The Hamptons International Film Festival returns to present its 22nd edition from Oct. 9 to 13, 2014 in venues from Southampton to Montauk. Films focusing on artists and the art world are part of this year's lineup bringing slices of life from around the world and across time.
The festival will present six movies with an art focus. The films highlight British street artist Banksy, 19th century British painter J.M.W. Turner, Brazilian-born photographer Sebastião Salgado and fashion-interior designer Iris Apfel and her 2006 exhibition at the Met.
Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum is the subject of a documentary revealing the process of reopening its Kunstkammer Wien, a collection of around 2,200 Renaissance and Baroque art and objects reinstalled in 20 galleries. The section reopened in March 2013.
The conceptual film "Butter Lamp" makes use of portrait photographer's practice to create a short film. Crossing documentary with fiction, viewers witness a photographer making family photos in different settings which offers commentary on Tiberian assimilation and identity.
Film screenings at HIFF 2014 take place in Southampton, Sag Harbor, East Hampton and Montauk. This year's festival has a first-time focus on Chinese cinema this year, according to organizers.
The festival presents five films directed by critically acclaimed filmmakers – including one of influential Chinese director Zhang Yimou (HERO, RAISE THE RED LANTERN) and a discussion event featuring Academy Award-winning actress Hilary Swank, plus renowned producer, screenwriter, and director Joel Schumacher, and producer Daniel J. Victor (BLACK COAL, THIN ICE, one of the biggest art house hits in China).
For the complete line-up of screenings and events, visit www.hamptonsfilmfest.org. Keep reading for details on the films with an art focus.
ABOUT THE FILMS
"The Great Museum" (Austria, 2014, German / English, 95 minutes)
East Coast Premiere
Thursday (Oct 9) at 7:15 p.m. at Regal East Hampton Cinema
Monday (Oct 13) at 5:45 p.m. at Sag Harbor Cinema.
Director Johannes Holzhausen provides a behind the scenes look at Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum and its operations.Focusing on the year immediately before the reopening of the Kunstkammer collection, Holzhausen followed curators, conservators, and administrators using a “a fly-on-the-wall approach” to reveal the museum’s inner workings and recording history in the making for the famous museum.
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Still from "The Great Museum." Courtesy HIFF.
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"The Salt of the Earth" (France, 2014, French/ English/ Portuguese, 109 minutes)
East Coast Premiere
Friday (Oct 10) at 2 p.m. at Regal East Hampton Cinema
Sunday (Oct 12) at Noon at Sag Harbor Cinema
Co-Directors Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
Photographer Sebastião Salgado moves his lens from a long-standing focus of capturing humanity enduring through major events to reveal the earth’s natural beauty. “The Salt Of The Earth” provides an intimate look at the photographer and presents a visual odyssey that’s both through-provoking and beautiful.
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Still from "The Salt of the Earth." Courtesy HIFF.
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"Banksy Does NY" (USA, 2014, English, 80 minutes)
World Premiere
Both Screenings are Sold Out. Rush Lines apply.
Saturday (Oct. 11) at 3:30 p.m. at Southampton Regal Bay Cinema
Sunday (Oct. 12) at 11 a.m. at Regal East Hampton Cinema
Banksy, an elusive street artist, painter, and filmmaker, took up residency in New York in October 2013. Chris Moukarbel’s documentary captures Banksy as he inhabits NYC with footage mostly shot by Banksy followers who recorded the art before it disappeared.
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Still from "Banksy Does NY." Courtesy HIFF.
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"Butter Lamp" (China / France, 2013, Tibetan, 16 minutes)
Proceeds the feature film "Fantasia"
Saturday (Oct 11) at 10:30 a.m. at Regal East Hampton Cinema
Director Hu Wei (b. Beijing, China) portrays a photographer taking family photographs in a variety of settings. The short weaves unique links among nomadic families to create a tapestry of the past, present and future.
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Still from "Butter Lamp." Courtesy HIFF.
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"Iris" (USA, 2014, English, 78 minutes)
Sunday (Oct 12) at 8:15 p.m. at Southampton Regal Bay Cinema
Monday (Oct 13) at 4:45 p.m. at Regal East Hampton Cinema
Documentarian Albert Maysles captures fashion and interior design maven Iris Apfel, now 93 years old, as she celebrates a late wave of popularity connected to the Met’s 2006 exhibition of her collection of often affordably priced fashion accessories. Maysles follows Iris as she makes selections for the touring exhibition, advises young women on their fashion choices, and bargains with store owners, usually in the company of her husband Carl, now 100.
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Still from "Iris."
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"Mr. Turner" (UK, 2014, English, 149 minutes)
Sunday (Oct 12) at 5:15 p.m. at Regal East Hampton Cinema: SOLD OUT. Rush Lines Apply.
Monday (Oct 13) at 2:45 p.m. at Sag Harbor Cinema
The 19th century British painter J.M.W. Turner was both revered and loathed in his time; an irascible man with a grunt who turned his canvases into awe-inspiring representations of light and shadow,” according to HIFF. Filmmaker Mike Leigh presents a rich and tender portrait of an artist whose vision allowed him to capture reality with his art but may have created a cloud for accepted social graces, according to HIFF. Turner (1775-1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter and printmaker whose work “laid the foundation for Impressionism”, according to www.william-turner.org.
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Still from "Mr. Turner." Courtesy HIFF.
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BASIC FACTS: The Hamptons International Film Festival 2014 takes place from Oct. 9 to Oct. 13, 2014. Tickets to screenings listed above are $15 per film. Film packages are also available. For details, tickets and a list of special events, celebrity appearances and programming, visit www.hamptonsfilmfest.org.