EXCLUSIVE: Hamptons Doc Fest announced the full slate of films today for the upcoming 17th edition of the event in Sag Habor, New York, and revealed a group of honorees that includes documentary titan Michael Moore.
The Oscar-winning director of Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 will receive the elite festival’s Pennebaker Career Achievement Award, an honor named for late pioneer of direct cinema D.A. Pennebaker, who was a longtime Sag Harbor resident. In conjunction with the award, Hamptons Doc Fest will screen Moore’s 1989 film Roger & Me, the documentary that launched his career. Among the previous recipients of the Pennebaker Career Achievement Aware are Sheila Nevins, Richard Leacock, Susan Lacy, Barbara Kopple, Stanley Nelson Jr., Alex Gibney, Liz Garbus, Frederick Wiseman, and Pennebaker himself, as well as filmmaker Chris Hegedus, Pennebaker’s widow.
Hamptons Doc Fest, set to unspool at the Sag Harbor Cinema and Bay Street Theater from December 5-11, will kick off with Merchant Ivory, Stephen Soucy’s documentary about the cinematic and romantic partnership of James Ivory and Ismail Merchant. Ivory, now 96, participates in the film, which premiered at DOC NYC. Doc Fest will close Dec. 11 with a screening of The Bones, directed by Jeremy Xido, a film that examines the trade in dinosaur fossils, an increasingly high-stakes competition that is pitting scientists and museums against private collectors – some of them billionaires.
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Oscar contenders Daughters, Zurawski v Texas, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, A New Kind of Wilderness, Union, and the acclaimed Mistress Dispeller and A Photographic Memory are among the other films on the Doc Fest slate. Scroll for the full lineup.
“Join us for a week of looking back and moving forward with a dynamic line-up of documentary films,” said Jacqui Lofaro, founder and executive director of Hamptons Doc Fest. “We are thrilled not only to showcase the extraordinary work of a diverse group of talented documentary filmmakers but also to recognize the people and organizations that make it all possible. Please come along for the ride – we think you’ll love the journey.”
In addition to honoring Michael Moore, the festival will also recognize select films with special awards:
- The Art & Inspiration Award to Música! directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
- The Environmental Award to Plastic People: The Hidden Crisis of Microplastics directed by Ben Addelman and Ziya Tong
- The Human Rights Award to Zurawski v Texas directed by Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault.
- In partnership with New York Women in Film and Television, the festival will honor Angela Patton and Natalie Rae with its Breakthrough Director Award for their first feature, Daughters.
Hamptons Doc Fest’s Impact Award will go to the Ford Foundation’s JustFilms, recognizing “the organization’s on-going and committed funding of films on social justice, including two that are in this year’s festival: Union by Brett Story and Stephen Maing and The Battle for Laikipia by Daphne Matziaraki and Peter Murimi.”
As part of its annual education initiative, Hamptons Doc Fest will present Young Voices, a program dedicated to local community youth in middle and high schools. The program is co-presented with LTV Studios and will include a film screening, hands-on workshop, and studio tour.
This is the schedule for the 17th Hamptons Doc Fest, running from Dec. 5-11:
2024 PENNEBAKER CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD TO MICHAEL MOORE
SAT, 12/7, BAY STREET THEATER
6:30pm Cocktail Reception
8:00pm Pennebaker Award and Interview with Michael Moore
Followed by screening of Roger & Me
Director Michael Moore in attendance for the award ceremony
Michael Moore is an Academy Award-winning director, producer, screenwriter and author. He electrified the documentary world with his first film in 1989, Roger & Me, which was a hit with both critics and at the box office. This film, along with the many other award-winning films he has made over the past 35 years, has earned him a reputation as a groundbreaking filmmaker, committed activist and prescient social commentator – one with a dark sense of humor and keen sense of satire – who is always ready to stand up for the “little guy” in the fight against corporate greed and political malfeasance.
Pennebaker Career Achievement Award sponsored by Regina K. Scully, Artemis Rising Foundation
Roger & Me
Sat, 12/7, 91 min, follows the Pennebaker Award presentation
DIRECTOR: Michael Moore
PRODUCER: Michael Moore
EDITORS: Jennifer Beman, Wendey Stanzler
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Chris Beaver, John Prusak, Kevin Rafferty, Bruce Schermer
Roger & Me, released 35 years ago, has aged well. Its message was prescient, capturing the devastating effects of globalization on the American middle class that have only gotten worse with time. Esquire magazine, in a 2014 article celebrating the film’s 25th anniversary, notes: “It remains the definitive documentary study of post-industrial America, a both chilling and heartwarming portrait of what happens when the economic order underlying society is altered, and the terms by which people live are completely transformed.” A darkly comical, satirical, and prophetic documentary, this was Moore’s directorial debut which he also wrote, produced, and starred in.
Ex-journalist Michael Moore demands answers when General Motors suddenly closes the doors of all its auto plants in Flint, Michigan, the city where he grew up. With over 30,000 people out of work – their jobs moved to Mexico – Flint is economically devastated, and Moore aims to track down General Motors CEO Roger Smith to make him answer for his actions. While on the search, Moore also chronicles the emotional effect the closings have had on his family and friends, while violent crimes begin to skyrocket in Flint.
The film has won numerous awards since its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1989, and in 2013, was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”
OPENING NIGHT FILM
Merchant Ivory
THURS, 12/5, 8:00pm, 111 min SAG HARBOR CINEMA
Director Stephen Soucy and James Ivory in attendance for Q&A. Cocktail reception follows the film screening
DIRECTOR: Stephen Soucy
PRODUCERS: Stephen Soucy, Jon Hart
EDITORS: Humphrey Dixon, Katherine Wenning, John Allen
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Tony Pierce Roberts
The film is the definitive presentation and tribute to the Merchant Ivory partnership, anchored by interviews with James Ivory and forty-one Merchant Ivory close collaborators, detailing and celebrating their experiences of being a part of the “wandering company” helmed by legendary producer Ismail Merchant. With six Academy Award-winners among the notable artists participating, including Emma Thompson and Vanessa Redgrave, the documentary provides new and compelling perspectives on a unique partnership that produced seminal films over four decades.
Stephen Soucy is a film director at Modernist Film. Merchant Ivory is his first feature-length documentary, made in collaboration with Director and Screenwriter, James Ivory. Soucy’s other film work includes the short animated film Rich Atmosphere: The Music of Merchant Ivory Films and the short narrative films A Gifted Amateur and Slant. Opening Night film sponsored by EPIC
Música!
ART & INSPIRATION AWARD
THURS, 12/5, 5:30pm, 72 min SAG HARBOR CINEMA
Directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTORS: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
PRODUCERS: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, Machu Latorre
EDITOR: Susan Fanshel
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Roberto Chile, Buddy Squires
Over the course of five years, Música! follows four young Cubans who view music as a way of life. Through music, they hope to find success and fulfillment, some choosing to remain in Cuba, and some seeking to venture out into the world beyond. A touching and personal portrait of four young musicians driven by their commitment and passion for the art.
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman have been making films together since 1987. Their first film was Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt. The film won the Academy Award in 1990 for Best Documentary Feature and a Peabody Award. The pair also won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for The Times of Harvey Milk and a Grammy Award for their documentary Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice. The Celluloid Closet was another award-winning documentary from the two filmmakers. Award sponsored by the Tee & Charles Addams Foundation
A Photographic Memory
FRI, 12/6, 12:00pm, 87 min BAY STREET THEATER
DIRECTOR: Rachel Elizabeth Seed
PRODUCERS: Rachel Elizabeth Seed, Sigrid Dyekjaer, Beth Levinson, Matt Perniciaro, Michael Sherman, Danielle Varga
EDITORS: Eileen Meyer, Tyler Hubby, Christopher Stoudt
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Joseph Michael Lopez, Rachel Elizabeth Seed
The director Rachel Elizabeth Seed attempts to piece together a portrait of her mother Sheila Turner Seed, an avant-garde journalist and a woman she never knew. Uncovering the vast archive that her mother produced, including lost interviews with iconic photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gordon Parks, Cecil Beaton, Bruce Davidson, Lisette Model, and others, the film explores memory, legacy and stories left untold.
Rachel Elizabeth Seed is a nonfiction storyteller working in film, photography and writing. Formerly a photo editor at New York Magazine, her photography was included at the International Center of Photography’s exhibit on Hurricane Sandy. She was a cameraperson on several award-winning feature documentaries, including Sacred. Film sponsored by Phyllis D. Chase and Douglas Denoff
Soldiers of Song
FRI, 12/6, 2:30pm, 90 min BAY STREET THEATER
Director Ryan Smith in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Ryan Smith
PRODUCER: Ryan Smith
EDITORS: Kadim Tarasov, Julia Bolshinska
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Artem Poznanskyi, Stas Gurenko, Kadim Tarasov, Julia Bolshakova, Bastian Fischer, Vicky Markolefa, Yegor Terletskyi, Mykola Hrinenko, Oleg Giyenko, Lev Kostenko, Olga Gurenko, Illia Kolbasin, Yaroslav Nikolyn, Sergey Malii
Set during the genocidal Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the film delves into the extraordinary journey of Ukraine’s musicians as they strive to unite their nation through the transformative power of music. Some of the country’s most beloved musicians – Slava Vakarchuk, Andriy Khlyvnyuk, and Svitlana Tarabarova – open their hearts and share their experiences of life under the shadow of Russian aggression. The production team persevered through air raid sirens, power outages, and the echoes of missiles to craft a narrative that captures the resilience, culture, and spirit of the Ukrainian people.
Ryan Smith’s previous work, NFL 360: Who If Not Us, followed a group of football players in Ukraine who confronted the turmoil of the Russian invasion by joining the military in defense of their country.
Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell’s Swimsuit Issue
FRI, 12/6, 5:00pm, 107 min SAG HARBOR CINEMA
Director Jill Campbell and Cinematographer Gregory Gerhard in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Jill Campbell
PRODUCERS: Jill Campbell, Rob Lyons, Jonathan Gray, Sharon Cooney Shuttleworth
EDITORS: Jill Woodward, Jill Campbell
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Nelson Walker, Gregory Gerhard
In the 1960s, Jule Campbell shattered glass ceilings, transforming a struggling magazine into a media empire: the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The documentary chronicles her 32-year reign, where she championed intelligence and empowered supermodels like Tyra Banks, Christie Brinkley and Elle Macpherson. Weaving together her journey with feminism’s evolution, the film explores the changing gaze on beauty, from objectification to body positivity. Through stunning visuals and intimate interviews with a wise, nonagenarian Campbell, we witness a legacy that continues to inspire.
Jill Campbell, the daughter-in-law of the film’s subject Jule Campbell, is an independent documentary director, producer, and editor. She began her career in the theater before transitioning into documentary production with the 2010 Dancing Across Borders. She has written and directed three feature-length documentaries including Mr. Chibbs and Seat 20D, about the Dark Elegy sculpture garden memorial in Montauk. Film sponsored by Hope and David Rothschild
Union
FRI, 12/6, 7:30pm,104 min SAG HARBOR CINEMA
IMPACT AWARD to Ford Foundation’s JustFilms
Directors Brett Story and Stephen Maing in attendance for Q&A. Cocktail reception follows the film screening
DIRECTORS: Brett Story, Stephen Maing
PRODUCERS: Brett Story, Stephen Maing, Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone, Martin DiCicco
EDITORS: Blair McClendon, Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Stephen Maing
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Martin DiCicco, Stephen Maing
The film chronicles the extraordinary efforts of an unlikely group of warehouse workers as they launch a grassroots union campaign at an Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York. Led by the charismatic but underestimated Chris Small, the diverse band of workers start the Amazon Labor Union, and with a budget of $120,000 raised on GoFundMe, embark on a journey against one of the most powerful companies in the world.
Stephen Maing is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker. His film Crime + Punishment won a Special Jury Award at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, an Emmy Award for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary and was shortlisted for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. Brett Story is an award-winning filmmaker and writer. Her film, The Hottest August, was called one of the best documentary films of 2019 by Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair.
The Ford Foundation’s JustFilms has supported this film as part of their mission to promote social justice issues.
Impact Award
With a storied history of funding social impact films for nearly 75 years, the Ford Foundation houses JustFilms, one of the largest documentary funds in the world. Now in its thirteenth year, JustFilms is one of the few philanthropies making direct grants for independent documentary film content, funding social justice storytelling and the 21st-century arts infrastructure that supports it. Many of the films we have shown at the festival over the years have received support from JustFilms. This year, we are thrilled to show two of those films: Union and The Battle for Laikipia, which is screening on Wednesday, December 11 at the Bay Street Theater.
SHORTS & BREAKFAST BITES: PROGRAM 1
SAT, 12/7, 9:30am Breakfast, 10:00am Films, 84 min program BAY STREET THEATER
Ten Times Better, 31 min
Director Jennifer Lin in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Jennifer Lin
PRODUCERS: Jon Funabiki, Jennifer Lin, Cory Stieg
Driven by his refugee mother to be “ten times better” in white America, George Lee is the quintessential invisible immigrant with an extraordinary past. The 89-year-old blackjack dealer grew up in Shanghai studying ballet and became a teenage sensation when he was handpicked by George Balanchine for the 1954 premiere of The Nutcracker.
Did You Forget Mr. Fogel?, 15 min
Director Max Karpman in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Max Karpman
PRODUCERS: Francesca Hill, Kaylee Smith
When American teacher Marc Fogel is sentenced to 14 years in a Russian prison, his family strives to remain united as they launch a campaign to bring him back home.
The Art of Metaphor, 16 min
Director Kate Taverna in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Kate Taverna
PRODUCERS: Alan Adelson, Kate Taverna
An artist obsessed for decades with creating imaginative and haunting structures to honor lost friends ironically lives with the continual threat of her own eviction.
Jumpman, 22 min
DIRECTOR: Tom Dey
PRODUCERS: Tom Dey, Coliena Rentmeester
This is the story of the photographer who created the 1984 LIFE portrait of Michael Jordan that was copied by Nike and turned into one of the world’s most famous logos.
Shorts & Breakfast Bites: Program 1 sponsored by Sharon Held
Black Table
SAT, 12/7, 1:00pm,93 min SAG HARBOR CINEMA
Director John Antonio James and Producer Katie Taber in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTORS: John Antonio James, Bill Mack
PRODUCER: Katie Taber
EDITORS: Vito DeCandia, Brett Mason
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Derek Wiesehahn
One of the largest classes of black students in Yale University’s history arrived in 1993, just as the country entered a period now known as the Great American Divide: the unofficial beginning of today’s culture wars. This group of students formed a tight-knit community around a shared dining table that became their refuge at the mostly white Ivy League school that was not fully prepared for them.
John Antonio James previously directed Siempre, Luis about an immigrant from Puerto Rico determined to bring the musical Hamilton to his island home. Bill Mack is known for The Obituary of Jasper James and New Guy.
Whale Nation
SAT, 12/7, 3:00pm, 85 min SAG HARBOR CINEMA
Director Jean-Albert Lièvre in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Jean-Albert Lièvre
PRODUCERS: Julien Seul, Marc Dujardin
EDITOR: Cécile Husson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Nedjma Berder
They’re Earth’s biggest creatures, yet still we know very little about them. Jean-Albert Lièvre’s visually arresting documentary – with a soundtrack to match – is based on the revolutionary book by Heathcote Williams and was filmed with a small crew over the course of several years, exploring the rich and complex societies of whales and what we must do to protect them. The film, which is narrated by Richard E. Grant, tells the story of a beached humpback whale from both the perspective of a young girl and the whale itself.
Jean-Albert Lièvre is a French documentary filmmaker, photographer, and author. His first film, The History of a Yucatan Cisal Rope made in 1992 became a household name for wildlife and environmental documentaries in France. Through his subsequent films based on observing nature, Lièvre has become an “accidental environmentalist.” Film sponsored by Sharon Held
SHORTS & BREAKFAST BITES: PROGRAM 2
SUN, 12/8, 9:30am Breakfast, 10:00am Films, 95 min program BAY STREET THEATER
Filming Under Fire: John Ford’s OSS Field Photo Branch, 22 min
Producer Charles Pinck in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Dan Gagliasso
PRODUCER: Charles Pinck
World War II was fought on many fronts – one of them was film. This film tells the story of how six-time Academy Award-winning director John Ford, and many of the leading filmmakers of the time, contributed to America’s victory in the war through their work in the OSS Field Photographic Branch.
First Frames, 27 min
DIRECTOR: Ilie Mitaru
PRODUCER: Zeynep Bilginsoy, Ilie Mitaru
This short follows photographer and Syrian refugee Serbest Salih and his mobile darkroom to overlooked communities across Turkey, where children contend with access to school, memory, and displacement from devastating earthquakes. The film unfolds almost completely from the child’s perspective.
From Pen to Paper, 29 min
DIRECTORS: Paul Sutton, Lori Sutton
PRODUCERS: Paul Sutton, Lori Sutton
Twenty-four prisoners – mostly lifers – sat across from a dozen students at a maximum-security prison yard in Southern California as part of an innovative 14-week, creative writing program. Through their intimate collaboration, both groups find hope and humanity in a place where they had expected neither.
Birdfeeder, 12 min
Director Daniel Feighery in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Daniel Feighery
PRODUCERS: Natalia Payne, Evan Mascgani, Daniel Feighery
Birdfeeder is not just a documentary about birds; it’s a visual and emotional exploration of the human connection to the urban wild, the challenges faced in the time of hardship, and the profound impact of the natural world on the human soul.
Hometown Heroes Student Film, 5 min
Daughters
BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR AWARD to Angela Patton & Natalie Rae
Co-presented with New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT)
SUN, 12/8, 2:00pm,108 min SAG HARBOR CINEMA
Directors Angela Patton and Natalie Rae in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTORS: Angela Patton, Natalie Rae
PRODUCERS: Lisa Mazzotta, Natalie Rae, Justin Benoliel, James Cunningham, Mindy Goldberg, Sam Bisbee, Kathryn Everett, Laura Choi Raycroft
EDITORS: Troy Lewis, Adelina Bichiș
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Cambio Fernandez
Four young girls prepare for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C. jail. For most of the daughters, the dance will be the only time they will be able to touch or hug their fathers during their sentences, some of which are as long as 20 years. The film won two awards in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival: Festival Favorite and Audience Choice.
Angela Patton is a female activist for “at risk”, or, as she prefers “at-promise,” African-American girls. She is the founder of Camp Diva and the CEO of Girls for a Change. In 2016 Patton was nominated and awarded by President Barack Obama as a “Champion of Change for Enrichment for Marginalized Girls.” Natalie Rae got her start in music videos, winning Rock Video of the Year at the MuchMusic Video Awards for her first video, Serena Ryder’s Stompa. She’s since had collaborations with other music artists.
Mistress Dispeller
SUN, 12/8, 4:30pm,95 min SAG HARBOR CINEMA
Co-presented with the Sag Harbor Cinema
Director Elizabeth Lo via Zoom for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Elizabeth Lo
PRODUCERS: Emma D. Miller, Elizabeth Lo, Maggie Li
EDITOR: Charlotte Munch Bengtsen
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Elizabeth Lo
Mistress Dispeller takes place in China, where a new industry has emerged devoted to helping couples stay married in the face of infidelity. Desperate to save her marriage, Mrs. Li hires a professional to go undercover and break up Mr. Li’s affair with a younger woman. With strikingly intimate access, Mistress Dispeller follows this unfolding family drama from all corners of a love triangle.
Elizabeth Lo’s debut feature, Stray, won Best International Feature at Hot Docs and was a critic’s pick of The New York Times. Her short films, including Hotel 22, Bisonhead, and Mother’s Day, have been acquired by colleges and libraries worldwide. Lo was featured in Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film.”
Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story
SUN, 12/8, 7:00pm, 99 min SAG HARBOR CINEMA
Director Sinéad O’Shea via Zoom for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Sinéad O’Shea
PRODUCERS: Claire McCabe, Eleanor Emptage, Sinéad O’Shea
EDITOR: Gretta Ohle
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Eoin McLoughlin, Richard Kendrick
Emerging from rural Ireland, Edna O’Brien (1930-2024) broke multiple taboos with her sexually provocative 1960 debut novel, The Country Girls. She became a literary sensation, writing for The New Yorker, delivering provocative interviews, authoring screenplays, over 20 novels, and hosting star-studded parties. She was as prolific in conducting love affairs as she was writing novels. She made a fortune and lost a fortune. The film is an intimate and revealing portrait of the writer, told with extensive archival footage and recent interviews.
Sinéad O’Shea is an award-winning filmmaker and writer. Her previous films include Pray for Our Sinners and A Mother Brings Her Son to Be Shot. O’Shea was named as one of the top 10 European filmmakers to watch by the European Film Network and Screen International.
Eternal You
MON, 12/9, 12:00pm,87 min BAY STREET THEATER
DIRECTORS: Hans Block, Moritz Riesewieck
PRODUCERS: Christian Beetz, Zora Nessl, Lena Raith, Georg Tschurtschenthaler
EDITORS: Lisa Zoe Geretschläger, Anne Jünemann
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Tom Bergmann, Mecky Creus, Niclas Reed Middleton, Carolina Steinbrecher, Konrad Waldmann
If you had the chance to talk to a loved one who died, would you take it? Eternal You examines the story of people who live on as digital replicants in the pockets of their loved ones. With the help of artificial intelligence and Big Data, a dream comes true that is as old as mankind itself: eternal life. Tech startups use a wealth of data to develop digital doppelgangers which promise to immortalize people on earth.
Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck are German writers and directors. Their debut film The Cleaners about the shadow industry of digital censorship celebrated its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018. It was nominated for an Emmy and the German Television Award and has received numerous international prizes.
Made in Ethiopia
MON, 12/9, 3:00pm, 90 min BAY STREET THEATER
Director Xinyan Yu via Zoom for Q&A
DIRECTORS: Xinyan Yu, Max Duncan
PRODUCER: Tamara Dawit
EDITORS: Biel Andrés, Jeppe Bødskov, Siyi Chen
In the heart of Ethiopia, the arrival of a sprawling industrial park finds a dusty farming town at the new frontier of globalization. Motto, a formidable Chinese businesswoman overseeing her factory’s expansion, finds she needs every bit of mettle and charm she has to push through their ambitious plans, which promise 30,000 new jobs. Some would call her approach ruthless. Meanwhile, Ethiopian farmer Workinesh and factory worker Beti have staked their future on the opportunities the park promises. But as initial hope meets painful realities, they find themselves, like their country, at a pivotal crossroads.
Max Duncan is a filmmaker, director of photography, and journalist. His award-winning documentary and reportage has appeared on the BBC, PBS VICE, The Guardian, The New York Times and Al Jazeera. He lived and worked in China for a decade. Xinyan Yu is an award-winning video journalist and filmmaker based in Washington, D.C. She was born and raised in Wuhan, China.
A New Kind of Wilderness
MON, 12/9, 5:30pm, 84 min BAY STREET THEATER
Director Silje Evensmo Jacobsen via Zoom for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Silje Evensmo Jacobsen
PRODUCER: Mari Bakke Riise
EDITORS: Christoffer Heie, Kristian Tveit
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, Karine Fosser, Fred Arne Wergeland, Espen Gjermundrød, Line Konstanse Lyngstadaas, Natalja Safronova
On a small farm in Norway surrounded by a fir forest lives a family that has made an unconventional choice – Maria, Nik, and their four children grow their own food, practice homeschooling, and sleep together. They live out their dream of a free and independent life close to each other and nature. When tragedy strikes them, the world they know is turned upside down. Reluctantly, the family must change their lifestyle and adapt to modern society again.
Silje Evensmo Jacobsen has directed award-winning documentary films and series for the past 15 years. Two of the titles are Team Ingebrigtsen and Faith Can Move Mountains. A New Kind of Wilderness won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
Plastic People: The Hidden Crisis of Microplastics
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD
MON, 12/9, 8:00pm, 84 min BAY STREET THEATER
Director Ziya Tong via Zoom for Q&A
DIRECTORS: Ben Addelman, Ziya Tong
PRODUCERS: Vanessa Dylyn, Stephen Paniccia
EDITOR: Ania Smolenskaia
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Roger Singh
This film is a ground-breaking investigation into our addiction to plastic and the growing threat of microplastics on human health. Almost every bit of plastic ever made breaks down into microplastics. These tiny particles drift in the air, float in all bodies of water, and mix into the soil, becoming a permanent part of the environment. Now, leading scientists are finding these particles in our bodies: organs, blood, brain tissue, and even the placentas of new mothers. Can anything be done about it?
Ben Addelman is the director of four award-winning feature documentaries (Discordia, Nollywood Babylon, Bombay Calling, Kivalina vs Exxon) and numerous TV series (Becoming You, Payday, Limitless). Science journalist Ziya Tong takes a personal approach by visiting leading scientists around the world and by undergoing testing to find plastic in her home, food, and body.
YOUNG VOICES EDUCATION PROGRAM: FOR STUDENTS, FACULTY & FAMILY
Co-presented with LTV Studios
MON, 12/9, 10:00am to 1:00pm at East Hampton Town’s LTV Studios, Wainscott
The Hamptons Doc Fest highlights a special program dedicated exclusively to our community youth in middle and high schools.
Take Two Film Academy, a premier filmmaking and media literacy organization will conduct a lively workshop on the elements of filmmaking after a screening of the short film With the Tide.
Students will have the opportunity to direct, edit, operate cameras, and perform on-stage. Following the workshop, students will have a guided tour through the LTV studios.
As an added bonus, students are invited to submit a short documentary film about a local Hometown Hero to HDF’s first student contest. The winning three films come with a cash stipend and the top film will be screened at the festival’s Sunday Breakfast Shorts program.
The Young Voices workshop at the festival and filmmaking contest expand on the theatrical viewing experience, with a focus on the professional development of young filmmakers.
Young Voices is sponsored by the Yaffa Foundation
Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round
TUES, 12/10, 1:00pm, 90 min BAY STREET THEATER
Director Ilana Trachtman in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Ilana Trachtman
PRODUCER: Ilana Trachtman
EDITORS: Sandra Christie, Ann Collins
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Slawomir Grunberg, Dominic Mann
When five Howard University students sat on a segregated Maryland carousel in 1960, the arrests made headlines. When the white community near Glen Echo Amusement Park joined the Black students in picketing, the first organized interracial civil rights protest in U.S. history was born. These events forced people to take sides, changed lives, and ignited sparks that affected the Civil Rights Movement for years.
Ilana Trachtman is an Emmy Award-winning documentary director and producer. For over 25 years she has created programs for numerous networks including PBS, HBO Family, Showtime, Lifetime, and the Sundance Channel. Her film, Praying with Lior garnered six Audience Awards for Best Documentary and was a critic’s pick of the New York Times, New York Magazine, Washington Post,and Philadelphia Inquirer. Film sponsored by Perillo Hill LLP
The Thinking Game
TUES, 12/10, 3:00pm, 83 min BAY STREET THEATER
DIRECTOR: Greg Kohs
PRODUCER: Gary Krieg
EDITOR: Steve Sander
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Greg Kohs
A fascinating journey into the heart of DeepMind, one of the world’s leading AI labs, where visionary scientist Demis Hassabis and his team are on a relentless quest to solve the enigma of artificial general intelligence (AGI). Filmed over five years, the film captures the moment when Hassabis and his team make history with AlphaFold, a groundbreaking program that solved a 50-year grand challenge in biology.
Greg Kohs is a ten-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker who has applied his unique “captured not contrived” storytelling style to all his branded content, commercial, and feature film work. His documentaries include Song Sung Blue, The Great Alone, AlphaGo and COIN.
Zurawski v Texas
HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD
TUES, 12/10, 5:30pm,99 min BAY STREET THEATER
Director Abbie Perrault via Zoom for Q&A
DIRECTORS: Maisie Crow, Abbie Perrault
PRODUCERS: Amy Flanagan, Siobhan Sinnerton, Blye Pagon Faust, Cori Shepherd, Maisie Crow, Abbie Perrault
EDITOR: Austin Reedy
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Maisie Crow
Women denied abortions under Texas’ ambiguous and unforgiving abortion bans band together with a fearless attorney to sue Texas. While battling in court against the state and its immovable Attorney General, the extent of their traumatic experiences is revealed as they wrestle to regain their reproductive futures and set a precedent for millions of other women and families.
When Directors Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault saw it was likely that Roe v. Wade would be overturned, they started to explore how they could cover the repercussions of that decision. They met attorney Molly Duane through the Center for Reproductive Rights and determined that the case being filed for Amanda Zurawski and four other women would enable them to show the trauma along with some degree of hope. Previously the two filmmakers worked together on the 2021 documentary At the Ready. Film sponsored by Leslie & Andrew Siben
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found
TUES, 12/10, 8:00pm,105 min BAY STREET THEATER
Director Raoul Peck via Zoom for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Raoul Peck
PRODUCERS: Tamara Rosenberg, Raoul Peck
EDITOR: Alexandra Strauss
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Wolfgang Held, Moses Tau, Raoul Peck
Black South African photographer Ernest Cole exposed to the world the horror of apartheid through his shocking photographs. His book, House of Bondage, which was published in 1967 when he was only 27 years old, was considered a wake-up call to the world, and led him into a life-long exile in New York and Europe. His work was “rediscovered” long after his early death, when more than 60,000 negatives of his lost work were found in 2017 in a Swedish bank vault.
Raoul Peck was born in Haiti. When he was eight years old, his family fled the Duvalier regime. His film I Am Not Your Negro, about the life of James Baldwin, was nominated for an Oscar in 2017. His HBO miniseries, Exterminate All the Brutes, released in 2021, received a Peabody Award. Peck was Haiti’s Minister of Culture from 1996 to 1997.
The Strike
WED, 12/11, 12:00pm, 86 min BAY STREET THEATER
Director JoeBill Muñoz in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTORS: JoeBill Muñoz, Lucas Guilkey
PRODUCERS: JoeBill Muñoz, Lucas Guilkey
EDITOR: Daniela I. Quiroz
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Victor Tadashi Suárez
The Strike tells the story of a generation of California men who endured decades of solitary confinement at Pelican Bay prison and, against all odds, ignited a statewide hunger strike – the largest in U.S. history – as a feat of unity by 30,000 incarcerated people.
JoeBill Muñoz has directed short films. The Strike is his debut at directing a feature film. JoeBill was recently named to DOC NYC’s annual 40 Under 40 list spotlighting young creatives who are making an impact on the field of documentary. Lucas Guilkey is an award-winning documentary film producer and journalist. He has spent much of his career investigating systems of power.
What’s Next?
WED, 12/11, 2:00pm, 77 min BAY STREET THEATER
Director Taylor Taglianetti in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Taylor Taglianetti
PRODUCERS: Taylor Taglianetti, Austin Tucker, Stephanie Troise Walter
EDITOR: Gaylen Ross
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Caleb Crossen
At 100-years-old, Dr. Howard Tucker has been recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest practicing doctor. Following a more than seven-decade career, capped off by a stint teaching neurology to medical residents at Cleveland’s St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, Dr. Tucker begins to slow down and grapple with aging for the first time. Told through the eyes of his grandson, the film follows their journey through a changing medical landscape as their relationship deepens and dynamics shift.
Taylor Taglianetti is the Founder and President of the National Organization of Italian Americans in Film & Television. She is also a producer, director, and celebrity interviewer. Her most recent film was the short documentary, Heirloom, which stars Isabella Rossellini. Her best friend Austin is the grandson of Dr. Tucker.
The Battle for Laikipia
WED, 12/11, 5:00pm, 94 min BAY STREET THEATER
Directors Daphne Matziaraki and Peter Murimi via Zoom for Q&A
DIRECTORS: Daphne Matziaraki, Peter Murimi
PRODUCERS: Toni Kamau, Daphne Matziaraki
EDITOR: Sam Soko
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Daphne Matziaraki, Peter Murimi, Maya Craig
Unresolved historical injustices and climate change raise the stakes in a generations-old conflict between Indigenous pastoralists and white landowners in Laikipia, Kenya, a wildlife conservation haven. As lack of rainfall wreaks havoc on plant life, the Samburu people struggle to find grazing pasture for their cattle. While past troubles have led the tribe and the landowners to occasionally cooperate, tensions now lead to chaos. Both sides feel the land is theirs.
Daphne Matziaraki is a Greek director, writer and producer. Her thesis film, 4.1 Miles, received a 2017 Peabody Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary, Short Subject. Peter Murimi is an award-winning Kenyan documentary director. He won the CNN Africa Journalist of the Year Award in 2004. His feature I Am Samuel was screened at over a dozen film festivals.
The Ford Foundation’s JustFilms has supported this film as part of their mission to promote social justice issues.
CLOSING NIGHT FILM
The Bones
WED, 12/11, 7:00pm, 98 min BAY STREET THEATER
Director Jeremy Xido via Zoom for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Jeremy Xido
PRODUCER: Ina Fichman
EDITORS: Nick Taylor, Tom Randaxhe, Jacob Thusen, Boban Chaldovich
The Bones traverses the globe alongside paleontologists on a quest to unearth dinosaur fossils that may hold the key to save humanity from extinction. It’s a race against time before the bones disappear into the hands of fossil dealers, who stand to make millions by selling them on the open market. A cinematic adventure that reaches from the Mongolian Gobi Desert to the floor of a Paris auction house, the film exposes the clash between science, post-colonial reckoning, and hard-headed capitalism.
Jeremy Xido is the artistic co-director of performance/film company CABULA6, voted Company of the Year 2009. Xido directed the award-winning feature Death Metal Angola, a six-part Crime Europe series, and the short documentary Macondo.
Closing Night Film sponsored by Silvercrest Asset Management Group
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