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Four days. More than 30 feature-length documentaries and shorts. One venue.
This is the Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film Festival.
From Thursday, December 4, through Sunday, December 7, 32 films will screen at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, each followed by a Q&A session with hosts Bonnie Grice and Andrew Botsford.
“This is more films, and more talent, than we’ve ever had before,” the festival’s executive director, Jacqui Lofaro, said last week during a telephone interview. “And all the filmmakers are coming, except for one. It will be intimate. And it will be a festival to remember.”
From music and art to environmental issues and politics, this cross-section of films are just a taste of what this year’s lineup has in store.
90 minutes
Opening Night Film
Thursday, 8:30 p.m.
It is a story director and producer Joe Lauro had known for years—that fateful day in 1948 when Antoine “Fats” Domino and Dave Bartholomew crossed paths at a small Lower Ninth Ward nightclub in New Orleans, a meeting that neither man could have known would result in a 65-year collaboration. One that would smash down racial barriers and pave a new road for integration through music.
It is also a story Mr. Lauro knew he wanted to tell through film. On Thursday night, he will.
Following its world premiere in New Orleans last month, “The Big Beat” will screen for the first time on the East Coast at the Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film Festival.
“That’s a premiere for us,” Ms. Lofaro said. “We don’t seek premieres, that’s our mission—to show good documentaries, some of which have not made it into the Tier A festivals, but we think are deserving of the big screen. This is an exception.”
47 minutes
Friday, 5:30 p.m.
A product of the Social Documentary Film Department at the School of Visual Arts is triple threat Olga Lvoff—director, producer and editor of her first full-length project, “When People Die They Sing Songs,” nominated this year for a Student Oscar.
She follows the story of 93-year-old Holocaust survivor Regina and her daughter, Sonia, as they strive to uncover her wartime memories with music therapy. She sings her songs in Yiddish and French, with her daughter by her side, as they strengthen their relationship and revisit a past they once wanted to forget.
“I was just riveted by that,” Ms. Lofaro said. “You just love her, Regina. She is dynamic, funny and has an extraordinary memory. I love that film. I think it’s just great.”
96 minutes
Spotlight Film
Friday, 8 p.m.
“Martin Scorsese” and “documentarian” may not be synonymous for fans of his feature work—among them “Taxi Driver” and “The Departed”—but the director has quite the portfolio, most recently adding “The 50 Year Argument” to it.
The film chronicles the half century of history behind The New York Review of Books, famous for its long-form essays on literary, culinary and political concerns, and shadows the journal’s editor Robert Silvers—as well as the writers and pundits who have contributed over the years—behind the scenes.
“It is really star-studded with authors and people we all know. It’s a perfect film for our audience,” Ms. Lofaro said. “We’re lucky to have Jason Epstein to come do the Q&A. He has a house in Sag Harbor. And he was the co-founder of the magazine 50 years ago.”
77 minutes
Saturday, noon
Within tragedy, there can be light—and filmmaker Richard Kane found it between painters Jon Imber and his wife, Jill Hoy.
It was the summer of 2012 when Mr. Imber was diagnosed with ALS. Tracing his life, career and the adaptations he makes to continue creating, Mr. Kane keeps the camera focused on his subjects as the disease takes over.
“He lives to paint, and if he can’t paint, he doesn’t want to live,” Ms. Lofaro said. “It shows his enormous spirit and courage as the disease progresses. They have him rigged up with props so he can hold the brush. He does some of the finest work during this period of his life.”
60 minutes
Saturday, 2 p.m.
Often undetected by the naked eye, there lies a relationship between the artisans who craft camera lenses and the masters who use them to capture humanity.
Director Michael Apted can see it. And he shows it in “Bending The Light,” making its New York premiere at the Sag Harbor festival.
“It’s a beautifully shot film that really takes you behind the scenes,” Ms. Lofaro said. “It is a journey of glass. Cinematographer David Leitner, who is coming to do the Q&A, works intimately with these lenses. He actually shot our Closing Night Film about Milton Glaser.”
84 minutes
Sunday, 12:30 p.m.
Doug Block doesn’t consider himself a wedding photographer. For the past two decades, he has simply shot them to help support his filmmaking career.
But many years, and 112 weddings, later, a funny thing happened. Having spent countless intimate moments with his clients, he began to wonder how they were. So, he found them.
Juxtaposing rapturous wedding day flashbacks with present-day interviews—some of them “remarkably candid,” Ms. Lofaro said—the film dives into their current lives, love and commitment, or lack thereof.
“You see these couples at their most passionate moment—at the wedding—just filled with love and hope and the future,” Ms. Lofaro said. “And then you see them eight, 10 years later, and see how they’ve changed, physically and emotionally, for better or worse. It’s really a terrific premise and a terrific film.”
73 minutes
Closing Night Film
Sunday, 7:30 p.m.
For Wendy Keys, “Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight” is her official foray into the industry as a filmmaker—her first documentary attempt. And on Sunday evening, it is receiving a great honor: recognition by her peers.
Nominated by the festival’s previous filmmakers, Ms. Keys—who worked as an administrator and programmer at the Film Society of Lincoln Center from 1966 to 2008—will be awarded the Filmmaker’s Choice Award for her 2008 portrait of artist Milton Glaser.
“Congratulations, Wendy, on your timeless contributions spanning over four decades to help documentary films and filmmakers,” last year’s recipient, Lana Jokel, said in a statement. “We honor your commitment.”
For many, Mr. Glaser is the personification of American graphic design, best known for co-founding New York Magazine and the everlasting “I Heart NY” campaign.
His influence doesn’t stop there. Newspaper and magazine design, interior spaces, logos and brand identities don’t cover it. His prints, drawings, posters and paintings continue to live on, as does Mr. Glaser, now 85 years old.
“He really is the graphics guru,” Ms. Lofaro said. “He’s a thinking designer. He has the spirit, the mind. He’s just a delight. And it’s the perfect, perfect ending to the festival.”
The seventh annual Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film Festival will open with screenings on Thursday, December 4, from 3 to 8:30 p.m. at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. The festival continues on Friday, December 5, from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, December 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, December 7, from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. A Q&A hosted by Bonnie Grice and Andrew Botsford will follow every screening. A gala honoring Barbara Kopple will be held on Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 per screening—or $13 for seniors—$40 for the gala, and $125 for all screenings and events. For the full schedule, visit ht2ff.com.
Michelle Trauring on Nov 24, 2014