TRUTH: Opening night was one to remember, and everyone on both Rush Lines was able to find a seat. Success! We hope you all enjoyed the first day of screenings. On with the show!
Our newly renamed Winick Talks at Rowdy Hall kick off this morning with what is sure to be a fascinating reflection on the past two decades (at least!) of independent cinema.
Join IFC Films President Jonathan Sehring as he remembers his friend and filmmaking ally Gary Winick. Winick, who passed away in 2011, was a model of innovation in the field, using his brainchild production company InDigEnt to champion low-cost, independent and digital movie making. Moderated by Joe Neumaier, New York Film Critics Circle.
Winick Talks: Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings, join us for coffee, breakfast, fun, and casual conversation in East Hampton’s Rowdy Hall, located at 10 Main Street. Admission is free and open to the public, and seating is limited. Doors open at 9:30AM; conversations begin promptly at 10AM.
Today is the World Premiere of THE UNCONDEMNED, which has won the Brizzolara Family Foundation Award, given to a film in our Conflict & Resolution section, sponsored by Tribeca Shortlist.
The film tells the gripping and world-changing story of a group of young international lawyers and activists who fought to make rape a crime of war, and the Rwandan women who came forward to testify, to win justice, where there had been none.
Today’s 3:00PM screening will be followed by an unprecedented panel, reuniting key players from the film for the first time in almost 20 years. While advance tickets are no longer available, please try your luck on the Rush Line.
Tonight, the 2015 Festival kicks things off in Southampton, where our Opening Night feature film is YOUTH, directed by Italian auteur Paolo Sorrentino.
Fred (Michael Caine) is a retired composer and conductor, enjoying his retirement and Mick (Harvey Keitel) a film director planning his final film. While musing about their lives and illustrious careers, their pasts resurface along with s sense of melancholy. With a phenomenal cast of characters (Rachel Weisz, Paul Dano, and the iconic Jane Fonda), YOUTH is a whimsical meditation on the crossroads of friendship and aging.
If advance tickets are no longer available, please try your luck in the Rush Line!
7:00PM | Southampton Regal UA
Southampton Opening Night is sponsored by Morgan Stanley: Polk Wealth Management Group.
Selections from East Hampton (with directors in attendance!)
MISSING PEOPLE
2:00 pm | HIFF Documentary Competition | East Coast Premiere | Tickets
Director David Shapiro returns to HIFF with a documentary that follows art gallery director Martina Batan as she investigates her young brother’s long unsolved murder. At the same time, she obsessively collects the work of New Orleans artist Roy Ferdinand, whose paintings are known for their violent and graphic content depicting African American culture in pre-Katrina New Orleans. Martina’s journey is driven by both a hunger for closure and an inexplicable fascination with Ferdinand as an artist.
CLASS DIVIDE
2:30 pm | Views From Long Island | World Premiere | Tickets
Director Marc Levin presents a look into the modern effects of gentrification in Chelsea, New York, seen through the eyes of students from both sides of the street—one avenue and worlds apart. On one side of the intersection of 10th Avenue and 26th Street sits Avenues, a world-class private school; on the other side sits the Elliott-Chelsea public housing projects. In the face of rising inequality, stagnant class mobility, gentrification and much more, the kids from both sides of the street grapple with their relationship to each other amid the stark transformation.
SON OF SAUL
3:30 pm | Tickets
The winner of the Cannes Grand Prix and Hungary’s submission for the Oscars®, this is the monumental debut feature from Hungarian director László Nemes. Saul Auslander is a Jewish-Hungarian prisoner in Auschwitz and a member of its Sonderkommando (body disposal team). When he discovers the body of a boy among the corpses he risks everything to find a rabbi to recite Kaddish and give him a proper burial. With Nemes skillfully recreates the claustrophobic, dehumanizing atmosphere of the camp and its unsettling banality of evil.
CRAFTED
5:30 pm | Tickets
When a stroke of inspiration hits, sometimes you just have to follow it down the rabbit hole. But at what point does passion become obsession? This shorts program features three auteurs who follow their own white rabbits with unwavering dedication and, in the process, discover their magnum opus. Featuring IT’S ME, HILARY: THE MAN WHO DREW ELOISE, THE MANY SAD FATES OF MR. TOLEDANO, and CLAUDE LANZMANN: SPECTRES OF THE SHOAH. Directors and/or subjects from all three films will be in attendance.
HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO
6:00 pm | Tickets
Finding a date, getting dressed up, and going to a school dance can be difficult for any teenager. For many living with autism, the idea of going to a spring formal is even more intimidating (and even frightening), considering the need to navigate social cues they don’t understand. Alexandra Shiva’s film follows a group of young people as they attempt to overcome their fears and prepare mentally, emotionally, and physically for this rite of passage. With a gentle and sensitive eye, Shiva follows the group through counseling and a series of role-play exercises leading up to the big dance.
THE C WORD
7:00 | Rush
Filmmaker and cancer survivor Meghan O’Hara (producer of FAHRENHEIT 9/11, BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE) wants to change the way we think about cancer. In this daring and intimate film, she investigates the connection between the current cancer epidemic and our western lifestyle, including medical professionals’ tendency to treat only the symptoms and not the underlying causes. Backed by personal experiences and the scientific validation of Dr. David Servan-Schreiber, O’Hara asks us to reconsider the way we currently treat cancer, and advocate instead for society-wide lifestyle changes. Narrated by Academy Award® winner Morgan Freeman, THE C WORD challenges us to step up and take control of our health.
Screenings also kick off today in Sag Harbor.
There are plenty of other films on deck today.
Browse the entire schedule here.
See you at the movies!
