Columbus Day weekend provides the ultimate opportunity for East End film buffs to indulge in their passion with the arrival of the Hamptons International Film Festival.
With a slate of movies that includes domestic premieres, screenings of Oscar contenders and conversations with the filmmakers themselves — including Academy Award winner Damien Chazelle — it’s a can’t miss event for cinephiles.
The festival gets underway Thursday, Oct. 4 with a slate that includes the East Coast premiere of “The Kindergarten Teacher.” The Netflix release stars Academy Award nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Crazy Heart”), who will then be on hand for a question and answer session moderated by actor Alec Baldwin at 3 p.m. Friday at Bay Street Theater.
The screenings continue through Monday, Oct. 8 when the closing night centerpiece films are “Can You Forgive Me?,” starring Academy Award nominee Melissa McCarthy (“Bridesmaids”) and “Boy Erased,” directed by Joel Edgerton and starring Oscar Nominee Lucas Hedges (“Manchester by the Sea”.)
Perhaps the highlight of the festival will be Saturday’s East Coast premiere of Neil Armstrong biopic “The First Man,” starring Ryan Gosling and directed by his “La La Land” collaborator Chazelle, who will appear at Bay Street Theater Sunday for a 12:30 p.m. conversation with critic Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York.
Other star-studded awards contenders screening at this year’s festival include “Beautiful Boy” with Timothée Chalamet and Steve Carell, and “Green Book,” with Viggo Mortenson and Mahershala Ali.
Passes and ticket packages are still available online, including the $500 companion package, which includes 12 tickets to screenings, an additional closing night screening and two tickets to an official festival event. Many of the films include multiple screenings at various venues across the South Fork, so even if it’s too late to catch a premiere screening, you might still have an opportunity to view some of these movies before they go to wider release in the coming months.
See the complete lineup and learn more about this year’s selections at hamptonsfilmfest.org.