Hamptons Doc Festival opens fall season with a screening of the acclaimed documentary “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” (2019, 120 min.) on Sunday, September 22, 2019 at 5 p.m. at Bay Street Theater. Film presents an artful look at the life and works of legendary African-American author Toni Morrison, who won both the Pulitzer Prize (1988) and Nobel Prize (1993). Morrison passed away on August 5, 2019.
Following the screening will be a Q&A with the film’s director and producer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, a friend of Toni Morrison’s for 38 years. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by clicking here.
Remarking on the film during its screening at Sundance earlier this year, Los Angeles Times film critic Gary Goldstein wrote, “Look for this one to be front and center in its category come Oscar time.”
"Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am" had its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Through interviews with Morrison, the documentary follows her life from childhood in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio, her education at Howard University, marriage and motherhood, editing life at Random House, the publication of novels “The Bluest Eye,” “Sula,” “Song of Solomon,” and “Beloved,” and teaching at Princeton University.
Along the way, it also follows the African-American experience from slavery through the civil rights movement; features interviews with Angela Davis, Hilton Als, Fran Lebowitz, Walter Mosley, Sonia Sanchez, Farah Griffin, long-time editor Robert Gottlieb, and Oprah Winfrey, who made “Beloved” into a feature film; and covers the ceremony where she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2012.
“The Morrison film seemed a perfect way to begin our fall season and pay tribute to her life,” said Hamptons Doc Fest founder and executive director Jacqui Lofaro. “Toni Morrison’s voice was raw, beautiful and eloquently honest. Her authentic words jolted us out of complacency, starting with her earliest work, “The Bluest Eye.” This documentary of her life, made by longtime friend Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, brings her back to us in wonderful ways. Morrison was, and remains, a natural treasure of American literature.”
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Toni Morrison from “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am,” a Magnolia Pictures release. Copyright Timothy Greenfield-Sanders/Courtesy Magnolia Pictures and Hamptons Doc Festival.
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Looking forward, Lofaro is anticipating another engaging film festival this December. Now in its 12th year, the Hamptons Doc Fest will present five full days of documentaries from December 5 to 9, 2019, presented all day and evening. Screenings run from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. The festival features a curated selection of documentary films that are bound to engage audiences.
“Our screening committee spends countless hours reviewing the entered films, to find those that challenge, enlighten and delight our audiences," remarked Lofaro. "We never stop looking for well-told stories. And simply put, a good documentary is a well-told story.”
Tickets for the September 22 Toni Morrison film are now on sale for $20 at Hamptons Doc Fest by clicking here and at Bay Street Theater.
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BASIC FACTS: The documentary “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” (2019, 120 min.) will screen on Sunday, September 22, 2019 at 5 p.m. at Bay Street Theater. Following the screening will be a Q&A with the film’s director and producer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by clicking here.
Tickets for the Hamptons Doc Film Festival, taking place December 5 to 9, 2019, will go on sale in early November. Info is available at [email protected] or 631-237-8055. To receive email alerts for upcoming Hamptons Doc Fest news, go to the website and enter your email address. www.hamptonsdocfest.com.
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