motel owner, Gerald Foos, who secretly built an observation platform to watch the most intimate moments in the lives of his guests. As questions emerge about Foos’s trustworthiness, Talese is thrown into the middle of a controversy that threatens to destroy the story he’s been working on for more than three decades.

TODAY | 8:45pm | UA East Hampton
Encore SUNDAY | 12:30pm | UA East Hampton


If Rush Lines are your thing, these are two popular choices on which to try your luck!

Larger Than Life 650LARGER THAN LIFE: THE KEVYN AUCOIN STORY

World Premiere | Directed by Tiffany Bartok
This gorgeous documentary explores the life of the iconic make-up artist who transformed the profession into a prominent and influential art form. Director and fellow make-up artist Tiffany Bartok paints a beautiful and deeply personal portrait of a man who, as both an artist and LGBTQ advocate, dedicated his life to elevating the inner confidence and presence of others. Through intimate archival footage and interviews with his famous friends and clients, Bartok weaves through the journey of Aucoin’s life up until his tragic end—reminding everyone that he truly was larger than life.

TODAY | 6:00pm | East Hampton UA
Encore screening Sunday | 5:15pm | East Hampton UA

Three Billboards Day 04_118.dngSaturday Centerpiece:
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

US Premiere | Directed by Martin McDonagh
With the local police force no closer to finding a culprit in the months following her daughter’s murder, Mildred (Academy Award® winner Frances McDormand) decides to make a statement of her own when she posts three signs leading into the town with a blatant message for the town’s chief of police (Woody Harrelson) and his rough-hewn second-in-command (Sam Rockwell). Academy Award® winning writer-director Martin McDonagh returns to feature filmmaking with this wildly entertaining and unpredictable story of a divided community simmering with tension and ready to blow.

TODAY | 8:45pm | Guild Hall
Encore screening Sunday | 7:45pm | Bay Street Theater


There are plenty of other films on deck today.
Browse the entire schedule here.
See you at the movies!