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The Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation

Cordially Invites You to the

14th Annual Unconditional Love Gala

Saturday, July 22nd, 2023

6:00pm
The Muses, Southampton

Honoring
Jon Ledecky
Co-Owner, New York Islanders
&
Matt Meeker
Co-Founder and CEO, BARK

Event Chair
Jean Shafiroff

Honorary Chair
Georgina Bloomberg

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Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation

to Host Beach Party Fundraiser

SO FETCH

Georgina Bloomberg and her rescue dogs ©Geoff Tischman
This summer The Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation (SASF) is proud to present SO FETCH, a beach party fundraiser hosted by Georgina Bloomberg, Katie McEntee, Kingsley Crawford, Nathania Nisonson, Merritt Piro, Elizabeth Shafiroff and Jessica Fontaine Swift.

On August 7th, 2021, from 7:00pm to 11:00pm the girls are calling all party animals to attend their first annual beach party where 100% of the proceeds will go directly to the shelter’s rescue program. Guests will arrive at 7:00pm to the Gin Lane beach located to the left of the historic Bathing Corporation. Dogs with shelter volunteers will greet party goers and enjoy a night at the beach and out of their kennels.

SASF SO FETCH ©SASF
Guests can expect a night filled with cocktails and dancing on the beach to music by DJ Teal Camner. Wine provided by Winc, a tequila station serving up DOGaritas sponsored by Bottle Hampton, Tito’s at the bar while guests treat themselves to vegetarian appetizers catered by Seasons of Southampton. Dessert will be classic Hampton’s Tate’s chocolate chip cookies and cupcakes in a jar by Baked Cravings that party goers will eat around bonfire (smores included!).

Thank you to all our sponsors also including Bissel, JP Mulvey Plumbing and Heating INC, Saunders, Schmidt’s market, Southampton Limousine, Hamptons Drone Imaging and Jiade Vaia Landscaping.

Tickets are now on sale at www.sasf.org/SOFETCH.

“I’m so excited to be able to get back together in person to raise money for the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation and help support the important animals they save. This year not only do I appreciate the incredible work they do more than ever, but we will all appreciate the opportunity to celebrate and enjoy what will be a great evening together on the beach.” -Georgina Bloomberg

Huge thank you to our host committee and event committee. You have all been so supportive and such a great team. Our shelter is so lucky to have such wonderful volunteers. Thanks to host committee Georgina Bloomberg, Katie McEntee, Kingsley Crawford, Nathania Nisonson, Merritt Piro and Elizabeth Shafiroff and event committee Sarah Alvarez, Serena Bancroft, Elizabeth Bowden, Sara Burack, Joe Calamita, Joe Cirpo, Sara DiOrazio, Jessica Hatton, Alexandra Iadevaia, Taylor Karns, Jessica Mackin, Alexandra Maitland, James Marzigliano, Olivia Mulvey, Nick Norcia, Samantha Pace, Christine Prydatko, Rolise Rachel, Maurice Richardson, Lexie Routh, Julie Sinaw, Louise Taylor, Nicole Teitler, Sarah Vacchiano. Big thank you to all my friends for their devotion and support!

Kingsley Crawford with rescue puppy ©SASF

Katie McEntee on rescue ©SASF
Katie McEntee, director of Animal Relations at the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation runs the shelters rescue program. Every year she goes on rescue missions to help animals in need and bring them back to safely. “It means so much to me and to the animals we save. Without donations and fundraisers like SO FETCH our program would be nonexistent. Many times, these pets are suffering from medical conditions that require expensive surgeries and we are able to provide them thanks to our donors. Our Rescue Program is here to help those in times of desperation. We help local shelters on Long Island when they get overcrowded, or we head into the city to the boroughs Animal Care and Control centers. We rescue from shelters in the south such as Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida and Texas. Dogs and cats are put on an at-risk list: at risk of losing their lives if another rescue or shelter does not “pull” or “rescue” them. It is a sad reality that pets are euthanized simply because there are too many of them and not enough homes. Shelters that are overcrowded are forced to euthanize a percentage of their population. They cannot support the number of pets brought to them on a daily basis. Due to the overpopulation of unwanted and abandoned pets, they are killed. According the ASPCA each year approximately 1.5 million shelter animals are euthanized in the United States. If I am to just save a couple of lives, it is worth it, but this is a problem that are a country we need to come together to fix. This cannot continue. The animals deserve better than this.”

For hi-res images, visit: https://bit.ly/3wnU9bZ

About SASF:

The Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation (SASF) is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization that relies on the generosity of their donors and volunteers to care to for the homeless animals in its community, and to place them in loving “forever homes.” The number of animals in need of help is growing every day. The overpopulation of pets on Long Island is a major issue. Whether caring for strays found wandering the streets, rescuing neglected and abandoned animals, or saving dogs from the horrors of the puppy mill industry, the shelter is a safe haven for all animals and for some, a last resort. Without SASF, these animals would not be able to survive. The shelter provides a steppingstone for animals to find a loving home. It offers them housing, food, medical treatment, training, and rehabilitation when necessary.

They not only take in community pets but also partner with other rescues and shelters, located on Long Island, New York and areas in the South including Puerto Rico, to save animals that are in dire situations.

This past year, the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation found homes for over 800 animals and provided the community with necessary resources like their Wellness Clinic, Pet Food Pantry, Advo-Cats Program, low-cost spay/neuter mobile clinic, as well as other community outreach programs. These services help pet owners who fall on hard times keep their animals with them and out of the shelters.

For more information, please visit www.southamptonanimalshelter.com

PRESS CONTACT:

Norah Lawlor | Lawlor Media Group | www.lawlormediagroup.com

Norah@lawlormediagroup.com| Tel: (212) 967-6900

Facebook: LawlorMediaGroup | Instagram: lawlormedia | Twitter: @LawlorMedia

Lawlor Media Group, inc.

31 Hudson Yards

11th Floor

New York, NY

10001

United States of America

T: 212.967.6900 C: 917.774.1000

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Telephone: 631.283.7575

Email: info@75main.com

www.75main.com

Chef + Cuisine + Menu + Ambiance

– 75 Main shines as the premier Hampton’s locale for Contemporary American Cuisine in a chic, seductive environment. With the perfect blend of class, comfort and stellar customer service, 75 Main has garnered a reputation for perfection. Visiting our Southampton restaurant is an experience, one that we have finely crafted to ensure that you and your party will never forget.

– Prepare to relax with the sultry musical stylings that fill the air of this distinguished, sophisticated atmosphere. Enjoy an assortment of sumptuous culinary specialties. Whatever your pleasure, have your fill at 75 Main.

– Owner Zach Erdem, one of the leading hospitality players in the Hamptons, has made 75 Main a favorite among locals, visitors and celebrities alike. Our impeccable cuisine and atmospheric excellence makes 75 Main the perfect destination in Southampton.
Hours of Service
– Fall 2017:
– Monday – Sunday 10:00am – 11:00pm
– Monday – Sunday Brunch: 10:00am – 4:00 pm
Dinner: 4:00pm – 11:00pm

The post Owner Zach Erdem receives the 5 Star Diamond Award for his 75 Main Restaurant in Southampton, New York, Click for Video and Podcast… appeared first on Good News!.

The Milk Pail Fresh Market began more than 30 years ago. John learned about farming growing up on his father’s Mecox potato farm while Evelyn got her first taste for apple growing from her parents’ apple orchard in Vermont. In 1969 they began a tiny retail store to market their vegetables and sell the milk produced by their cows. They named the store The Milk Pail, since milk was their main product at the time. The following spring they planted their apple orchard and have been perfecting and adding award-winning varieties ever since.
A Farm Family Tradition That Began in the 1640s
http://www.milk-pail.com/images/photo_about_2.jpg
http://www.milk-pail.com/images/photo_about.jpg
Today both Amy and Jennifer continue their family farm tradition in the 21st century.
Amy earned a horticulture and plant science Bachelor’s degree from SUNY Cobleskill in 1994. Her training included an internship in Holland and today she runs her own state-of-the-art greenhouse operation. She grows unique, unusual, & old-favorite plants available in mid May through August; beautiful hardy mum throughout the fall; and amaryllis for the winter holidays. Amy also helps design gardens and custom designs planters.
Jennifer earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University in 1997, specializing in pomology, the study of growing and marketing fruit. Today Jennifer harvest juicy peaches from her own 1200 peach trees planted at the family farm. Harvest begins in mid July through September. In January 2000 Jennifer was named New York Young Farmer of the Year by the New York State Farm Bureau and proudly represented her state at the national finals held in Texas.
The Halsey family invites you to make their family tradition a part of your family tradition. Visit the Milk Pail Country Store, U-Pick Orchard and enjoy Amy’s Flowers and Jennifer’s juicy peaches.

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You and a guest are cordially invited to a private brunch
showcasing the latest models from Ferrari &
Maserati along with exclusive luxury brands.

Hors d’oeuvres & Signature Cocktails will be served

Private Estate, Southampton, NY
(address upon confirmation)

Saturday, August 5th, 2017 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Silent Auction to benefit Every Mother Counts

Experience Luxury, Performance and Design
**Test drive the Maserati GT or Ferrari California
T with your own personalized test drive.
Limited test drives will be available to qualified buyers.

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www.AVENUEmagazine.com Good News speaks to Randi Schatz, President of AVENUE.

Founded in 1976, AVENUE is a must-read among the city’s most discerning, stylish and savvy audiences. As Manhattan’s oldest society magazine, and one of the first in the United States, the publication has exclusive access to Manhattan’s elite in a way that is distinct from other magazines. By celebrating the blend of affluence and influence, AVENUE offers a unique, behind-the-scenes perspective on the people and lifestyles in the wealthiest zip codes in the wealthiest
country in the world.

AVENUE salutes the world we live in: a meritocracy where the point of entry is open to anyone who has met with success. We relish New York’s fabulous style and glamour, and we are in awe of the accomplishments and intelligence of the city’s most inspiring residents. This passion is reflected with elegance in AVENUE’s pages every month. Now in its fourth decade, the magazine continues to prosper, and the result is an upbeat, positive friend’s take on a society we love to cover.

Andrew Lauren On His July Cover And The Women of the Equestrian World And Design Masters Ed Bulgin – Edmund Hollander – Amy Lau – Nick Martin – Preston T. Phillips – Gary Seff – John Tortorella – Zach & Cody Vichinsky

August 24, 2014
4-6pm

75 Main
75 Main Street, Southampton

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For the month of December, Southampton Inn is offering a special rate $149 per night! Additionally, the Inn is offering a post-holiday rate of $100 per night for a reservation in the month of January, provided the reservation is placed before December 30, 2013. 

Southampton Inn will ring in the New Year with an evening of dinner, dancing, and drinks to make a truly elegant affair. This special package includes an overnight stay in a beautifully appointed guest room, New Year’s Eve festitivites and an open bar for two for $399.00* (plus tax). Singles can enjoy the package for $299. For those who prefer a longer getaway from the hustle and bustle of city life, Southampton Inn is offering one additional nights stay before or after for only $100 per night (plus tax).

The package includes:

• Overnight accommodations
• Cocktails & hors d’oeuvres
• Dinner & dancing
• Open bar
• Midnight toast
• Extend your stay with an additional night before or after for $100 per room per night
• A limited number of designated “pet friendly rooms” are available for a fee (pre-reservation required)

The dinner will be catered by the iconic Brent Newsom, who will prepare a beautiful five course meal complete with a main course of Hanger Steak, Salmon Filet or Vegetarian Risotto, and finished off with a scrumptious dessert buffet.    

*All prices exclude tax & gratuity. Double occupancy and connecting rooms are subject to availability. Certain other restrictions apply.

ABOUT SOUTHAMPTON INN: The Southampton Inn boasts a Hamptons club casual atmosphere and houses a family-friendly getaway in a serene setting. The Inn is steps away from designer boutiques, quaint and fine dining, parks, art galleries, museums, and is just a mile from renowned Cooper’s Beach. A warm and welcoming local landmark, the Southampton Inn is home to 90 guestrooms and a conference center that can hold a wide variety of events. With a little local knowledge from the friendly staff, visitors will quickly find there is much to do, including fishing trips, hiking at surrounding nature preserves, horseback riding, bicycle rentals, as well as tours of local museums, historic sites and vineyards. Southampton Inn is the perfect destination on the East End if you’re looking for the ideal location for an event and a lovely getaway.

For further information about the Southampton Inn, please visit www.southamptoninn.com.

SOUTHAMPTON INN:
91 Hill Street
Southampton, New York
T: 631-283-6500

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OPENING NIGHT & SOUTHAMPTON OPENING NIGHT FILMS

LOVE, MARILYN

Opening Night Film

US Premiere

Director: Liz Garbus

Cast: F. Murray Abraham, Elizabeth Banks, Adrien Brody, Ellen Burstyn, Glenn Close, Hope Davis, Viola Davis, Jennifer Ehle, Ben Foster, Paul Giamatti, Jack Huston, Stephen Lang, Lindsay Lohan, Janet McTeer, Jeremy Piven, Oliver Platt, David Strathairn, Lili Taylor, Uma Thurman, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood

Liz Garbus’ documentary feature LOVE, MARILYN is a startlingly intimate and revealing portrait of arguably the most famous female actor ever to grace the silver screen. With unprecedented access to Monroe’s never-before-seen personal correspondence, diary entries, and archival footage, LOVE, MARILYN traces the beginning of the legend, from Norma Jeane Mortenson to sexy starlet to American icon, through the desperate final year of her too-short life. Featuring Viola Davis, Marisa Tomei, Glenn Close, Adrien Brody, and many more celebrated actors, Garbus’ film celebrates the tenacity, sensitivity, and beauty of Marilyn Monroe on the 50th anniversary of her death. HBO will air in the film in 2013.

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

Southampton Opening Night Film

Director: David O. Russell

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Anupam Kher, Chris Tucker, Julia Stiles, John Ortiz

The Friday night Southampton opening is David O. Russell’s SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. After a court-ordered stint at a psychiatric facility, Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper), who is bipolar, moves back in with his parents (Robert De Niro and Jackie Weaver) and tries to win back his estranged wife Nikki. Into his orbit flies Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), an equally volatile young widow who offers to help Pat get Nikki back… at a price.  The film will be released by The Weinstein Company on November 21st.

CENTERPIECE & CLOSING NIGHT FILMS

ARGO

Centerpiece Film

East Coast Premiere

Director: Ben Affleck

Cast: Ben Affleck, John Goodman, Kyle Chandler, Barry Livingston, Tate Donovan, Alan Arkin, Victor Garber, Scoot McNairy, Bryan Cranston, Chris Messina

In the breathtaking political thriller ARGO, Ben Affleck plays Tony Mendez, a CIA agent and “exfiltration expert” who devised a daring, unconventional plan to rescue six Americans hiding in the Canadian embassy in Tehran during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. Perfectly capturing the look, style, and tone of the period, Affleck’s third feature as a director also stars John Goodman, Alan Arkin, and Bryan Cranston in colorful, sharp performances. Based on the true account of the real-life Mendez and produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, ARGO is an awards-ready, exhilarating rush that’s not to be missed.

NOT FADE AWAY

Closing Night Film

Director: David Chase

Cast: John Magaro, James Gandolfini, Jack Huston, Will Brill, Bella Heathcote, Brad Garrett, Christopher McDonald

David Chase, the creator of THE SOPRANOS, makes his feature film directorial debut with Paramount Vantage’s NOT FADE AWAY, which will close this year’s festival on Sunday, October 7th. The film is about a moment in time in the Sixties when the Rolling Stones appear on television and three best friends from the suburbs of New Jersey decide to form a rock band.  The film reunites Chase with SOPRANOS star James Gandolfini. Paramount Pictures will release NOT FADE AWAY on December 21st.

SPOTLIGHT FILMS

FRANKENWEENIE

Opening Day Family Film

Director: Tim Burton

Cast: Martin Landau, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder, Charlie Tahan, Frank Welker

From Tim Burton, the visionary filmmaker behind BEETLEJUICE, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, and ALICE IN WONDERLAND, comes FRANKENWEENIE, a feature-length adaptation of his debut 1984 short film. Budding young scientist Victor Frankenstein loses his beloved dog Sparky in an accident. Soon after, Victor’s science teacher, Mr. Rzykruski (Martin Landau) conducts a class experiment showing the effects of electricity on a dead frog. In a flash of inspiration, Victor vows to bring Sparky back to life––with unexpected, monstrous consequences. Heartwarming and hilarious, this 3D stop-motion animated feature is a ghoulish good time for the whole family.

AMOUR

Director: Michael Haneke

Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert

Legendary French actors Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva deliver career-capping performances as Georges and Anne, octogenarian retired music teachers living in a lovely Paris apartment. When Anne suffers a stroke, her condition rapidly deteriorates as George tries his best to cope and care for his ailing wife, all while his promise to never place her in a nursing home strains his relationship with his daughter (Isabelle Huppert). Director Michael Haneke (THE WHITE RIBBON, CACHÉ) won an unprecedented second Palme d’Or in four years for this uncompromising and masterful drama about the true meaning of growing old together.

THE DETAILS

East Coast Premiere

Director: Jacob Aaron Estes

Cast: Tobey Maguire, Elizabeth Banks, Laura Linney, Ray Liotta, Kerry Washington, Dennis Haysbert

Playing against type, Toby Maguire delights as the morally ambiguous Dr. Jeff Lang in this dark comedy with no shortage of laughs and gasps. When he attempts to rid his suburban Seattle backyard of raccoons, quickly earning the ire of his eccentric neighbor (Laura Linney), Jeff sets off a chain of events that leads to domestic rifts, adultery, blackmail, and murder. As his marriage to Nealy (Elizabeth Banks) and his life teeter dangerously on the brink of destruction, he seeks redemption by helping a friend in need, but it may be too late to stop the dominos in Jacob Aaron Estes’ offbeat dramedy.

THE GIRL

World Premiere

Director: Julian Jarrold

Cast: Toby Jones, Sienna Miller, Imelda Staunton

Alfred Hitchcock is not only perhaps the most famous film director of all time, creator of such classics as VERTIGO and PSYCHO, but among the most controversial, plagued for years with accusations about his personal treatment of his frequently blonde leading ladies. THE GIRL stars Toby Jones as Hitchcock and Sienna Miller as actress Tippi Hedren, delineating their on- and off-set relationship while filming the seminal horror film, THE BIRDS. Director Julian Jarrold stages the filming of many of THE BIRD’s most famous sequences with wit and flair, and the central performances of Jones and Miller dig into the lives and personas of two icons of cinema in this penetrating docudrama.

A LATE QUARTET

US Premiere

Director: Yaron Zilberman

Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Mark Ivanir, Imogen Poots, Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener

As the world renowned Fugue Quartet celebrates its 25th anniversary season, their patriarch Peter (Christopher Walken) discovers he may be forced into retirement by illness. Long held resentments surface, leaving the musicians to contemplate not only their future, but whether the quartet has trumped all other personal relationships. Tempestuous fights, long held rivalries, and adultery are offset by timeless, beautiful classical music in first time fiction director Yaron Zilberman’s engrossing drama, with pitch-perfect performances from Phillip Seymour-Hoffman, Catherine Keener, and Mark Ivanir, and a lovely turn from Imogen Poots.

LAY THE FAVORITE

East Coast Premiere

Director: Stephen Frears

Cast: Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rebecca Hall, Joshua Jackson, Vince Vaughn

Beth Waymer, played with humor and radiance by Rebecca Hall, is a dancer who heads to Las Vegas with dreams of becoming a cocktail waitress. When she meets Dink (Bruce Willis), a professional sports gambler, he notices her considerable talent for numbers amidst her bubbly demeanor. Pulling herself up by her wit instead of her bra straps, she discovers the lofty highs and sobering lows of the professional and underground gambling world. Based on a true story, Stephen Frears (THE GRIFTERS, THE QUEEN) directs a star-studded cast in this smart, fast paced, and entertaining comedy set in Sin City.

RUST & BONE

East Coast Premiere

Director: Jacques Audiard

Cast: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts

From the BAFTA Award-winning director of A PROPHET, Jacques Audiard’s RUST & BONE is a compelling and gritty drama starring Oscar® and BAFTA winner Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts (BULLHEAD). Stephanie trains orca whales, and Ali is an emotionally broken, unfit single father and aspiring boxer. When Stephanie is crippled after an accident with one of her beloved whales, they begin an intense romance that doubles as an examination of human weakness and strength. Schoenaerts and Cotillard deliver sharp and subtle performances that drive this drama to powerful emotional heights.

THE SESSIONS

East Coast Premiere

Director: Ben Lewin

Cast: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy

One of the most surprising and winning films of the year, THE SESSIONS follows the true story of Mark O’Brien, childhood polio survivor paralyzed from the neck down and confined to an iron lung. Far from melancholy, Mark, a poet and journalist by trade, vows to fulfill a lifelong goal: to have sex with a woman. To lose his virginity, Mark contacts a professional sex surrogate (the effervescent Helen Hunt) with the help of his therapist and his priest (William H. Macy). John Hawkes stars as Mark O’Brien in his best performance yet, more than matched by Hunt and Macy.

SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS

Director: Martin McDonagh

Cast: Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Tom Waits, Woody Harrelson

Martin, a morally conflicted screenwriter played by Colin Farrell, battles writer’s block on his new feature, SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS. Writer’s block is the least of Martin’s worries when his best friend Billy (Sam Rockwell) places ads seeking psychopaths in the paper. Billy’s side job of kidnapping dogs is no less of a nuisance when he and his partner Hans, played by a startlingly on-point Christopher Walken, accidentally snatch an L.A. crime boss’ prized pooch. From director Martin McDonagh (IN BRUGES), SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS subverts the traditional psychopath genre by infusing it with humor, self-awareness, and pitch-perfect performances, while still maintaining an absurd body count.

SHADOW DANCER

East Coast Premiere

Director: James Marsh

Cast: Andrea Riseborough, Clive Owen, Gillian Anderson, Domhnall Gleeson

SHADOW DANCER, directed by BAFTA Award-winner James Marsh, is a brilliant spy thriller set in the politically volatile Northern Ireland of the early ‘90s, is gripping from its intense opening sequences to its shattering climax. A guilt-ridden young Irish woman, Colette (Andrea Riseborough), has devoted her life to the IRA cause since her traumatic childhood. An MI5 agent (Oscar® nominee and BAFTA winner Clive Owen) intercepts a planned bombing attack in London, and Colette is handed a devastating ultimatum: to go to jail as a terrorist and be separated from her small son, or return to her family as a police informer and spy.

SMASHED

East Coast Premiere

Director: James Ponsoldt

Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Octavia Spencer, Nick Offerman, Megan

Mullally, Mary Kay Place

Mary Elizabeth Winstead delivers a career-making performance as Hannah, one half of an alcoholic couple with Aaron Paul (TV’s BREAKING BAD). After Hannah hits an all time low—puking in front of her first grade students—her colleague Dave (Nick Offerman, TV’s PARKS & RECREATION) encourages her to seek help with his AA group. Making progress, she bonds with Jenny, a fellow alcoholic turned baker played by Academy Award® winner Octavia Spencer (THE HELP). However, her new sobriety places her marriage in peril. A surprisingly funny and honest look at addiction and recovery, director James Ponsoldt breathes new life and poignancy to an oft-told story.

WHOLE LOTTA SOLE

Director: Terry George

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Colm Meaney, David O’Hara

BAFTA nominee, Oscar®-winner and Hamptons resident Terry George (HOTEL RWANDA) brings his immense talents to this entertaining comedy of errors set in Belfast. Jimbo Reagan owes local gangster Mad Dog Flynn five thousand dollars, but when he robs a fish market to secure the cash, things go from bad to worse, and he ends up with multiple hostages in a local antique shop currently run by the American cousin (Brendan Fraser) of its proprietor. With amusing turns by Colm Meaney as a cantankerous detective and David O’Hara as Flynn, this delightful comedy is a joy for film fans on both sides of the pond.

GOLDEN STARFISH AWARD: NARRATIVE

THE ALMOST MAN “Mer eller mindre mann”

US Premiere

Director: Martin Lund

Cast: Henrik Rafaelsen, Janne Heltberg, Tore Sagen, Per Kjerstad, Tov Sletta

Thirty-five-year old Henrik and his girlfriend Tone still act like teenagers, pulling pranks and having impromptu dance parties in their new apartment, but the responsibilities of adulthood are finally beginning to loom. When Tone becomes serious about a new career, Henrik pulls in the opposite direction by partying with his hard drinking buddies and playing hooky from his job. Preoccupied by that familiar “Peter Pan” longing for perpetual adolescence, Henrik navigates his state of arrested development in increasingly oddball ways in this fresh and charming Norwegian comedy.

DEAD MAN’S BURDEN

East Coast Premiere

Director: Jared Moshé

Cast: Barlow Jacobs, Clare Bowen, David Call, Joseph Lyle Taylor, Richard Riehle

New Mexico, 1870. A lone rider gallops through the New Mexico terrain and a troubled young woman looks on. She aims her rifle. A shocking scene sets the stage for Jared Moshé’s first feature, a pitch-perfect Western about the bonds of family and the slow, inevitable tide of progress. The young woman, Martha, and her husband find a ticket to a better life in San Francisco when they ready the sale of her family’s land to a mining company. Riding in from the horizon, though, is her oldest brother Wade—whom she had thought killed during the Civil War. The siblings reunite, but tensions, mysteries, and suspicions bubble to the surface.

LA DEMORA

US Premiere

Director: Rodrigo Plá

Cast: Roxana Blanco, Carlos Vallarino, Oscar Pernas

Agustín forgets things; he is aging and he knows it. María is never alone: she watches over everyone, sleeps very little, and works too much. She’s increasingly overwhelmed. One day, on impulse, María decides to abandon Agustín. The tightening grip of old age and the guilt of familial responsibility loom over this absorbing drama from rising director Rodrigo Plá. With an exacting gasp of the internal and external struggles María must endure, Plá explores the challenges of a timeless issue and society’s conflicted responses to life’s central questions.

KUMA

US Premiere

Director: Umut Dag

Cast: Nihal Koldas, Begum Akkaya, Vedat Erincin, Murathan Muslu, Alev Irmak

From debut director Umut Dag comes the powerful yet quiet family drama KUMA, which explores the relationship between Fatma, a dying woman clinging to old traditions, and her husband’s 19-year-old second wife, Ayse. As their close-knit Turkish family living in Vienna is forced come to terms with this new addition, friendships, jealousy, and hidden passions take unexpected turns. Heightened by strong performances, the film captures the complexities of a closed-circuit world living in a modern society. One of the most acclaimed films out of the Berlin Film Festival, KUMA is the story of different generations and cultures intersecting.

LORE

US Premiere

Director: Cate Shortland

Screenwriters: Robin Mukherjee, Cate Shortland

Cast: Saskia Rosendahl, Kai Malina, Nele Trebs, Ursina Lardi, Hans-Jochen Wagner, Mika Seidel

In the twilight days of WWII, Lore’s Nazi parents have disappeared into the vortex of Allied retribution, and she must shepherd her younger siblings to safety on the grey edge of the Baltic Sea. In breathtaking images of damaged luminosity, LORE makes us see the dawning realization of WWII’s atrocities as though we had never known them before. It is the story of a tentative coming-of-age set in a maelstrom of brutality; it is a profound meditation on the insidiousness of evil and the transformative power of love; and it is nothing short of extraordinary.

GOLDEN STARFISH AWARD: DOCUMENTARY

BAY OF ALL SAINTS

New York Premiere

Director: Annie Eastman

Filmed over six years, Annie Eastman’s debut is a lyrical portrait of three women who live on the palafitas, or shacks built on stilts, in the biggest bay in Bahia, Brazil. As the government threatens to reclaim the land for ecological reasons, generations of families, most of them single mothers, will be displaced. With Narato, the neighborhood refrigerator repairman as our guide, we meet Geni, Jesus, and Dona Maria, women with different mindsets but all compelled––in their own way––to fight for their family’s future and survival amidst the state’s urban development blunders and broken promises.

COLOMBIANOS

New York Premiere

Director: Tora Mårtens

With a subtle and captivating storytelling style, Tora Mårtens’ documentary feature meanders gingerly, yet thoughtfully, through the relationship of two brothers, making her debut feel almost like a fable. At his mother’s behest and struggling with substance abuse, Fernando moves from Stockholm to Medellin for six months, hoping the change of scenery and his brother Pablo’s support will help him get clean. Pablo, a college student, tries different tactics to help Fernando but nothing seems to stick. As each brother begins to reassess his own path, they learn when to let go and when to take charge.

EL HUASO

US Premiere

Director: Carlo Guillermo Proto

Carlo Guillermo Proto directs this intensely personal documentary, interviewing his father and tracing the bonds and expectations of four generations of his family. Growing up in Chile, Gustavo Proto (director Carlo Proto’s father) always wanted to be a huaso—a rodeo cowboy—but instead he became a businessman and brought his family to Toronto for a better life. Now retired and convinced that he will develop Alzheimer’s like his mother and depression like his father, he plans to live out his dream in Chile before ultimately committing suicide, a decision he announces to his family amidst general protestation.

JASON BECKER: NOT DEAD YET

New York Premiere

Director: Jesse Vile

Jason Becker was a musical prodigy, picking up the guitar at five years old, performing virtuoso solos at sixth grade talent shows, and signing a record deal at 19. But the following year, about to go on tour with David Lee Roth, Becker started limping and falling during performances. He was eventually diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and was soon no longer able to hold a guitar. He lost the ability to speak and was given three to five years to live. But, as Jesse Vile’s award-winning first film reveals, that was not the last we would hear of Jason Becker. NOT DEAD YET is must-see cinema and a testament to a true musician.


RISING FROM ASHES

World Premiere

Director: T.C. Johnstone

Narrator: Forest Whitaker

Recovering from one of the worse genocides in history, the Rwandan people find something to root for in this inspiring and beautifully shot documentary. Transcending the differences that once divided them — and with the help of the first American to ride in the Tour de France — five cyclists come together to form the first Team Rwanda while racing for spots in the 2012 Olympics. Cycling has long been a national pastime in “the land of a thousand hills,” and RISING FROM ASHES not only gives us a glimpse of this country’s changing landscape, it invites us to share in its epic comeback story.

WORLD CINEMA: NARRATIVE

28 HOTEL ROOMS

East Coast Premiere

Director: Matt Ross

Cast: Chris Messina, Marin Ireland

Evolving over 28 passionate nights, a nameless couple, played by Marin Ireland and Chris Messina, form an unexpected relationship and bond in 28 HOTEL ROOMS. After a chance encounter in a hotel barroom, Messina, a conflicted writer coming off of a bestseller, charms Ireland, an uptight corporate accountant, into a one-night-stand that becomes much more. Deftly maneuvering between the delicate and the humorous, the vicious and the loving moments, debut director/screenwriter Matt Ross gives an assured, incisive portrait of a mature yet complex relationship.

ANY DAY NOW

Director: Travis Fine

Cast: Alan Cumming, Garret Dillahunt, Isaac Leyva, Frances Fisher, Gregg Henry, Don Franklin

Based on true events and anchored by moving performances, ANY DAY NOW stars Alan Cumming as Rudy, an aspiring singer and part-time drag queen in 1970s Los Angeles. Rudy discovers his drug-addicted neighbor routinely abandons her teenage son with Down Syndrome, Marco (Isaac Leyva). After being finding Marco alone on the streets, Rudy and his new partner Paul, a closeted District Attorney (Garret Dillahunt), bring Marco home, and the three become the loving, stable family. When authorities discover Rudy and Paul are gay, they must battle a prejudiced judicial system to adopt the boy they now consider their son.

BETWEEN US

North American Premiere

Director: Dan Mirvish

Cast: Julia Stiles, Melissa George, Taye Diggs, David Harbour

Based on the hit Off-Broadway play of the same name, BETWEEN US is a darkly comedic portrait of two couples and how children, money, and success (or lack thereof) have affected their relationships. Grace (Julia Stiles) and Carlo (Taye Diggs) are still in their honeymoon phase when they visit Sharyl (Melissa George) and Joel (David Harbour) in their sprawling suburban home. They watch in horror as Sharyl and Joel’s marriage violently implodes. Three years later, Sharyl and Joel drop in on Grace and Carlo unannounced. Anchored by memorable performances, BETWEEN US showcases the deep bonds and wide rifts in marriage.

CAMION

US Premiere

Director/Screenwriter: Rafaël Ouellet

Cast: Julien Poulin, Patrice Dubois, Maude Giguère, Jacob Tierney, Stéphane Breton, Noémie Godin-Vigneau, Cindy Sampson

There is nary a false note in this quietly moving, subtly funny drama, which features wonderfully realistic performances against a beautiful rural Canadian backdrop. When longtime truck driver Germain gets into a horrific accident on the road, his two far-flung sons, each stuck in a rudderless malaise of his own, return home to help him deal with the ensuing depression. The time together has unforeseen consequences for all involved. Rafaël Ouellet takes a familiar cinematic story––family reconnecting in the face of tragedy––and makes it feel fresh and unique with his spare, elegant treatment.

THE DISCOVERERS

World Premiere

Director: Justin Schwarz

Cast: Griffin Dunne, Madeleine Martin, Devon Graye, Stuart Margolin, Cara Buono, John C. McGinley

Lewis Birch (Griffin Dunne) and his mid-life crisis couldn’t get much worse: on his rare trip home – with his apathetic teenage children in tow – to see his aging parents, he finds his mother dead and his father Stanley soon in a mute state. Silence doesn’t stop Stanley from embarking once again on his favorite pastime: a Lewis and Clark historical reenactment trek. The Discoverers is a human comedy about a dysfunctional family forced to discover themselves and each other along the way. With a nod to Hal Ashby and the intimate character-driven comedies of the 1970s, the film shows how sometimes you have to get lost in order to find yourself. A HIFF Screenwriters’ Lab alum.

DRIFT

World Premiere

Director: Ben Nott, Morgan O’Neill

Cast: Myles Pollard, Xavier Samuel, Sam Worthington, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Robyn Malcolm

Set on Australia’s spectacular and rugged southwest coastline in the 1970s, DRIFT tells the story of two brothers (played by Myles Pollard and Xavier Samuel) at the genesis of the modern surfing industry. Determined to support their single mother, they begin selling custom boards and wetsuits, clashing with the values of their conservative small town and eventually violent drug dealers. This stylistic, compelling family drama strikes a perfect union with action and breathtaking surf footage, and features Sam Worthington as a surf photographer who exemplifies the laid-back vibe and strong bonds of surfer culture.

ELECTRICK CHILDREN

East Coast Premiere

Director: Rebecca Thomas

Cast: Julia Garner, Rory Culkin, Liam Aiken, Bill Sage, Billy Zane

“Don’t leave me hanging on the telephone.” These are divine words to Rachel, a precocious yet sheltered girl living with her Mormon fundamentalist family. On her fifteenth birthday, she stumbles upon a cassette tape blasting rock ‘n’ roll. Three months later, Rachel is pregnant by what she claims to be immaculate conception. Running away to Las Vegas to find that otherworldly voice from the tape, Rachel is transfixed and transformed. Featuring eye-popping cinematography and a heady rock soundtrack, ELECTRICK CHILDREN evokes the first rumblings of adulthood with exhilarating precision.

FUTURE WEATHER

Director: Jenny Deller

Cast: Perla Haney-Jardine, Amy Madigan, Lili Taylor, William Sadler, Marin Ireland

When her single mom runs off to California to become a make up artist to the stars, 13-year old and passionate environmentalist Lauduree clings to the rural home where a carbon sequestration experiment keeps her rooted. Her grandmother Greta, a caustic nurse, has other plans. Thrust together, the two women must learn to trust each other. Featuring outstanding performances by Lili Taylor, Amy Madigan, and newcomer Perla Haney-Jardine, FUTURE WEATHER is a compelling coming-of-age drama that explores the sorrow of saying goodbye to what we love. For its nuanced treatment of environmentalism, FUTURE WEATHER is this year’s Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Prize Winner.

GAYBY

Director: Jonathan Lisecki

Cast: Jenn Harris, Matthew Wilkas, Mike Doyle, Anna Margaret Hollyman, Jack Ferver, Jonathan Lisecki, Adam Driver

Based on Jonathan Lisecki’s award winning short film, GAYBY is a hilarious look at life, love, and the pursuit of progeny. Both thirty-somethings and best friends since college, Jenn (Jenn Harris) is a perpetually single yoga teacher and Matt (Matthew Wilkas) is an unsuccessful comic book writer who can’t get over his ex-boyfriend. Realizing they might be each other’s best and only shot at having a baby, they attempt to procreate the old-fashioned way. With a strong and often sassy supporting cast, GAYBY is a sidesplitting look at choosing your family.

GREETINGS FROM TIM BUCKLEY

Director: Dan Algrant

Producers: John N. Hart Jr., Patrick Milling Smith, Amy Nauiokas, Fred Zollo

Cast: Penn Badgley, Imogen Poots, Ben Rosenfeld, Norbert Leo Butz

In 1991 Jeff Buckley (Penn Badgely), a young unknown L.A. musician, is invited to participate in a tribute concert in New York City for his late father Tim Buckley, the iconic folk rock star. Jeff grapples with his own self-doubts and the legacy of his famous father, but with the help of an enigmatic concert intern (Imogen Poots), he discovers his own voice singing his father’s songs. Simultaneously told in 1991 and 1966, GREETINGS FROM TIM BUCKLEY poignantly explores the interweaving paths of a father and son who were among the most beloved singer-songwriters of their generation.

IN ANOTHER COUNTRY “Da-reun na-ra-e-suh”

Director: Hong Sang-soo

Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Yu Junsang, Jung Yumi, Kwon Hyehyo, Youn Yuhjung, Moon Sori, Moon Sungkeun

French superstar Isabelle Huppert stars in Hong Sang-soo’s playful comedy of displacement, IN ANOTHER COUNTRY. Set in a Korean coastal resort town, this Cannes crowd pleaser features three vignettes centered around three different women named Anne––all played by Huppert––all staying at the same hotel and all involved in some degree of infidelity. Hong, the Korean auteur often called the most French director of the Korean New Wave, again orchestrates a roundelay of missed connections tinged with his vintage smirky humor. Enjoy your stay in this lighthearted triptych of joie de vivre.

INCH’ALLAH

US Premiere

Director: Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette

Cast: Evelyne Brochu, Sabrina Ouazani, Yousef Sweid, Sivan Levy, Carlo Brandt, Marie-Thérèse Frotin

From team behind INCENDIES and MONSIEUR LAZHAR (Oscar® nominees, Best Foreign Language Film) comes director Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s powerful drama INCH’ALLAH. A stranger in a strange land, Chloe is a young Quebec doctor who lives on the Israeli side of the West Bank and works at a refugee camp on the Palestinian side. In her unique and politically fraught position, she befriends civilians on both sides of the border. Between checkpoints and stray bullets Chloe learns about war as she becomes torn between the two sides of the conflict. Don’t miss this provocative and masterful film.

LET MY PEOPLE GO!

New York Premiere

Director: Mikael Buch

Cast: Nicholas Maury, Carmen Maura, Jean-François Stévenin, Jarkko Niemi, Amira Casar

Gay postman Reuben Steiner’s life spins from candy colored perfection to French farce when a man shoves nearly 200,000 euros into his hands and promptly keels over on the lawn. Kicked out by his suspicious Finnish husband and forced to seek asylum amidst the lunacy of his Jewish family in France, Reuben seeks a way back to his “Promised Land,” but just where, or who, can it be? A surprisingly moving comedy, Let My People Go, tilts the camera off-center to a world where (though nothing is perfect) perhaps our most honest choices can set us free.

LUMPY

World Premiere

Director: Ted Koland

Cast: Justin Long, Addison Timlin, Jess Weixler, Tyler Labine, Frances O’Connor

Who was Lumpy: the life of the party or something more? In writer/director Ted Koland’s comedy, Lumpy is the best man who unexpectedly dies at the destination wedding of newlywed couple Scott and Kristin (played with aplomb by Justin Long and Jess Weixler). Forced to cancel their honeymoon and fly home to the snowy Midwest, Scott and Kristin arrange for Lumpy’s funeral, unexpectedly leading them to a 15 year-old girl in a small, northern Minnesota town and the “real” Lumpy. With its sharply drawn screenplay, LUMPY is both a hilarious and touching look at friendship.

MERCY “Gnade”

US Premiere

Director: Matthias Glasner

Cast: Jürgen Vogel, Birgit Minichmayr, Henry Stange, Ane Dahl Torp, Maria Bock, Stig Henrick Hoff, Iren Reppen

Maria and Markus move with their son from Germany to the remote town of Hammerfest, Norway. Here, they must endure with two winter months of daylong darkness known as polar nights just as the promise of this desolate and unbearably beautiful place is replaced with martial tension and resentment. One night, Maria hits something with her car. Soon, the couple must confront the horror and guilt of their actions and the crumbling façade of their marriage. Stunningly photographed at the edge of the world, featuring incredible central performances, MERCY will leave you breathless.

MY BROTHER THE DEVIL

Director: Sally El Hosani

Cast: Saïd Taghmaoui, James Floyd, Fady Elsayed, Aymen Hamdouchi, Ashley Thomas, Anthony Welsh

Mo is a young boy growing up in a traditional Egyptian household, but beyond the front door of the family’s modest London flat lies the streets of Hackney. The impressionable Mo idolizes his charismatic older brother Rashid. However, Rashid wants a different life for his little brother and will do whatever it takes to put him through college. Aching to be seen as a tough guy himself, Mo takes a job that unlocks a fateful turn of events and forces the brothers to confront their inner demons. A galvanizing twist on the gangster film subgenre, MY BROTHER pulses with surprise.

PIAZZA FONTANA: THE ITALIAN CONSPIRACY

North American Premiere

Director: Marco Tullio Giordana

Cast: Valerio Mastandrea, Pierfrancesco Favino, Michela Cescon, Laura Chiatti, Fabrizio Gifuni, Luigi Lo Cascio

With shades of TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, PIAZZA FONTANA is an impressively staged drama set in the politically volatile Italy of the 1960s and 70s. On December 12, 1969 a bomb is detonated at the National Agricultural Bank in Milan’s Piazza Fontana, killing 17 people, wounding 88, and leading to years of intrigue and recrimination. At the center of the investigation is police commissioner Luigi Calabresi, who becomes a controversial figure when a suspect is killed while under interrogation in his office. Cool performances and precision-sharp logic draw us in as Calabresi searches for answers to questions perhaps better left unasked.

RED FLAG

New York Premiere

Director: Alex Karpovsky

Cast: Alex Karpovsky, Onur Tukel, Jennifer Prediger, Caroline White, Dustin Guy Defa

Alex Karpovsky (HBO’s GIRLS, TINY FURNITURE) stars as Alex Karpovsky in this wryly funny film from the young actor-director-producer. Blurring reality and fiction in the vein of Larry David’s CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, Karpovsky takes us on a road trip as he promotes his 2008 film WOODPECKER at colleges and independent cinemas throughout the South. Having just broken up with his girlfriend, he asks an old buddy to come along for the ride and gets entwined with an ardent art house groupie. A through-the-looking-glass glance at independent film, RED FLAG is a blisteringly funny reflection on acting and filmmaking.

REFUGE

World Premiere

Director: Jessica Goldberg

Cast: Krysten Ritter, Brian Geraghty, Logan Huffman, Madeleine Martin

After just one year of college, Amy (Krysten Ritter) is forced to return home when her parents inexplicably abandon her younger brother and sister. The responsibilities of being a mother to her needy siblings weigh heavily on Amy, but the sudden appearance of Sam (Brian Geraghty), a handsome drifter, begins to change the family dynamic. Slowly breaking through the defenses they’ve erected against a hostile world, the group discovers that life isn’t as lonely as it seems. Boasting a standout cast, REFUGE is a touching, tragic-comic portrait of lost souls in destitute small town America.

A ROYAL AFFAIR “En kongelig affære”

US Premiere

Director: Nikolaj Arcel

Screenwriters: Rasmus Heisterberg, Nikolaj Arcel

Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander, Mikkel Boe Folsgaard, Trine Dyrholm, David Dencik

Starring Alicia Vikander (Variety’s Ten Actors to Watch) and Mads Mikkelsen, A ROYAL AFFAIR brings to life the 18th century royal love triangle between Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, mad King Christian VII of Denmark, and Johann Struensee, the King’s personal doctor and chief advisor. Caroline remains alienated and depressed since she married the cruel King at 15, but when her husband returns from Germany with a new confidante, she is soon taken with Johann’s shared enlightenment ideals. Bringing reform to feudal Denmark, they upset the ruling aristocrats in this sumptuous, engrossing period drama.

THE SAPPHIRES

New York Premiere

Director: Wayne Blair

Cast: Jessica Mauboy, Deborah Mailman, Shari Sebbens, Miranda Tapsell, Chris O’Dowd

Destined to be the crowd-pleasing hit of the year, THE SAPPHIRES is a boisterous, inspirational comedy set in the tumultuous days of the late 1960s about group of talented women from a remote Aboriginal mission. Discovered by a washed up talent scout (the wonderful Chris O’Dowd), they launch a career as an all-girl R&B group and land their biggest gig yet: singing for the troops in the Vietnam War. Based on a true story, THE SAPPHIRES is filled with pop and soul gems, immaculately sung by the breakout cast of Jessica Mauboy, Deborah Mailman, Shari Sebbens, and Miranda Tapsell. A must-see, stand-up-and-cheer film.

SIMON AND THE OAKS

East Coast Premiere

Director: Lisa Ohlin

Cast: Bill Skarsgård, Helen Sjöholm, Stefan Gödick, Jonatan Wächter, Jan Josef Liefers

A splendid, visually rich World War II epic, SIMON AND THE OAKS tells story of Simon (played as the adult by Bill Skarsgård, son of Stellan), who grows up in a loving working class family on the outskirts of Gothenburg but always feels out of place. As a boy he meets Isak, the son of a wealthy, artistic Jewish bookseller who has fled Nazi persecution in Germany. When Isak faces trouble at home, he is taken in by Simon’s family and the two households slowly merge, connecting in unexpected ways as war rages all over Europe.

SIN BIN

East Coast Premiere

Director: Billy Federighi

Cast: Michael Seater, Emily Meade, Bo Burnham, Brian Petsos, Gillian Jacobs, Jeff Garlin, Tim Blake Nelson

Shy Brian is a scholarship kid at a fancy Chicago prep school who lends out his beat-up van, the “Sin Bin,” to his classmates for their sexual exploits while he himself remains a virgin. One day he strikes a deal with Tony (the scene-stealing comedian Bo Burnham), a class kingpin who holds court in the handicap bathroom: in exchange for use of the van, Tony will help Brian with the ladies. With an affable nod to Wes Anderson and a stellar supporting cast, Billy Federighi’s first feature is a charming coming-of-age comedy sure to make you smile.

SPARROWS DANCE

World Premiere

Director: Noah Buschel

Cast: Marin Ireland, Paul Sparks

Award-winning filmmaker Noah Buschel turns his lens on the confines of a Brooklyn apartment in this charming and original love story. An agoraphobic former actress (Marin Ireland) has successfully shut herself off from the outside world, but when her toilet breaks, she is forced to open her door to Wes (Paul Sparks), a saxophone playing plumber, who is equal parts charismatic and disruptive to Ireland. The pair falls in love, but not without obstacles that threaten the new and tender relationship. Bringing nuance and humor to their roles, Ireland and Sparks anchor this winning film.

STARLET

East Coast Premiere

Director: Sean Baker

Cast: Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Stella Maeve, James Ransone, Karren Karagulian

Two women, 21-year-old Jane (Dree Hemingway) and 85-year-old reclusive widow, Sadie (Besedka Johnson), form an unlikely friendship in Sean Baker’s understated and beautiful film set in the San Fernando Valley. Featuring striking performances from the first time actresses, Jane buys a thermos at Sadie’s yard sale and discovers $10,000 hidden in the relic. Attempting to return the money, Sadie slams the door in her face before she can explain. Jane connives her way into Sadie’s life, and while hiding her motives, the two women find unmatchable companionship and understanding. Graphic content may not be suitable for children.

THE TAIWAN OYSTER

East Coast Premiere

Director: Mark Jarrett

Cast: Billy Harvey, Jeff Palmiotti, Leonora Lim

This quixotic road movie follows two ex-pat kindergarten teachers in Taipei who steal the corpse of a fellow American from a morgue in order to give him a proper burial. While sweet-talking the undertaker, they meet a receptionist who tags along for the ride. Brooding Simon (“You’re in love with sadness.”) and Darin, the energetic instigator of this partying duo, drive along the Taiwanese coast with Nikita, the girl who is at once appalled by their behavior yet drawn to it. With exquisite cinematography by Mike Simpson and music by Dylan Jones, THE TAIWAN OYSTER is a festival find.

WAR WITCH “Rebelle”

Director/Screenwriter: Kim Nguyen

Cast: Rachel Mwanza, Alain Bastien, Serge Kanyianda, Ralph Prosper, Mizinga Mwinga

“Each day I pray to God to give me the strength to love you.” Fourteen-year old Komona (Rachel Mwanza, in one of the finest performances of the year) tells her unborn son the story of her kidnapping and coercion into becoming a child soldier for the Great Tiger rebels. Set in nowhere Sub-Saharan Africa, WAR WITCH is filmed with the ultra realism of a documentary though its forests teem with ghosts, its villages with magic, its love story with unexpected reveries of laughter, and its child’s story with sudden tragedies that must be confronted in the search for peace. Graphic content not suitable for children.

ZARAFA

Directors: Rémi Bezançon, Jean-Christophe Lie   

Cast: Simon Abkarian, Max Renaudin, Clara Quilichini, Francois-Xavier Demaison, Ronit Elkabetz, Roger Dumas, Thierry Fremont

Co-directed by Rémi Bezançon and Jean-Christophe Lie, who did the animation for THE TRIPLETS OF BELVILLE and TARZAN, ZARAFA’s charming tale is sure to capture the hearts of kids of all ages. Under a baobab tree, a griot, or storyteller, shares the epic adventures of Maki, a 10-year old boy in Africa who befriends a giraffe and tries to stop her from being sent to Paris as a gift for King Charles X. Their voyage takes them through Alexandria and Marseille, aboard a hot air balloon and a pirate ship, and over mirage-filled deserts and the snow-capped Alps.

WORLD CINEMA: DOCUMENTARY

56 UP

US Premiere

Director: Michael Apted

Inspired by the Jesuit maxim, “Give me a child at seven and I will show you the man,” British director Michael Apted undertook one of the great social experiments in the history of cinema: to follow a group of seven-year old children throughout their lives. The result is the unprecedented UP series, which began in 1964 with 7 UP and has continued every seven years since. Apted’s latest is 56 UP, following his subjects into middle age. Featuring footage and stories from all of the UP films, 56 UP is the latest chapter in Apted’s powerful document of human experience.

59 MIDDLE LANE

World Premiere

Director: Greg Ammon

When are you ready to find out who you really are? At the age of 10, adopted Russian children Grego and Alexa Ammon are rocked by the murder of their father Ted in the Hamptons by their stepfather Danny Pelosi. Soon afterwards, their mother Generosa died of cancer. Now twenty years old, they decide to unearth their roots in the Ukraine. Orphans made orphans again, seeking their identities because even reality doesn’t seem real, 59 MIDDLE LANE is a deeply felt documentary that charts the human need to connect and the mysterious journey it takes to move from tragedy to joy.

AMERICAN MASTERS: INVENTING DAVID GEFFEN

US Premiere

Director: Susan Lacy

Cast: David Geffen, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Elton John, Yoko Ono, Cher, Neil Young

Described as “the single most successful entrepreneur in entertainment”, Asylum Records and Dreamworks SKG founder David Geffen rose from his humble beginnings in Brooklyn to become a one-man cultural juggernaut in the film and music industries. INVENTING DAVID GEFFEN offers a fascinating, sympathetic, and startlingly intimate look at the man behind the swagger and success. Effortlessly dovetailing personal events in his life—losing friends to AIDS, a misdiagnosis of cancer, coming out as a gay man after an emotionally devastating breakup with Cher—with his seemingly unstoppable professional ascent, director Susan Lacy has crafted a documentary to inspire anybody who has dared to dream big.

THE ATOMIC STATES OF AMERICA

New York Premiere

Director: Don Argott, Sheena M Joyce

Based on Kelly McMaster’s book about nuclear power plant in Long Island, THE ATOMIC STATES OF AMERICA looks at the resurgence of nuclear power as a viable, so-called “clean” energy source in the United States. The announcement of a new plant in 2010––the first in the U.S. for 32 years––and the Fukushima disaster in Japan a year later, heightened this ongoing debate. Filmmakers Sheena M. Joyce and Don Argott (THE ART OF THE STEAL) take us to reactor communities across the country, exposing the myths and truths about nuclear energy through interviews of those affected and those within the industry.

A BAND CALLED DEATH

East Coast Premiere

Directors: Mark Covino, Jeff Howlett

In the early 70s, an unlikely band of brothers came together in Detroit and began playing a style of high velocity music under the name of Death. Three decades later, the Hackney brothers make their debut. A BAND CALLED DEATH tells unprecedented story of the world’s first black punk band, predating the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, and Bad Brains. Filled with timeless music, the documentary rightfully claims Death’s place in music history. As Jake White writes, “The first time the stereo played, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing… Ahead of punk, and ahead of their time.”

BEYOND RIGHT AND WRONG: STORIES OF JUSTICE AND FORGIVENESS

World Premiere

Directors: Lekha Singh, Roger Spottiswoode

Subtitled “Stories of Justice and Forgiveness,” Lekha Singh and Roger Spottiswoode’s documentary looks at areas of conflict around the world and asks what it takes to forgive, and what it takes to ask for forgiveness under the most difficult of circumstances. Paired personal interviews of aggressors and victims from Northern Ireland, Rwanda, Israel, and Palestine, BEYOND RIGHT AND WRONG examines anger, understanding, remorse, tolerance, and sometimes clemency. The survivors’ stories are haunting and inspiring, and the film is a beautifully shot meditation on justice and its role in national and personal healing.

BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS!*

Director: Fredrik Gertten

BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS!* is riveting chronicle of Swedish filmmakers Fredrik Gertten and Margarete Jangård’s battle to release BANANAS!*, a documentary about Nicaraguan farmers suing Dole Food Company for their use of banned pesticides. With the weight of the multinational’s legal team and shrewd PR firm against them, the filmmakers hire a film crew to follow them, as they are pulled from competition at a major L.A. film festival and find US distribution of their film blocked. Gertten becomes David fighting Dole’s Goliath as he takes a stand against censorship in a world of unchecked corporate and financial power.

BROOKLYN CASTLE

Director: Katie Dellamaggiore

P.S. 318 in Brooklyn is home to the most winning junior high school chess team in the country. For these students, chess isn’t just a game: it’s a chance to create a more promising future, hone their leadership skills, bring greater focus to their classes, and even compete for college scholarships. As the school faces draconian budget cuts that threaten the team’s ability to travel and compete, the students and teachers must fight to save their program. BROOKLYN CASTLE is a heartwarming and entertaining examination of the importance of after school programs and what’s at stake when education budgets become the frontline casualties of the financial crisis.

CALL ME KUCHU

Directors: Katherine Fairfax Wright, Malika Zouhali-Worrall

A powerful documentary with unprecedented access, CALL ME KUCHU examines the growing anti-gay movement in Uganda by following the charismatic David Kato, the first openly gay man from that country and a leading advocate for the rights of “kuchus,” his fellow lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered compatriots. From sensational headlines—“Homo Terror! We Name and Shame Top Gays in the City” screamed one Kampala tabloid—to systematic attempts to legalize anti-homosexual bills in Parliament, the filmmakers boldly attempt to get to heart of what is driving this hysteria while discovering the soul within this marginalized populous.

CITIZEN HEARST

World Premiere

Director: Leslie Iwerks

Narration: William H. Macy

CITIZEN HEARST, directed by Academy Award® nominated filmmaker Leslie Iwerks and narrated by Academy Award nominee William H. Macy, traces the 125-year history of the Hearst media empire, from William Randolph Hearst’s pioneering and controversial days of headline-grabbing yellow journalism, to the global impact of the company’s many successful media brands. Iwerks provides a rare glimpse behind the glass walls of the Hearst Tower, interviewing top magazine editors of Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire, among others, while also traveling to San Simeon, California, for unprecedented access to the Hearst Castle and family members.

DECODING DEEPAK

Director: Gotham Chopra

Subjects: Deepak Chopra, Gotham Chopra, Lady Gaga, Larry King, Oprah Winfrey, Russell Simmons

DECODING DEEPAK probes what happens when we elevate men, inherently flawed by nature, to the level of Guru. Filmed with an all-access pass by the celebrity author and spiritual icon Deepak Chopra’s son, Gotham, the film spends a year following the two as the elder Chopra becomes ordained as a Thai monk, checks in on his various spiritual centers across the US, releases a new book, and spends what time he can with his family. As the son tries to make sense of his father, the film becomes its own journey, different from the one both men intended to embark on.

DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’: EVERYMAN’S JOURNEY

Director: Ramona S. Diaz

A testament to the democratic power of YouTube, a cross-cultural odyssey, and an unforgettable rock documentary, DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’ tells the tale of how Journey hired a Filipino bar singer as their new lead vocalist. Journey’s guitarist and leading light Neal Schon stumbled across videos of Arnel Pineda, a singer from Manila with an astounding voice, and flew him in to meet the band. Director Ramona S. Diaz chronicles the road to stardom for the singer whose charisma and work ethic infuse one of the most American of stadium rock bands with new life and identity.

THE FLAT “Hadira”

Director: Arnon Goldfinger

After his grandmother passes away, Israeli documentarian Arnon Goldfinger discovers an unexpected link to WWII-era Germany in her untouched Tel Aviv apartment. Compelled to delve further into his family history, Goldfinger pieces together her letters and newspaper clippings to reveal startling facts and frustrating ambiguities in the life of a woman glimpsed only in oil paintings and faded photographs. A multifaceted examination of a time period so often represented in stark black and white, THE FLAT tackles the endlessly fraught relationship between Germans and Jews, and the fundamentally mysterious nature of personal history.

THE GOOD SON: THE LIFE OF RAY “BOOM BOOM” MANCINI

World Premiere

Director: Jesse James Miller

Subjects: Ray Mancini, Sugar Ray Leonard

Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini went from working class Bronx kid to boxing superstar, but when he accidentally kills opponent Duk Koo Kim during a 1982 match, he becomes racked by guilt and regret. Years later, when Kim’s grown son decides he would like to meet the man responsible for his father’s death, both men have the opportunity to find some closure and bring decades of pain to an end. Miller’s documentary is more than just a slick, well-made biopic of a fascinating sportsman: it’s an exploration of the consuming nature of grief and the power of forgiveness.

HERMAN’S HOUSE

Director: Angad Singh Bhalla

Herman Wallace has been in solitary confinement in Louisiana over 36 years for a crime he may not have committed. Jackie Sumell is an artist who decided that the only way to get Herman out of prison was to get him to dream. HERMAN’S HOUSE is the documentary of that dream: his dream house, the friendship that inhabits it, and the nearly impossible task of making his home a physical reality. This is a film that demands we consider the stark reality of justice, the definition of “cruel and unusual punishment,” and the limits of compassion in America.

IN YOUR DREAMS – STEVIE NICKS

World Premiere

Directors: Dave Stewart, Stevie Nicks

Subjects: Stevie Nicks, Dave Stewart, Glen Ballard

With her bewitching, emotionally charged songs––from “Rhiannon” to “Landslide”, “Dreams” to “Gypsy”––singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks cemented her status as one of the most distinctive female voices in rock history as a member of Fleetwood Mac and through her own solo career. Producer/songwriter Dave Stewart was one half of the influential pop/rock group the Eurythmics with Annie Lennox. In 2010, these two icons paired up to write and record Nicks’ highly acclaimed album, IN YOUR DREAMS. Co-directed by Stewart and Nicks, this rousing documentary charts the album’s creation and peeks inside their unique creative process.

JAMES SALTER: A SPORT AND A PASTIME

US Premiere

Directors: Edgar Howard, Sandy Gotham Meehan, Tom Piper

In 1967, author and former air force pilot James Salter published what would become his most famous work, A SPORT AND A PASTIME. A love letter to youth, romance, and provincial France, the novel shocked and enthralled the world with its poetic prose and frank sexuality. This warm, incisive documentary intercuts Salter’s reflections on his life and work with archival photographs, commentary from friends like Robert Redford and Reynolds Price, and readings of text from the book. An intimate, deeply moving portrait of one of the greatest American writers of the last century.

LONDON: THE MODERN BABYON

US Premiere

Director: Julien Temple

In Julien Temple’s masterful new documentary, LONDON: THE MODERN BABYLON, the history of 20th and 21st century London is shaped by the diverse experience of the people who give shape to England’s grand metropolis. From the birth of the modern city through the great European wars and into a new era of post-colonial diversity, Temple creates a portrait of the city not as it is mythologized, but as it is lived. LONDON: THE MODERN BABYLON is a triumphant voyage through the century, a celebration of the complexity, beauty, and tragedy, an exultation of human civilization.

MEA MAXIMA CULPA: SILENCE IN THE HOUSE OF GOD

East Coast Premiere

Director: Alex Gibney

Cast: Jamey Sheridan, Chris Cooper, Ethan Hawke, John Slattery, Alex Gibney

Acclaimed documentarian and Academy Award® winner Alex Gibney investigates the sex scandals of the Roman Catholic Church, beginning in 1950s Milwaukee. Pledging to put a public face on sexual abuse, five deaf men and abuse survivors led the first publicly known protest against an abusive priest. This harrowing film travels the globe and unearths a systematic cover up of abuse and scandal. The survivors’ fight for justice is further complicated when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the former Vatican overseer of sex-abuse cases, is named Pope Benedict XVI. MEA MAXIMA CULPA stands as an important document for social justice and change.

THE NEW PUBLIC

World Premiere

Director: Jylilian Gunther

Filmed over four years, THE NEW PUBLIC chronicles the ambitious efforts of a group of young educators, their students, and the community as they create a small, new public high school in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Their bold vision is put to the test as they struggle to adapt to the difficult reality of the community they serve. From Emmy Award®-winning filmmaker and HIFF alum (PULL OUT) Jyllian Gunther comes a verité-style documentary that considers what it means to bridge, “the urban achievement gap”: who is responsible, who is capable, and whether it’s even possible. 

ONE DAY AFTER PEACE “Yom echad achari ha-shalom”

East Coast Premiere

Directors: Erez Laufer, Miri Laufer

When Robi Damelin’s son was killed by a sniper while serving in the Israeli Army, her first reaction was to reach out to the Palestinian shooter, hoping to start a dialogue and come to terms with her grief. When the gesture was spurned, she looked to South Africa, her birth country, to learn how the wounds of apartheid have started to heal over the years. With fascinating archival footage of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee hearings, ONE DAY AFTER PEACE is a thought-provoking chronicle of one woman’s brave journey to find peace in two global conflict zones.

ONE NATION UNDER DOG: STORIES OF FEAR, LOSS, & BETRAYAL

Directors: Jenny Carchman, Ellen Goosenberg Kent, Amanda Micheli

Three award-winning directors present a trio of stories that examine the deep and complex relationship between man and his best friend. From the owner of a dog who has bite several neighbors, to pet loss support groups, to animal shelters and dedicated volunteers, this moving documentary examines the complicated intersection between ownership and responsibility, and how our love of dogs can both combat and contribute to the harsh reality that two million dogs are euthanized each year. A must-see for every pet owner. Graphic footage may not be suitable for children.

ORCHESTRA OF EXILES

North American Premiere

Director/Screenwriter/Producer: Josh Aronson

Subjects: Itzhak Perlman, Zubin Mehta, Pinchas Zuckerman, Joshua Bell, Leon Botstein

The story of Bronislaw Huberman and the creation of the Palestine Symphony (renamed the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 1948) is one for the ages. As a child, Huberman, a virtuoso violinist, played Brahms’ concerto in front of an approving crowd that included Brahms himself. As an adult he declined an invitation to perform the solo at the Berlin Philharmonic’s 1934 opening, instead dedicating himself—and moving heaven and earth in the process—to establishing a new life and a musical haven for Jewish exiles. With deep admiration for its subject, ORCHESTRA IN EXILE explores the life of this extraordinary humanitarian and musician.

PLIMPTON! STARRING GEORGE PLIMPTON AS HIMSELF

New York Premiere

Director: Tom Bean, Luke Poling

Subjects: George Plimpton, Robert F. Kennedy, Freddy Plimpton, Hugh Hefner, Gay Talese

The founder/editor of The Paris Review, a bumbling quarterback for the Detroit Lions, an amateur percussionist in the New York Philharmonic, a hopeless stand-up comedian, an influential writer: George Plimpton was a renaissance man with a unique brand of self-deprecating, perceptive insight into cultural institutions. This spry documentary portrait tracks Plimpton’s everyman stabs at athletic and artistic greatness, as well as his influence on American pop culture as a man of letters. By turns delightful and touching, PLIMPTON! is a tribute to the brilliant man who (seemingly) did it all.

ROMEO, ROMEO

World Premiere

Director: Lizzie Gottlieb

Brooklyn based filmmaker Lizzie Gottlieb intimately documents her friends, a lesbian couple, as they attempt to conceive. With no holds barred access, Gotlieb follows warm, laid back Lexy and reserved, career woman Jessica every step of the way as they traverse the world of artificial insemination, from sperm donors to expensive and harrowing IVF to the possibility that LEXY might not be able to get pregnant. Filled with test tubes, laughter, and tears, ROMEO, ROMEO is a totem to the struggles and triumphs of marriage and family, and a relatable and compelling story both modern and timeless.

THE STANDBYS

East Coast Premiere

Director: Stephanie Riggs

Cast: Ben Crawford, Merwin Foard, Aléna Watters, Bebe Neuwirth, David Hyde Pierce

The curtain’s up, but not for Ben Crawford, Merwin Foard, and Aléna Watters, three incredibly talented musical theater actors all cast as “standbys” for some of Broadway’s biggest names. Unlike understudies who often play a part in a show’s ensemble, standbys wait in the wings night after night, and must be ready to slip into the leading lady’s or man’s shoes at a moment’s notice. THE STANDBYS tracks these actors as the try to climb the ladder of theatrical success: Crawford and Watters, both gunning for stardom, and Foard, a veteran standby ruminating over the chance for more.

VENUS AND SERENA

US Premiere

Directors: Maiken Baird, Michelle Major

Ever since Venus and Serena Williams started playing in tennis tournaments, they’ve provoked strong reactions, from awe and admiration to suspicion and resentment. They’ve been winning championships for over a decade, pushing the limits of longevity in such a demanding sport. How long can they last? In VENUS AND SERENA, we gain unprecedented access into their lives during the most intimidating year of their career. Over the course of 2011, Venus grappled with an energy-sapping autoimmune disease while Serena battled back from a life-threatening pulmonary embolism. Neither Venus nor Serena let their adversities hold them back, drawing strength from each other.

WAKALIWOOD: THE DOCUMENTARY

World Premiere

Directors: Ben Barenholtz, Alan Ssali Hofmanis

WAKALIWOOD takes viewers to the slums of Wakaliga, Uganda, where Isaac Godfrey Geoffrey (I.G.G.) Nabwana, a doting father of three, produces, directs, and edits action films with a collective of dedicated filmmakers and actors. Prop guns are made from welding metal and bullets from carving wood, and I.G.G. edits on a computer he built himself that has a tendency to overheat. Moving and inspiring, WAKALIWOOD is about a pure love for film, a joy for art that, for better or worse, has not been tainted by money and fame, and the power of a community united by a shared dream of making movies.

WILD IN THE STREETS

East Coast Premiere

Director: Peter Baxter

Every year at Lent, the whole town of Ashbourne, England gathers not to watch football, but to play it. The peculiar version they play, Shrovetide Football—in which a heaving sea of humanity wills a hand-painted, four-pound ball towards one of two goals set three miles apart–was developed in medieval times and is the origin of soccer, rugby, and American football. This spirited cross-town rivalry, and the river Henmore, divides the population into posh Up’ards and the dirty Down’ards. Played for a thousand years, the game is a time-honored, quintessentially British tradition, surviving edicts from kings, revolutions, and modern life.

ZEN OF BENNETT

Director: Unjoo Moon

Conceived, Created, and Produced by Danny Bennett

Subject: Tony Bennett

Created and conceived by son Danny Bennett, THE ZEN OF BENNETT is a seductive and soulful view into the mind of singer Tony Bennett as well as an intimate portrait of the artist’s creative process as he turns 85 years old. In a first person narrative, Tony Bennett reflects back over his 60-year career while looking ahead within the context of his latest recording project. We experience inspirational insights as Tony discusses his philosophies of life, lessons learned, and his passion for art and music. A smash hit at our annual SummerDocs series, HIFF is thrilled to bring THE ZEN OF BENNETT to this year’s Film Festival.

GOLDEN STARFISH AWARDS SHORT FILM COMPETITION

The Golden Starfish Awards Short Film Competition represents the finest achievements of the year in short form filmmaking. The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony on Sunday, October 7 and will qualify for consideration at the Academy Awards®.

ABIGAIL

North American Premiere

Director: Matthew James Reilly

Today is Abigail’s last day of work and she’s ready to catch the next train out of town, but by the end of her shift will she still have the conscience to leave? A winner at the Cannes Film Festival.

BYDLO

New York Premiere

Director: Patrick Bouchard

An allegory of mankind heading for disaster, BYDLO is a tragic vision inspired by one of Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” The film is stunningly realized in painstaking claymation.

DANCE MUSIC NOW

North American Premiere

Director: Johan Jonason

If you didn’t think making “dance music” was an art form, just look at the egos of those who create it when a recording session turns up some deep seeded emotions.

THE RETURN “Kthimi”

East Coast Premiere

Director: Blerta Zeqiri

A young man, released from a POW camp in Serbia returns home after four years. At first glance his family seems to be exactly as he left them, but soon he learns that he wasn’t the only one affected by the war. Winner of Short Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival.

THE CURSE

North American Premiere

Director: Fyzal Boulifa

A young woman ventures far from her village into the red Moroccan desert to meet her older lover. When a small boy catches her, she can’t begin to imagine the trouble he will cause. Winner of the Short Film Prize at Cannes

FAMILY VALUES: DRAMATIC SHORTS

Love is at the center of these powerful award-winning shorts about family and friendship. The bonds are pushed to the limit, pulled, kneaded, and nearly broken, but family is family and some things never change.

BELIEVING “Geloven”

World Premiere

Director: Mijke de Jong

The female GP Martine deals with many immigrant patients and, over the years, has developed a strong respect for their diverse religious and cultural beliefs. When her daughter Anna chooses her own way and becomes a Muslim, will she be faithful to her convictions?

THE PLAIN “A Chjána”

Director: Jonas Carpignano

Ayiva, an African migrant worker and his best friend, Chico, are forced to escape Italy after its most significant race riots in history. Inspired by real events and featuring non-actors The Plain paints a devastating portrait of friendship, loss, and fear.

THE FACTORY “A Fabrica”

East Coast Premiere

Director: Aly Muritiba

A mother risks everything to smuggle a cell phone for her inmate son. However, it is not just any visiting day. Today, a very important phone call must be made.

REVOLUTION REYKJAVIK

Director: Ísold Uggadóttir

As Iceland sinks into economic meltdown, 58-year-old Gudfinna tries, against all odds, not to do the same.

SLICES OF ANOTHER LIFE: SHORTS

This program of short documentaries explores the overlooked, unseen, and ignored sections of society. Ranging from a cat’s double life to the men who make ballet shoes, there’s something for everyone in this fascinating look at others’ lives.

CAT CAM

Director: Seth Keal

Mr. Lee, an adopted stray cat, lives a double life. Like anyone else, his owner Juergen, constantly wonders about his disappearances. That is until he invents a tiny camera designed to fit around Mr. Lee’s neck.

THE PERFECT FIT

Director: Tali Yankelevich

Ballet shoes may be worn by delicate girls, but they’re crafted by burly men whose hands tell another story. Juxtaposing stories from both a seasoned shoemaker and dancer the film explores the balance that they must strike between pain and perfection.

ANOSMIA

New York Premiere

Director: Jacob LaMendola

A visual and lyrical portrait about people with the rare condition that renders them unable to smell.

EIGHTY EIGHT

US Premiere

Directors: Sebastian Feehan, Josh Bamford

Ralph Settle is 88, but besides looking at him, you would never know. The film is a charming snapshot of a man defying concepts of age by living, drinking, clubbing, and bicycling more than most half his age.

JIMMY

Director: Martin Smith

This touching documentary captures, in first-person, the trials and tribulations of Jimmy McIntosh as he campaigns for the rights of the disabled.

THE CHILDREN NEXT DOOR

US Premiere

Director: Doug Block

Doug Block captures one family’s struggle to cope with the deep psychic wounds left by their abusive father. Five-and-a-half years later, the family is closer than ever… but now the oldest daughter wants to visit her father in prison.

MISCONCEPTIONS: SHORTS

We’re often told not to take things at face value. This playful yet revelatory selection of short films proves why.

CORK’S CATTLEBARON

Director: Eric Steele

A young protégé and his boss (Robert Longstreet) sit down for the most epic steak dinner of their lives in Omaha, Nebraska.

FRIEND REQUEST PENDING

East Coast Premiere

Director: Chris Foggin

Relationships have always been hard, but in this humorous take on cyber romance starring Dame Judi Dench as a widow flirting on Facebook things get complicated.

A GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT “madchenabend ”

New York Premiere

Director: Timo Becker

Tired of life, Christine has just about given up when her roommate at the old person’s home abducts her for night in Hamburg’s red-light district. Suddenly, life doesn’t seem so boring to Christine.

TASTES LIKE CHICKEN?

New York Premiere

Director: Quico Meirelles

From literally a bird’s-eye view we follow the life of one chicken, or rather the life she thinks is possible. Employing a biting social commentary mixed with a distinctive visual style, director Qucio Mierelles makes this anthropomorphized hen cluck.

MR. UNIVERSE

East Coast Premiere

Director Chris Farrington

While driving in the desert at night, a couple wishes the worst on each other, leading to a bizarre and bloody turn of events in which both their twisted desires come true.

RHINOS

East Coast Premiere

Director: Shimmy Marcus

Thrown together by circumstance, an awkward Irish man and a jubilant German tourist reluctantly explore the city together.

FANTASTICAL MOMENTS: SHORTS

Removed from reality and steeped in imagination, these shorts manage to capture the raw passion and find truer emotion than that which exists in the everyday. Bolstered by the Safdie Brothers and the revered HIF alum Don Hertzfeldt, this is a must-see program.

THE BLACK BALLOON

Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie

When one hundred balloons are accidentally released into the wild New York City sky, one lone black balloon manages to escape. Keeping company with the city’s complicated humans, it longs for its own kind. Winner of Sundance Film Festival’s Short Film Jury Prize.

BONA NOX

North American Premiere

Director: Jean-Frederic Eerdekens

Since mommy died in a car accident, daddy is crying all the time. And I move with ‘Wheelchair’, my wheelchair. But I can fix everything: I have a time machine. Told from the child’s perspective, this visually and emotionally arresting film depicts one imaginative way to cope with loss.

IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY

Director: Don Hertzfeldt

Bill finds himself struggling with memory loss, in this third and final chapter to Don Hertzfeldt’s award-winning EVERYTHING WIL BE OK trilogy.

VOICE OVER

Director: Martin Rosete

A narrator describes vast, dark, and beautiful scenarios but never seems to get the story right… until he does.

LA VIANDE + L’AMOUR

East Coast Premiere

Director: Johanna Rubin

A very short romantic comedy, the essence, the very crescendo, the embrace, the kiss. All of it represented in raw meat. It can’t get more physical than this.

THE RUNAWAY

Director: Victor Carrey

Chewing gum. A dog leash. An Australia-shaped stain on the wall. A bent traffic light. Each of these elements has its own story, even though all of them together can create a new plot.

REAL HEALING: SPOTLIGHTING DOCUMENTARY SHORTS

While exploring the intricacies of the healthcare system and the failings within them, these three shorts uncover the most potent cures of all: support, dedication, and hope.

REMOTE AREA MEDICAL

East Coast Premiere

Directors: Jeff Reichert, Farihah Zaman

Over three days in April 2012, Remote Area Medical, the pioneers of “no-cost” health care clinics, treated nearly 2000 patients on the infield of Bristol, Tennessee’s massive NASCAR speedway.

MONDAYS AT RACINE

New York Premiere

Director: Cynthia Wade

Brassy Long Island sisters Cynthia and Rachel offer free beauty services for women undergoing chemotherapy. The story of what hair means to us quickly unfolds into a study of womanhood, marriage, and survival. MONDAYS AT RACINE will receive a special single screening on Monday, October 8 at 2PM.

OPEN HEART

World Premiere

Director: Kief Davidson

OPEN HEART is the uplifting story of eight Rwandan children who travel to Sudan to receive high-risk open-heart surgery in Africa’s only free-of-charge, state of the art cardiac hospital.

SHORTS FOR ALL AGES

This award-winning collection of family-friendly shorts appeals to viewers of all ages and includes plenty of wonderful comedies, animated films, and dramas.

PAULIE

East Coast Premiere

Director: Andrew Nackman

When a coveted school prize goes to his cheating, underachieving tormentor, wunderkind Paulie sets out to expose him and learns a lesson or two himself in the process.

PAPERMAN

Director: John Kahrs

After a chance encounter with a dream girl on the morning commute, a lonely young man goes to extreme lengths to catch her eye again in this charming animated Disney short.

THE MISSING KEY

East Coast Premiere

Director: Jonathan Nix

In a richly re-imagined Venice of the early 1920s, a young composer and his faithful oboe-playing cat compete against an unsavory cast of characters in the prestigious Abacus Scroll musical competition.

DRIPPED

Director: Léo Verrier

In this joyful homage to Jackson Pollack, an art-gobbling thief in New York City must paint his own masterpiece meal after he devours every piece in his stolen cache.

DUMBLEWEED

East Coast Premiere

Director: Brian Horn

The road is a very scary place for a tumbleweed. Especially when you have to cross it to save Christmas.

BUY BUY BABY

North American Premiere

Director: Gervais Merryweather

When a baby is left in the care of her father, a major player in the ‘20s NY stock exchange, no one is prepared for the commotion such a little thing can cause.

NEW YORK WOMEN IN FILM AND TELEVISION: SHORTS

We are very pleased to continue our partnership with New York Women in Film and Television for our ninth annual showcase of outstanding achievements by female filmmakers.

DYING AND DINNER PARTIES

World Premiere

Director: Lily Frances Henderson

After volunteering for 10 years at Hospice, death has become a part of life for Kathleen. Now facing her own inevitable end, she confronts it with dignity, poise, and quite a bit of clarity.

KINGS POINT

Director: Sari Gilman

The story of five seniors living in a typical Florida retirement home while they grapple with love, loss, and the fear of dying alone. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for short film at Silverdocs Film Festival.

MISSION OF MERMAIDS

Director: Susan Rockefeller

A poetic ode to the seas and a plea for their protection, this short documentary captures the beauty and tranquility of the ocean. The mermaid archetype draws us into the ocean world and awakens us to action.

SMART IS WHAT YOU GET: THE CATHERINE FERGUSON ACADEMY

Director: Josette Persson

A heartwarming portrait of Principal Asenath Andrews and the Catherine Ferguson Academy, a school she created that offers teen moms a safe haven and a brighter future.

THAT WHICH ONCE WAS

East Coast Premiere

Director: Kimi Takesue

In 2032, global warming has drastically affected Earth’s environment displacing millions. An orphaned eight-year old boy must find his own path, while attempting to confront his troubled past.

SHORTS BEFORE FEATURES

LONG DISTANCE INFORMATION

Precedes THE FLAT

East Coast Premiere

Director: Douglas Hart

An awkward Christmas phone call between a father and a son leads to a darkly funny revelation.

HEAD OVER HEELS

Precedes THE ALMOST MAN

US Premiere

Director: Timothy Reckart

A long-married couple with wholly different perspectives on life find a new way to see eye to eye in the charming and poignant HEAD OVER HEELS.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF JOHN BALDESSARI

Precedes PLIMPTON! STARRING GEORGE PLIMPTON AS HIMSELF

Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman

The epic life of the world-class conceptual artist John Baldessari, jammed into six minutes. Flecked with humor and humanity this short features deadpan narration of Tom Waits.

OCEAN KEEPER

Precedes JAMES SALTER: A SPORT AND A PASTIME

World Premiere

Director: Eileen Olivieri Torpey

A captivating blend of archival and contemporary footage, this short documentary takes us through the 100-year-plus history of the Amagansett Life-Saving Station.

MECONIUM

Precedes ROMEO, ROMEO

East Coast Premiere

Director: Rosanne Flynn

When Owain’s girlfriend Lorna unexpectedly goes into labor, he’s faced with some important choices… most of which are messy.

THE CHAIR

Precedes THE ATOMIC STATES OF AMERICA

Director: Grainger David

A hauntingly beautiful parable about a boy attempting to understand his mother’s death, his grandmother’s obsession with their discarded recliner, and the roots of an outbreak of poisonous mold in their small town.

ASAD

Precedes BAY OF ALL SAINTS

Director: Bryan Buckley

A Somali boy must choose between the pirate life or the life of an honest fisherman, and forge his own peculiar destiny. This coming-of-age fable, using an all-Somali refugee cast, won Best Narrative Short at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.

GROWING FARMERS

Precedes HERMAN’S HOUSE

World Premiere

Director: Michael Halsband

This short documentary features the next generation of farmers on Long Island. The struggles they face, the community they’ve created, and the future of farming on Long Island.

CROOKED LINES

Precedes COLOMBIANOS

World Premiere

Director: Lucy Walker

From Lucy Walker, two time Oscar® nominee, comes a tale about Brazil’s best rower.

STUDENT AWARDS PROGRAM

Presented by Bloomingdale’s

CALLUM

Director: Michael van der Put, Drama Centre London, University of the Arts

When his ex-girlfriend is killed at a local train station, average schoolboy Callum struggles to cope with his feelings of guilt, grief, and fear. Increasingly isolated and under interrogation, he must look for courage to do the right thing.

FALLEN “Gefallen”

Director: Christoph Schuler, University of Television and Film, Munich

Returning home to Germany after their tour of duty in Afghanistan, three friends attempt to readjust to civilian life after losing their friend on the battlefield. What are they to do with all their anxiety? Where do they go with all their rage?

MONTAUK

Director: Charlie Kessler, New York University

For years, conspiracy theories have surrounded the Montauk area – from government projects to something deeper and more supernatural. Now, using film unearthed from the archives of the Suffolk County Police Department, bear witness to the latest––and most shocking––incident in the history of this area.

THE LEPIDOCTOR

Director: Jonathan Barenboim; University of Southern California

Baxter is obsessed with collecting and fixing strange gadgets. Armed with his childish wit, naïve courage, and a Victorian set of surgical instruments, Baxter embarks upon a strange, monumental journey that will help his accept the loss of his mother, reconnect with his father, and avenge the death of butterflies.

TUURNGAIT

Directors: Paul-Emile Boucher, Remy Dupont, Benjamin Flouw, Alexandre Toufaili, Mickael Riciotti; SUPINFOCOM, Arles, France

Fascinated by a wild bird, an Inuit child wanders away from his village. His father follows his trail, determined to find him before he gets lost on the ice floe.

WORLD CINEMA: SPECIAL SCREENINGS

BALIBO (2009)

Director: Robert Connolly

Cast: Anthony LaPaglia, Oscar Isaac, Damon Gameau, Gyton Grantley, Nathan Phillips

Robert Connolly’s visually layered political thriller is the story of Robert East (Anthony LaPaglia), a freelance journalist from Australia, and José Ramos-Horta (Oscar Isaac), the East Timor activist who eventually became its first President. Set during the Indonesian offensive in the country in 1975, East originally goes to Ramos-Horta’s homeland to run the country’s news agency, but instead he decides to investigate what happened to five missing Australian journalists who documented the off-shore invasion weeks before. This powerful film tells the true story of what happened to the Balibo Five and Roger East thirty years later. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, José Ramos-Horta, will be present for a discussion following the screening of BALIBO.

A BEAUTIFUL MIND (2001)

Director: Ron Howard

Cast: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany, Josh Lucas, Christopher Plummer

Academy Award® winner for Best Picture in 2001, A BEAUTIFUL MIND is the riveting and moving story of John Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics. The film follows Nash’s story from his early prodigy days at Princeton University through his early breakthroughs and charts his life-long struggle with paranoid schizophrenia. Inspired by a bestselling book by Sylvia Nasar. A BEAUTIFUL MIND stars Russell Crowe (Academy Award nominee, Best Actor), Ed Harris, and Jennifer Connelly (Academy Award Winner, Best Supporting Actress), and netted director Ron Howard his first Oscar for Best Director.

Nobel Laureate John Nash will be present for a discussion following the screening of A BEAUTIFUL MIND.

DAYS OF HEAVEN (1978)

Director: Terrence Malick

Cast: Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard, Linda Manz

DAYS OF HEAVEN is Terrence Malick’s painfully beautiful classic starring Richard Gere in one of his breakthrough roles. Gere stars as Bill, a steel mill worker who flees Chicago with his girlfriend (Brooke Adams) and young sister (Linda Manz, who provides the haunting narration) after a violent incident. They land in the sweeping prairies of the Texas panhandle as migrant workers working for a wealthy farmer (Sam Shepard). A powerful and audacious parable, cast in Biblical overtones, DAYS OF HEAVEN features Academy Award®-winning cinematography and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Screening in honor of Richard Gere, the recipient of the 2012 Golden Starfish Award for Lifetime Achievement in Acting.

THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (1999)

Director/Screenwriter: Anthony Minghella

Cast: Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Featuring Academy Award® nominated costumes by Ann Roth and Gary Jones, Anthony Minghella’s classic 1999 period thriller THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY unspools a nail-biting plot with elegant dread. Matt Damon stars as Tom Ripley, an insinuating young man who cons his way into the world of Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), a rogue young millionaire. With a taste of Dickie’s life, Tom Ripley takes drastic measures to maintain it. Based on Patricia Highsmith’s famous novel, the film received huge acclaim upon its release, including a BAFTA Award® for Law’s performance. Ann Roth will be honored by HIFF and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on 10/6 at 3PM at Guild Hall for her career achievements in costume design.

A CONVERSATION WITH…

Presented by Capital One

RICHARD GERE

Moderated by Alec Baldwin

The Hamptons International Film Festival presents an evening of conversation with humanitarian, actor, and Golden Globe winner Richard Gere. Gere’s legendary career has cemented his place as one of the cinema’s finest actors, from his breakthrough in Terrence Malick’s DAYS OF HEAVEN through his career-defining roles in AMERICAN GIGOLO, AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN, PRETTY WOMAN, PRIMAL FEAR, CHICAGO, and most recently, in Nicholas Jarecki’s ARBITRAGE. Gere’s unique blend of intensity and charm has created some of the screen’s most indelible characters. Join host Alec Baldwin as they discuss the craft and artistry behind Gere’s unforgettable performances. The evening will culminate in Gere being honored with the Golden Starfish Award for Lifetime Achievement In Acting.

ALAN CUMMING

A true, and utterly charming, chameleon, Alan Cumming is a force to be reckoned with in any medium. Groomed on the London stage, Cumming’s diverse and acclaimed resume spans Hollywood and independent features such as EMMA, ROMY AND MICHELLE’S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION, X2: X MEN UNITED, the SPY KIDS Trilogy, TITUS, and THE ANIVERSARY PARTY (which he also wrote and directed with Jennifer Jason Leigh); Broadway with CABARET (Tony Award) and THE THREE PENY OPERA; and television with his Emmy®-nominated turn as Eli Gold on CBS’s THE GOOD WIFE. Cumming also appears in the film, ANY DAY NOW, and watch him host our annual Golden Starfish Awards Ceremony on Sunday, October 7 at Guild Hall.

AN AFTERNOON TALK WITH…STEVIE NICKS

With her bewitching, emotionally charged songs—from “Rhiannon” to “Landslide”, “Dreams” to “Gypsy”—singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks cemented her status as one of the most distinctive female voices in rock history as a member of Fleetwood Mac and through her own solo career. Among her extraordinary accomplishments: over 40 Top 50 hits, 13 Grammy Award nominations, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 with Fleetwood Mac, over 140 million albums sold, and a repertoire that has inspired a generation of artist, songwriters, and performers. In 2012, she now steps behind the camera with another rock legend Dave Stewart (the Eurythmics) with IN YOUR DREAMS – STEVIE NICKS, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of their 2011 album. Join us for a lively conversation with one of rock music’s most distinctive voices. IN YOUR DREAMS screens on Sunday at Sag Harbor Cinemas.

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