HIFF 2014: Hidden Gems

Don’t be discouraged if advanced tickets to some of the films you want to see at HIFF 2014 have already sold out. The Festival is full of hidden gems, just waiting to be discovered! To that end, we’ve highlighted a few choices for your consideration. In each case, the director, cast and/or crew will be on hand to answer questions and provide a peek behind the movie-making curtain…

Happy Valley

Happy Valley centers on the people of State College, Pennsylvania and its conflicted reactions to the Penn State football scandal in the months following Jerry Sandusky’s arrest for child molestation. With interviews with those directly involved and die-hard fans alike, documentarian Amir Bar-Lev (The Tillman Story, My Kid Could Paint That) captures the college town as it struggles to define itself in the wake of Sandusky’s crimes and the negligence allegations leveled against coach Joe Paterno, his staff, the college’s administration, and (according to some in the media) the town itself.

Scheduled to appear: Amir Bar-Lev

The Last Impresario

Michael White helped influence the cultural scene of the 1970s with everything from theater, film, dance, fashion, and beauty—but you’ve probably never heard of him. In this personal documentary, Gracie Otto celebrates the living legend that produced over 200 shows and movies, nurtured countless careers, and brought productions such as Oh! Calcutta!, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Monty Python’s The Holy Grail to the world. With interviews from over 50 of his closest (celebrity) friends, The Last Impresario is a worthy tribute to a man who had it all, lost everything, and is still the life of the party.

Scheduled to appear: Gracie Otto and guests

Iris

Albert Maysles is a treasured master of the documentary form, with a long association with the Hamptons dating back to his 1975 feature Grey Gardens.

His latest film is about fashion- and interior-design maven Iris Apfel, now 93 years old, as she celebrates the late wave of popularity she enjoyed on the heels the Met’s 2006 exhibition of her collection of often affordably priced fashion accessories. Maysles, who pops up from time to time as a cheerful on-camera presence, follows Iris as she makes selections for the touring exhibition, advises young women on their fashion choices, and bargains with store owners, usually in the company of her husband of 66 years, Carl, now 100.

Iris is screening as part of HIFF’s Views From Long Island program.

Scheduled to appear: Albert Maysles, Iris Apfel (first screening only)

Red Army

In an exhilarating story played out on Olympic ice, Red Army chronicles the rise and fall of the Red Army Hockey Team; the Soviet Union’s most powerful sports dynasty. Making his directorial debut, Gabe Polsky revisits the history of the Cold War using an incredible collection of archival material from both sides of the Iron Curtain. Featuring revealing commentary from the players themselves, including one of Russia’s greatest players Slava Fetisov, Red Army skillfully balances the personal and political drama behind one hockey’s greatest stories, revealing the thin line between national hero and political enemy.

Scheduled to appear: Gabe Polsky

Killing Time

June 12, 2013, in Huntsville, Texas: preparations take place for the lethal injection of Elroy Chester, a man convicted of raping two teenage girls and murdering their uncle. After 15 years on death row, Chester will be executed at precisely 6:00 pm. While his family prepares to say goodbye, the victims prepare for closure. Director Jaap van Hoewijk, whose ​1995 film, Procedure 769, Witness to the Execution​ captured an execution through the eyes of the witnesses, now turns his lens on Elroy Chester and ​the ​people most affected as they pass the final hours.

Scheduled to appear: Jaap van Hoewijk

Dancing Arabs

Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by screenwriter Sayed Kashua, Dancing Arabs is Eran Riklas’s charming coming-of-age story of Eyud, an Arab-Israeli who leaves his small town of Tira to attend a prestigious boarding school in Tel Aviv. The whip-smart son of a fruit picker (and former communist protester) faces obstacles: the language, his studies, and his Jewish girlfriend. He then meets Yonatan, a classmate with multiple sclerosis, and—amidst a soundtrack of ‘80s punk music—the two become as close as brothers. As Yonatan’s health declines, Eyud drops out of school and must decide what is next for him.

Scheduled to appear: director Eran Riklas (Sunday screening)

Stray Dog

Returning to the Ozarks, Debra Granik (Academy Award® nominee for Winter’s Bone) turns her lens on Ron “Stray Dog” Hall, a burly, aging veteran who manages an RV park and rides his motorcycle cross-country. Shot over three years, Stray Dog is a humanist portrait of an extraordinary man forever changed by two tours of war. Through his relationships with his fellow vets and his loving wife Alicia, Ron finds the courage to confront his past (from which he still has nightmares) and the courage to keep going. Granik breaks down the stereotypes of a community united through remembering and adapting to a changing America.

Scheduled to appear: producer Anne Rossellini

>> Click to watch the trailer

Note: all attendees subject to change.
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