Guild Hall and the Hamptons International Film Festival are partnering this winter to bring to East Hampton new-release films that were not destined for East End cinemas.
The Hamptons International Film Festival, which had its 25th edition this year, take places each October at a variety of South Fork venues, including Guild Hall. But HIFF also hosts and sponsors screenings and events year-round—such as SummerDocs and the Screenwriters Lab—and this new series, titled Now Showing, adds to that repertoire.
“Our audience has asked us for years to continue to program films after the annual film festival, and we are thrilled to make this dream a reality,” said HIFF Executive Director Anne Chaisson in a statement. “We are kicking off this series with some of the most artistic and daring films this year, which we know will equally challenge and delight.”
Andrea Grover, the executive director of Guild Hall, added, “We live in a film-savvy community, but many of the best new releases never make it to our theaters. We are thrilled to work with our longtime partners HIFF to fill this void.”
Now Showing begins Saturday, December 16, with “Faces Places,” a documentary co-directed by 89-year-old French New Wave filmmaker Agnes Varda and 33-year-old photographer and muralist JR. In the film, they form a bond as they travel to villages on France’s countryside meeting locals and producing massive portraits of them that are displayed on houses, barns, storefronts and trains.
“The Square,” a 2017 Cannes Palme d’Or winner from director Ruben Östlund, is slated for Saturday, December 23. The comedy-of-manners is about a Stockholm museum curator preparing for a new exhibition while experiencing a crisis of conscience, starring Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West and Terry Notary.
Then on Saturday, December 30, HIFF will present “Loving Vincent,” an animated drama about the life and death of Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Written and directed by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman, it is the world’s first oil-painted feature film, with 65,000 frames created by 115 painters.
Showtime for each date is 6 p.m. and tickets are $15 each, or $12 for Guild Hall and Hamptons International Film Festival members. To purchase tickets, visit guildhall.org. Additional screenings will be announced at hamptonsfilmfest.org.