In 2020, HamptonsFilm celebrated the 12th year of our hit SummerDocs series, presented in partnership with Guild Hall.
SummerDocs host (and HamptonsFilm Co-Chair) Alec Baldwin and Artistic Director David Nugent once again led conversations with filmmakers and guests, presenting new and groundbreaking documentary filmmaking and thought-provoking stories to the East End.
ASSASSINS
Friday, July 10
Sunset | HamptonsFilm Drive-In at Hayground School
Directed by Ryan White
(2020, USA, 104 minutes)
In 2017, Kim Jong-nam—the half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un—was assassinated in the bustling departures hall of Malaysia’s international airport. The spectacularly brazen murder happened in broad daylight, filmed entirely by security cameras. Footage showed two young women approaching Jong-nam from behind, covering his eyes with their hands, and pressing VX—the most lethal nerve gas on earth—into his eyes. He stumbled away and was dead within an hour.
But if the murder was extreme, the story that came next was even more bizarre: The two women who killed Jong-nam claimed they had simply been hired to pull a video prank and had no idea what they were really doing. The Malaysian government scoffed, arrested and imprisoned the women and put them on trial for murder, facing execution. But was their outlandish story actually the truth? And would anyone believe them?
ASSASSINS travels from the sanctums of Pyongyang to the rice fields of Indonesia and Vietnam to the courtrooms of Kuala Lumpur to tell an extraordinary tale of manipulation and subterfuge in the age of social media. A Magnolia Pictures release.
Followed by a virtual conversation with director Ryan White, hosted by Alec Baldwin and David Nugent.
MADE YOU LOOK: A TRUE STORY ABOUT FAKE ART
Friday, July 31
Sunset | HamptonsFilm Drive-In at Hayground School
Directed by Barry Avrich
(2020, Canada, 94 minutes)
A controversy erupts when an unassuming couple floods the American art market with a collection of fake art valued in the millions, bewildering the art world elite. This is an entertaining and suspenseful tale of an ingenious con that everyone wanted to believe was real.
Followed by a virtual conversation with director Barry Avrich, hosted by Alec Baldwin and David Nugent.
“With fascinating documentaries that showcase topics including a brave group of female sailors, a wild and intriguing investigation into plane crash from over 50 years ago, and a straight couple’s story of owning a gay porn shop, our audience will once again get a peek at some of the best non fiction work of the year,” said HamptonsFilm Artistic Director David Nugent.
>> Check out the archive of SummerDocs screenings since 2009.
Past SummerDocs selections, including ICARUS (2017), TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM (2013), LAST DAYS OF VIETNAM (2014), THE COVE (2009), SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN (2012) and HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE (2012), have gone on to receive Academy Award® wins and nominations. See the entire archive here!
The series has also featured films from filmmakers including Rory Kennedy, Morgan Neville, Roger Ross Williams, Marina Zenovich, Robert Gordon, Stevan Riley, Louie Psihoyos, and Steve James.
