The 23rd annual Hamptons International Film Festival kicks off five days of programming tomorrow, Thursday, October 8, screening approximately 75 features before it wraps on Monday, October 12. Those escaping the bustle of NYC for a getaway in the tony East End hamlets will have more than 30 documentary features to sample, as highlighted below:
While nonfiction is absent this year from the event’s galas, this draws more attention to the five films presented in the Documentary Competition. Films here that have not had extensive coverage at other events include the world premiere of Jon Fox’s NEWMAN (pictured), about an eccentric’s struggles to legitimize his potentially world-changing invention; and the east coast premiere of David Shapiro’s MISSING PEOPLE, which follows a woman obsessed with both the unsolved murder of her brother and an outsider artist.
Documentaries appearing in special thematic sections include the popular Films of Conflict & Resolution, which, among others features the world premiere of Michele Mitchell and Nick Louvel’s THE UNCONDEMNED, about the fight to classify rape as a war crime; and new strand Compassion, Justice & Animal Rights, which offers the world premiere of Darcy Dennett’s THE CHAMPIONS (pictured), about the rehabilitation of Michael Vick’s violent pit bulls.
The majority of the fest’s remaining nonfiction offerings appear in the World Cinema Documentary section. Among these are the world premieres of Marc Levin’s CLASS DIVIDE, an exploration of gentrification in Chelsea, where projects share the same intersection as a costly private school; Matthew Miele and Justin Bare’s HARRY BENSON: SHOOT FIRST (pictured), on the acclaimed celebrity photographer; and Meghan O’Hara’s THE C WORD, in which the filmmaker explores a radically simple alternative to conventional wisdom about cancer.
what (not) to doc 