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Towering redwood trees are featured in “Giants Rising: The Secrets and Superpowers of the Redwoods.” The film, directed by Jeffrey McKay, will to be screened on Friday, April 25, at 7 p.m. as part of Hamptons Doc Fest’s three-day Docs Equinox program at the Southampton Arts Center. FABIAN AGUIRRE
Tucker Marder, founder of the Folly Tree Arboretum in Springs, will be the Docs Equinox keynote speaker on April 27. COURTESY HAMPTONS DOC FEST
Hamptons Doc Fest, in partnership with the Southampton Arts Center, welcomes spring by kicking off Earth Day Week with its annual Docs Equinox celebration that this year revolves around the theme of “Deep Roots: Our Connection to Trees, Woodlands, Forests.”
The weekend includes three days of film programming at Southampton Arts Center from Friday, April 25, to Sunday, April 27, starting with food and wine receptions on Friday and Saturday at 5:30 p.m., along with an Earth Central Hub, composed of information from tree-related environmental groups, and a Sunday coffee reception at 11 a.m. Each reception will be followed by a documentary film.
“We chose this theme because trees have been around nearly 400 million years, enough time to accumulate some serious wisdom,” said Hamptons Doc Fest founder and Executive Director Jacqui Lofaro. “So let’s celebrate them and remember that you can’t plant a tree without thinking of the future.”
On Friday, April 25, which is Arbor Day, after the cocktail reception from 5:30 to 7 p.m., William Bryant Logan, an arborist on the faculty of the New York Botanical Garden, founder and president of Urban Arborists Inc., and author of several books, will present a keynote address. At 7:30 p.m. the film “Giants Rising: The Secrets and Superpowers of the Redwoods” (80 min.), will be screened. The film’s Director Lisa Landers will Zoom in for a Q&A afterward. Through the voices of biologists, artists, Native peoples and others, the film illuminates the mysteries and resilience of the colossal redwoods.
The Saturday, April 26, documentary at 7 p.m., is “Call of the Forest: The Forgotten Wisdom of Trees” (82 min.), directed by Jeffrey McKay. With breathtaking cinematography, the film follows scientist, conservationist and author Diane Beresford-Kroeger to the sacred sugi and cedar forests of Japan, the ancient Raheen Wood of Ireland, the walnut and redwood trees in America and the boreal forest of Canada, explaining the role that trees play in protecting the planet. After the film, Beresford-Kroeger will Zoom in for a Q&A.
On Sunday, April 27, after a coffee and scone reception at 11 a.m., Tucker Marder, founder of the Folly Tree Arboretum in Springs, will give a keynote address at 11:30 a.m., recounting the stories of the many unique trees in his outdoor nature museum. The film “Fungi: Web of Life” (41 min.), directed by Joseph Nizeti, follows at noon, with fungi on the forest floor as the stars, also including British biologist Dr. Merlin Sheldrake’s quest to find a rare blue mushroom in the ancient Tasmanian rainforest.
Earth Central Hub participants with information tables on Friday and Saturday include the Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, the Central Pine Barrens Commission, and Canio’s Books, selling books by the authors involved in the films and other books related to the Docs Equinox theme.
Tickets each day are $20 ($15 SAC members) and $10 for students at hamptonsdocfest.com and southamptonartscenter.org. Also available is a three-day pass for $50 ($40 SAC members). The Southampton Arts Center is at 25 Jobs Lane in Southampton.
Staff Writer on Apr 10, 2025