THE HAMPTONS
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES THE NINTH ANNUAL
SummerDocs SERIES
Lineup to include a
record FIVE films:
NOBODY SPEAK: TRIALS OF
THE FREE PRESS,
TROPHY, TAKE EVERY WAVE:
THE LIFE OF LAIRD HAMILTON, WHITNEY. “CAN I BE ME” & ICARUS
HIFF Co-Chairman and
Series Presenter Alec Baldwin returns to lead
conversations with filmmakers and special guests
Series to run from July 8th to
August 26th
East Hampton, NY
The Hamptons
International Film Festival (HIFF) SummerDocs series
returns for the ninth year to present new and
groundbreaking documentary filmmaking and
thought-provoking stories to the East End. The series
will kick off with a screening of Netflix’s NOBODY
SPEAK: TRIALS OF THE FREE PRESS on Saturday, July 8th at
7:00PM, followed by The Orchard & CNN Films’ TROPHY on
Saturday, July 29th at
7:00PM, both at Guild Hall in East Hampton. In August
the series will also screen IFC’s TAKE EVERY WAVE: THE
LIFE OF LAIRD HAMILTON on Friday, August 4th at
8:30PM at Gurney’s in Montauk, Showtime’s WHITNEY. “CAN
I BE ME” on Thursday, August 17th at
7:00PM at Southampton Arts Center in Southampton, and
close with Netflix’s ICARUS on Saturday, August 26th at
7:00PM at Guild Hall in East Hampton.
Following the
screenings HIFF Co-Chairman Alec Baldwin & HIFF Artistic
Director David Nugent will lead conversations with
filmmakers and subjects including Director Brian
Knappenberger and special guests to be announced for
NOBODY SPEAK: TRIALS OF THE FREE PRESS, Directors
Christina Clusiau and Shaul Schwarz for TROPHY, Director
Rory Kennedy and subject Laird Hamilton for TAKE EVERY
WAVE: THE LIFE OF LAIRD HAMILTON, Director Nick
Broomfield for WHITNEY. “CAN I BE ME”, and Director
Bryan Fogel for ICARUS.
“It's HIFF's
25th anniversary year and the ninth season of SummerDocs
and we have a great lineup of documentary films,
featuring intense drama and more entertaining fare.
Artistic Director David Nugent and I believe this will
be one of the best SummerDoc seasons yet,” said Hamptons
International Film Festival Co-Chairman and SummerDocs
series presenter Alec Baldwin.
“This year’s
series truly includes something for everyone, from
debates about free speech, an exploration of the trophy
hunting industry, a pop star’s triumphs & struggles, a
riveting sports scandal and a profile of a surfing
pioneer. With a number of special guests set to attend,
and engaging discussions following each screening, we
are thrilled to share these films with our audiences,”
said Hamptons International Film Festival Artistic
Director David Nugent.
Past SummerDocs
selections, including TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM, LAST
DAYS OF VIETNAM, THE COVE, SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN and
HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE, have gone on to receive Academy
Award® wins and nominations.
Candescent Films
will return for the fourth year to sponsor the Audience
Award for the SummerDocs series. Candescent supports
films that illuminate social issues.
Tickets for the
screenings are available for purchase at the Hamptons
International Film Festival website, http://hamptonsfilmfest.org/summerdocs/.
Other summer
programming includes a whole host of FREE Friday outdoor
screenings with the YMCA East Hampton Rec Center at
7:45PM, and the Southampton Arts Center at 8:30PM. And
as part of the 25 Years: 25 Films Series, there will be
three FREE Sunday night screenings in Montauk. Visit
the HIFF website for all the information and details at http://hamptonsfilmfest.org/summer-2017-free-screenings/.
Full Lineup of
2017 Summer Docs
NOBODY SPEAK:
TRIALS OF THE FREE PRESS
Saturday, July 8th at
7:00PM at Guild Hall in East Hampton
When online
tabloid Gawker posted
a sex tape starring former professional wrestler Hulk
Hogan, a high-stakes legal battle pitting privacy rights
against the First Amendment ensued. Hogan won the case
and the staggering settlement he received not only
bankrupted Gawker and
its founder Nick Denton, but also exposed a
controversial, behind-the-scenes benefactor: Silicon
Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel.
Whether you love
or hate Gawker,
Brian Knappenberger’s gripping polemic reveals the
forces that really brought down the news portal. Taking
examples like Sheldon Adelson’s purchase of the Las
Vegas Review-Journal, this compelling documentary
illustrates a growing, sinister trend at odds with our
country’s free press. Corporate executives, titans, and
billionaires are tipping the balance on the public’s
access to news, posing new threats to society’s
relationship to the truth. Knappenberger’s knack for
capturing timely and provocative shifts in the new
digital era is instinctive. Fusing exhaustive interviews
with Denton, commentators, and journalists Nobody
Speak weaves
a disturbing, fascinating tale of power and truth with a
moral that runs to the core of democracy.
TROPHY
Saturday, July
29th at
7:00PM at Guild Hall in East Hampton
Endangered
African species like elephants, rhinos and lions march
closer to extinction each year. Their devastating
decline is fueled in part by a global desire to consume
these majestic animals. Trophy investigates the
powerhouse industries of big-game hunting, breeding and
wildlife conservation. Through the eyes of impassioned
individuals who drive these industries –from a
Texas-based trophy hunter to the world’s largest private
rhino breeder in South Africa –the film grapples with
the consequences of imposing economic value on animals.
What are the
implications of treating animals as commodities? Do
breeding, farming and hunting offer some of the few
remaining options to conserve our endangered animals? Trophy will
leave you debating what is right, what is wrong and what
is necessary in order to save the great species of the
world.
TAKE EVERY WAVE: THE
LIFE OF LAIRD HAMILTON
Friday, August 4th at
8:30PM at Gurney’s Montauk Resort & Spa in Montauk
TAKE EVERY
WAVE: The Life of Laird Hamilton tracks the
remarkable life and legendary career of big wave surfer
Laird Hamilton. Much admired by the public, though often
disdained or ignored by the surf industry itself, Laird
is a unique sports icon—an athlete who has refused to
compete professionally yet has dominated big wave
surfing as no other figure in history ever has.
Laird’s
biographical story is told against the backdrop of a
winter surf season on Kauai, where El Niño storm systems
threaten to bring the biggest surf in decades. Mixing
never-before-seen archival footage with contemporary
verité scenes shot in Southern California, Bermuda and
Kauai, Take
Every Wave weaves
the past and present into an intimate and compelling
portrait of a superstar athlete at the top of his game.
Threaded throughout is a revealing, deeply personal
interview with Laird, as well as conversations with the
family members, friends, collaborators and detractors
who know him best.
Take Every
Wave provides
an intimate, uncompromising look at a lifetime devoted
to riding giant surf—and the price an athlete pays for
greatness.
WHITNEY. “CAN I BE
ME”
Thursday, August
17th at
7:00PM at Southampton Arts Center in Southampton
Whitney Houston was a sure thing, or as sure as the
music industry had ever seen. A transcendent talent with
pedigree and mentorship to match, she was going to be
the greatest female vocalist ever. For a time, she was,
and then she all-too-publicly fell short.
Documentarian Nick Broomfield and iconic music video
director Rudi Dolezal offer a never-before-seen
backstage look at the height of Houston’s stardom and
trace with penetrating detail the forces that
contributed to her shortened career and subsequent death
in 2012, at age 48. Whether it be racism, religion,
drugs, sexuality, self-doubt, gossip, rivalry,
insufficient training, the demands of parents and the
industry, a troubled marriage playing out in headlines,
or the inevitable toll those stresses take from so
muscular and passionate a singer, the directors leave
nothing unturned. They create a picture of a remarkable
woman who needed more help than she received and provide
an unflinching, gripping, and wholly committed
exploration of talent given and taken away, in an era
obsessed with how that talent lives when the stage
lights go down.
ICARUS
Saturday, August
26th at
7:00PM at Guild Hall in East Hampton
The ruthless
worlds of international sports and politics rarely
collide as spectacularly on screen as they do in Bryan
Fogel’s thriller, which is sure to set off convulsions
of controversy.
While
investigating the furtive world of illegal doping in
sports, Fogel connects with renegade Russian Scientist
Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov—a pillar of his country’s
“anti-doping” program. Over dozens of Skype calls, urine
samples, and badly administered hormone injections,
Fogel and Rodchenkov grow closer, despite shocking
allegations that place Rodchenkov at the center of
Russia’s state-sponsored Olympic doping program. When
the truth is more complex than imagined, and accusations
of illegalities run to Russia's highest chains of
command, the two realize they hold the power to reveal
the biggest international sports scandal in living
memory.
Exemplifying the
special bond between filmmaker and subject, this is a
vital portrait of the sacrifice some people will make to
stand up for truth. Icarus places
you at the heart of an international game of cat and
mouse, where a miscalculation can cost you your life.
Additional HIFF
Summer Screening Calendar:
June
Sunday, June 25th –
THE COVE at 6:00PM at Guild Hall in East Hampton
Thursday, June
29th –
THE DIVING BELL & THE BUTTERFLY, 7:00PM at MoMA in NYC
Friday, June 30th –
HOOK at 7:45PM at the YMCA East Hampton
July
Friday, July 7th –
SITA SINGS THE BLUES at 7:45PM at the YMCA East Hampton
Friday, July 7th –
INDEPENDENCE DAY at 8:30PM at Southampton Arts Center
Friday, July 14th –
BACK TO THE FUTURE at 7:45PM at the YMCA East Hampton
Friday, July 14th –
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE at 8:30PM at Southampton Arts Center
Sunday, July 16th –
TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM at 8:30PM at Gurney’s in
Montauk
Thursday, July
20th –
STILL ALICE at 6:00PM at Southampton Arts Center
Friday, July 21st –
ATLANTIS at 7:45PM at the YMCA East Hampton
Friday, July 21st –
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN at 8:30PM at Southampton Arts Center
Wednesday, July
26th –
THE FOUNTAIN at 7:30PM at Mandala Yoga, Amagansett
Friday, July 28th –
LIFE ANIMATED at 7:45PM at the YMCA East Hampton
Friday, July 28th –
ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S THE BIRDS at 8:30PM at Southampton
Arts Center
August
Friday, August 4th –
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at 7:45PM at YMCA East Hampton
Friday, August 4th –
AIRPLANE at 8:30PM at Southampton Arts Center
Sunday, August 6th –
SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN at 9:00PM at The Surf Lodge in
Montauk
Friday, August
11th –
JUMANJI at 7:45PM at the YMCA East Hampton
Friday, August
11th –
THE ARTIST at 8:30PM at Southampton Arts Center
Sunday, August
13th –
OPEN WATER at 8:30PM at Gurney’s in Montauk
Friday, August
18th –
ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES at 7:45PM at the YMCA East Hampton
Friday, August
18th –
THE PRINCESS BRIDE at 8:30PM at Southampton Arts Center
Friday, August
25th –
SPIRITED AWAY at 7:45PM at the YMCA East Hampton
Friday, August
25th –
REMEMBER THE TITANS at 8:30PM at Southampton Arts Center
Wednesday,
August 30th –
POLLOCK at 7:00PM at Guild Hall East Hampton
September
Friday,
September 1st –
WHALE RIDER at 7:45PM at the YMCA East Hampton
Friday,
September 1st –
JAWS at 8:30PM at Southampton Arts Center
Friday,
September 8th –
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND at 7:45PM at the YMCA
East Hampton
Friday,
September 15th –
WEST SIDE STORY at 7:45PM at the YMCA East Hampton
Friday,
September 22nd –
THE ‘BURBS at 7:45PM at the YMCA East Hampton
ABOUT THE
HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
The Hamptons
International Film Festival (HIFF) is a year-round
501(c)3 non-profit organization with events, screenings,
film workshops, comprehensive summer programs and an
annual film festival each October. The Festival is the
premiere film event on New York State's east end, and is
an intimate showcase of some of the year's best
offerings in contemporary cinema from around the world.
With cash and in-kind prizes handed out totaling more
than $225,000, HIFF continues to attract some of the
best films of the year.
Selections
from all of our programs continue to play an important
role during awards season. 2017 marked the 7th time in a
row that a film in the Festival has become the eventual
Best Picture winner at the Oscars, making HIFF the only
Festival on the East Coast with such a distinction.
For more information please visit: www.hamptonsfilmfest.org