HamptonsFilm is pleased to continue to curate the hit screening series NOW SHOWING, featuring acclaimed first-run, art house, independent, and world cinema, available to screen in the privacy of your own home.
Screenings March through September, 2020
EPICENTRO
Directed by Hubert Sauper
(2020, Cuba, 108 minutes)
EPICENTRO is an immersive and metaphorical portrait of post-colonial, “utopian” Cuba, where the 1898 explosion of the USS Maine still resonates. This Big Bang ended Spanish colonial dominance in the Americas and ushered in the era of the American Empire. At the same time and place, a powerful tool of conquest was born: cinema as propaganda.
In his latest film, Oscar®-nominated director Hubert Sauper (DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE) explores a century of interventionism and myth-making together with the extraordinary people of Havana—who he calls “young prophets”—to interrogate time, imperialism and cinema itself.
“A hypnotic immersion into a country and culture embargoed by decades of our country’s foreign policy…” — Boston Globe
COUP 53
Directed by Taghi Amirani
(2019, UK | Iran | USA, 119 minutes)
The story of the 1953 Anglo-American coup in Iran that overthrew the democratically elected Prime Minister Mossadegh and reinstalled the Shah. Featuring never-before-seen archives.
While making a documentary about the Anglo-American coup in Iran in 1953, Iranian director Taghi Amirani and editor Walter Murch (APOCALYPSE NOW, THE CONVERSATION, THE ENGLISH PATIENT) discover extraordinary archive material hidden for decades. The 16mm footage and documents not only allow the filmmakers to tell the story of the overthrow of the Iranian government in unprecedented detail, but also lead to explosive revelations about dark secrets buried for 67 years.
What begins as a history documentary about 4 days in August 1953 turns into a live investigation, taking the filmmakers into uncharted cinematic waters. The roots of Iran’s volatile relationship with Britain and America has never been so forensically and dramatically exposed. Featuring Ralph Fiennes.
“Has the air of something that grew from an impudent home movie into a magnum opus…” — The Hollywood Reporter
Arena, Miami, 1978 | © Foto Helmut Newton, Helmut Newton Estate | Courtesy Helmut Newton Foundation
HELMUT NEWTON: THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
Directed by Gero von Boehm
(2020, USA, 93 minutes)
Available August 13-21
“An engaging and surprisingly playful documentary about the man who was arguably the most transgressive photographer to emerge from the 1960s and ’70s.” — Variety
One of the great masters of photography, Helmut Newton made a name for himself exploring the female form, and his cult status continues long after his tragic death in a Los Angeles car crash in 2004. Newton worked around the globe, from Singapore to Australia to Paris to Los Angeles, but Weimar Germany was the visual hallmark of his work. Newton’s unique and striking way of depicting women has always posed the question: did he empower his subjects or treat them as sexual objects?
Through candid interviews with Grace Jones, Charlotte Rampling, Isabella Rossellini, Anna Wintour, Claudia Schiffer, Marianne Faithfull, Hanna Schygulla, Nadja Auermann, and Newton’s wife June (a.k.a. photographer Alice Springs), this documentary captures his legacy and seeks to answer questions about the themes at the core of his life’s work—creating provocative and subversive images of women.
The film also features Newton’s own home movies, archival footage (including a pointed exchange with Susan Sontag) and, of course, scores of iconic Newton photographs. The result: a wildly entertaining portrait of a controversial genius.
THE FIGHT
Directed by Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, Eli Despres
(2020, USA, 96 minutes)
Available August 1– August 8; pre-order available!
“[An] engrossing and ultimately inspiring examination of ideals in action…” — Washington Post
Only days after the 2017 inauguration of Donald Trump, furious Americans gathered at airports across the country in protest of the Muslim ban. But it was the efforts of the American Civil Liberties Union, waging the fight in federal court, that turned the tide, staying the executive order on grounds of unconstitutionality. The ACLU has never granted access to its offices, even as its battles—on the fronts of abortion rights, immigration rights, LGBT rights and voting rights—have become more timely and momentous than ever.
With THE FIGHT, access has finally been granted to the filmmaking team of Eli B. Despres, Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg, makers of 2016’s award-winning WEINER. Rousing, inspiring and slyly humorous, their latest documentary follows four seismically important cases and a handful of magnetic attorneys. These lawyers may not know how to charge a cell phone or operate a stand-up desk but have persuaded Supreme Court Justices, beating back serious encroachments upon our freedoms. An antidote to endless news cycles filled with tweet tantrums, THE FIGHT inspires with the story of front-line warriors in the battle for the American soul.
PLEASE NOTE: Customers who wish to cast the film to their TVs or require assistance should be directed to this page for Eventive’s FAQ and live chat support.
BONUS Q&A: Immediately following THE FIGHT, there will be a pre-recorded discussion between Kerry Washington and the four ACLU lawyers featured in the film (Brigitte Amiri, Lee Gelernt, Dale Ho, and Chase Strangio). This conversation is exclusive to virtual cinema and in-theater engagements.
Additionally, patrons will have free access to a live Q&A on Sunday, August 2, with the filmmakers and lawyers, moderated by Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post. This will be also be archived and available beyond August 2.
June 24: THE SURROGATE
Directed by Jeremy Hersh
(2020, USA, 93 minutes, English)
Available June 24-July 1
Jess is thrilled to be the surrogate for her best friend and his husband, but when a prenatal test comes back positive, it creates a moral dilemma that threatens their friendship.
“[Jasmine] Batchelor turns in one of the year’s best performances, profound work that twists an already propulsive concept into a riveting character study.”
— Indiewire
To watch:
- Click the box below to go to the Vimeo on Demand platform.
- Create a Vimeo account or log in.
- The code HamptonsFilm should automatically populate; if not, enter when prompted. This will ensure the benefits to HamptonsFilm, in addition to discounting the price for you.
- Enjoy the film!
May 23: DIANA KENNEDY: NOTHING FANCY
Directed by Elizabeth Carroll
(USA/Mexico, 2020, 82 minutes)
• Winner of the 2019 SXSW Special Jury Award for ‘Excellence in Storytelling’
“A lively… portrait of a woman as passionate about composting as chilaquiles, one who will pitch a fit if you put garlic in your guacamole.” — The New York Times
Featuring extensive interviews with Diana Kennedy and famed chefs José Andrés, Rick Bayless, Gabriela Camara and Alice Waters, DIANA KENNEDY provides an intimate look at the leading expert on Mexican cuisine. The author of nine acclaimed cookbooks and a two-time James Beard Award winner, Diana is called the “Julia Child of Mexico,” but the feisty cook prefers “The Mick Jagger of Mexican Cuisine.”
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May 18: THE BOOKSELLERS
Directed by D.W. Young
(USA, 2019, 99 minutes)
“Lovely and wistful… a documentary for anyone who can still look at a book and see a dream, a magic teleportation device, an object that contains the world.” — Variety
Antiquarian booksellers are part scholar, part detective and part businessperson, and their personalities and knowledge are as broad as the material they handle. They also play an underappreciated yet essential role in preserving history. THE BOOKSELLERS takes viewers inside their small but fascinating world, populated by an assortment of obsessives, intellects, eccentrics and dreamers.
Executive produced by Parker Posey, the film features interviews with some of the most important dealers in the business, as well as prominent collectors, auctioneers, and writers such as Fran Lebowitz, Susan Orlean, Kevin Young and Gay Talese.
Directed by Levan Akin
(2020, Sweden/Georgia/France, 113 minutes, in Georgian with English subtitles)
“Giddy with the pleasures of first love — how it pulsates through the body and mind… argues that joy itself can be a form of radical defiance.” — The Independent
A passionate tale of love and liberation set amidst the conservative confines of modern Georgian society, AND THEN WE DANCED follows Merab, a devoted dancer who has been training for years for a spot in the National Georgian Ensemble. The arrival of the talented and rebellious Irakli throws Merab off balance, sparking an intense rivalry and a forbidden desire.
May 4: CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Directed by Justin Pemberton
(2020, New Zealand, 103 minutes, English and French with English subtitles)
“Trust me this is a movie that provokes a consistent sense of “Whoa!” By the end, you’ll know with greater clarity than you did before why we’re in the mess we’re in.” — Variety
Based on the international bestseller by rock-star economist Thomas Piketty (which sold over three million copies worldwide and landed Piketty on Time‘s list of most influential people), this captivating documentary is an eye-opening journey through wealth and power, a film that breaks the popular assumption that the accumulation of capital runs hand in hand with social progress, and shines a new light on today’s growing inequalities. Traveling through time, the film assembles accessible pop-culture references coupled with interviews of some of the world’s most influential experts delivering an insightful and empowering journey through the past and into our future.
April 27: SORRY WE MISSED YOU
Directed by Ken Loach
(2019, UK, 100 minutes)
“FIVE STARS! Ken Loach raises his game yet further with this gut-wrenching tale of a delivery worker driven to the brink…It’s fierce, open and angry, unironized and unadorned… This brilliant film will focus minds.”
— The Guardian
The British working class is once again the empathetic subject of Ken Loach’s SORRY WE MISSED YOU, a wrenching, intimate family drama that exposes the dark side of the so-called “gig economy.”
Ricky, a former laborer, and his home-attendant wife Abby—who lost their home in the 2008 financial crash—are desperate to get out of their financial distress. When an opportunity comes up for Ricky to work as his own boss as a delivery driver, they sell their only asset, Abby’s car, to trade it in for a shiny new white van and the dream that Ricky can work his way up to someday owning his own delivery franchise.
But the couple find their lives are quickly pushed further to the edge by an unrelenting work schedule, a ruthless supervisor and the needs of their two teenage children. Capturing the sacred moments that make a family as well as the acts of desperation they need to undertake to make it through each day, this universal story is skillfully and indelibly told with unforgettable performances and a searing script by Loach’s long-time collaborator Paul Laverty.
The Band (left to right): Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, and Robbie Robertson in ONCE WERE BROTHERS: ROBBIE ROBERTSON AND THE BAND, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo © by Elliott Landy.
April 13 + 20: ONCE WERE BROTHERS
Directed by Daniel Roher
(2019, Canada, 102 minutes)
“Triumphant. Robertson deeply dissects The Band’s magic and dysfunction.”
— Rolling Stone
ONCE WERE BROTHERS: ROBBIE ROBERTSON AND THE BAND is a confessional, cautionary, and occasionally humorous tale of Robertson’s young life and the creation of one of the most enduring groups in the history of popular music, The Band. The film is a moving story of Robertson’s personal journey, overcoming adversity and finding camaraderie alongside the four other men who would become his brothers in music, together making their mark on music history. ONCE WERE BROTHERS blends rare archival footage, photography, iconic songs and interviews with Robertson’s friends and collaborators including Martin Scorsese, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, and more.
Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
April 13 + 20: SLAY THE DRAGON
Directed by Barak Goodman and Chris Durrance
(2019, USA, 101 minutes)
“The most important political film of the year, and it may prove to be one of the key political films of the decade.” — Variety
Gerrymandering, the practice of redrawing electoral maps to serve the party in power, has been around for centuries. But in today’s hyperpartisan political environment it has been taken to unprecedented extremes, fueled by the elimination of corporate campaign contribution limits and the availability of vast amounts of personal information.
The new documentary SLAY THE DRAGON shines a light on this timely issue, and follows a handful of citizens’ groups, outraged by what they see as an attack on the core democratic principle that every person’s vote should count equally, as they battle party operatives and an entrenched political establishment to fix a broken system.
April 6: This week’s film is SAINT FRANCES, winner of the SXSW 2019 Narrative Feature Audience Award and a Special Jury Recognition for Breakthrough Voice for screenwriter and star Kelly O’Sullivan.
Kelly’s latest screenplay Mouse was selected for the 20th Annual HamptonsFilm Screenwriters Lab, which took place online this weekend, and she is also the 2020 recipient of support from the Melissa Mathison Fund.
“It’s truly refreshing to watch a film where nobody has anything figured out, where life proceeds messily and imperfectly. SAINT FRANCES is unpredictable in a very human way.” — RogerEbert.com
SAINT FRANCES
Directed by Alex Thompson
Written by and starring Kelly O’Sullivan
(2019, USA, 101 minutes)
Flailing 34-year-old Bridget (Kelly O’Sullivan) finally catches a break when she meets a nice guy and lands a much-needed job nannying six-year-old Frances (played by a scene-stealing Ramona Edith-Williams). But an unwanted pregnancy introduces an unexpected complication. To make matters worse, she clashes with the obstinate Frances and struggles to navigate a growing tension between Frances’s moms. Amidst her tempestuous personal relationships, a reluctant friendship with Frances emerges, and Bridget contends with the inevitable joys and shit-shows of becoming a part of someone else’s family.
BACURAU
Directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
(2019, Brazil/France, 131 minutes, English and Portuguese with English subtitles)
March 30: This week’s “screening” will support HamptonsFilm, Guild Hall, and the distributor (Kino Lorber).
“Exhilarating. A heart-thumping political allegory that tips its hat to masters like John Carpenter.” This week’s film is BACURAU, a Critic’s Pick in The New York Times.
A few years from now… Bacurau, a small village in the Brazilian sertão, mourns the loss of its matriarch, Carmelita, who lived to be 94. Days later, its inhabitants (among them Sônia Braga) notice that their village has literally vanished from online maps and a UFO-shaped drone is seen flying overhead. There are forces that want to expel them from their homes, and soon, in a genre-bending twist, a band of armed mercenaries led by Udo Kier arrive in town picking off the inhabitants one by one. A fierce confrontation takes place when the townspeople turn the tables on the villainous outsiders, banding together by any means necessary to protect and maintain their remote community. The mercenaries just may have met their match in the fed-up, resourceful denizens of little Bacurau.
Revisit past seasons:
