Hamptons Doc Fest's 'Shorts & Breakfast Bites' Returns

The Hamptons Doc Fest will return to Sag Harbor from December 5 to 11 and also returning is “Shorts & Breakfast Bites,” a festival experience on Saturday and Sunday mornings which debuted at last year’s festival. It pairs a program of short documentary films with coffee, tea and breakfast treats such as bagels, muffins and fruit, all for the regular price of a $17 film ticket.

“Shorts & Breakfast Bites” starts with breakfast at 9:30 a.m. on both Saturday, December 7, and Sunday, December 8, with the films following at 10 a.m. at Bay Street Theater.

“We invite you to come to the theater on these two weekend mornings for this delicious pairing,” says Jacqui Lofaro, executive director of Hamptons Doc Fest.

The short films for Program 1 on Saturday, December 7, at 10 a.m. will include an 84-minute series of four docs: “Ten Times Better,” directed by Jennifer Lin, about an 89-year old blackjack dealer who, as a young Shanghai immigrant was instructed by his mother to be “ten times better” to succeed, and was picked by George Balanchine for the 1954 premiere of “The Nutcracker”; “Did You Forget Mr. Fogel?” directed by Max Karpman about an American teacher Marc Fogel whose family launched a campaign to bring him back from imprisonment in Russia; “The Art of Metaphor,” directed by Kate Taverna, about an artist who creates imaginative structures but lives with the threat of her own eviction; and “Jumpman,” directed by Tom Dey, about the photographer who created the 1984 Life Magazine portrait of Michael Jordan that became one of the world’s most famous logos.

Directors Lin, Karpman and Taverna will all attend the Q&A.

The Program 2 films on Sunday, December 8, at 10 a.m. include a 95-minute series of five shorts — “Filming Under Fire: John Ford’s OSS Field Photo Branch,” directed by Dan Gagliasso, about how Academy Award-winning director John Ford and others contributed to America’s victory in WWII through their work with the OSS Field Photographic Branch; “First Frames,” directed by Illie Mitaru about photographer Serbest Salih as he moves with his mobile darkroom through earthquake-torn Turkey while documenting, through the eyes of children, its effect on them; “From Pen to Paper,” directed by Paul and Lori Sutton, about 24 prisoners at a maximum security prison yard in Southern California who participate in an innovative 14-week creative writing program with students; and “Birdfeeder,” directed by Daniel Feighery, which explores not just the life of birds but also the impact of nature on the human soul.

“Birdfeeder” director Feighery will be on hand for the Q&A, as will “Filming Under Fire’s” producer Charles Pinck.

The fifth short will be the winner of Hamptons Doc Fest’s new “Hometown Heroes Student Film Contest,” with the director expected to attend.

Tickets are available online at hamptonsdocfest.com. Bay Street Theater is on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor.