Hamptons Film Festival Unveils Full Slate for 33rd Edition and Will Spotlight Long Island Stories, Honor Bernard Telsey and Premiere Kristen Stewart’s New Film

The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) has announced the full lineup for its 33rd edition, set to run from October 3 to 13.

This year’s festival will feature 85 feature-length films and 57 shorts from around the globe, including 12 world premieres, eight North American premieres, 21 U.S. premieres, 20 East Coast premieres and 27 New York premieres.

Bernard Telsey, the veteran casting director known for his work in theater, film and television, will be honored with the inaugural Achievement in Casting Award. His credits include “Across the Universe,” “Mary Poppins Returns” and “Rachel Getting Married,” as well as this year’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and “Wicked: For Good.” Telsey will receive the honor on October 4 following a screening of “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” with director Bill Condon and actor Tonatiuh, this year’s UBS Breakthrough Performer, in attendance.

Kristen Stewart’s directorial feature “The Chronology of Water” has been added to the Spotlight section. The film, based on the memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch, tells the story of a woman’s journey through loss, love and artistic self-discovery.

“As we celebrate the 33rd year of the Hamptons International Film Festival, it’s thrilling to share such a rich and varied lineup with our audiences,” said David Nugent, HIFF artistic director. “From powerful premieres and career-spanning conversations to bold new voices breaking through, this year’s program reflects the creativity and diversity that continue to make cinema such a vital art form.”

In the Narrative Competition, the festival will host the U.S. premiere of Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay’s “Hysteria,” in which a film shoot spirals into chaos after a burned Quran is discovered on set. The section also includes the New York premiere of Cole Webley’s “Omaha,” a cross-country road story about siblings reeling from family tragedy; Simón Mesa Soto’s “A Poet,” also receiving its New York premiere, which follows a failed writer whose mentorship of a gifted student leads to a string of misadventures; Hasan Hadi’s “The President’s Cake,” set in 1990s Iraq and centered on a young girl tasked with baking a cake for Saddam Hussein; and Mascha Schilinski’s “Sound of Falling,” which traces the lives of four girls coming of age on the same rural German farm over different decades.

The Documentary Competition will include the New York premiere of Anthony Benna’s “André Is an Idiot,” a humorous and uplifting chronicle of one man’s battle with terminal cancer. The section also features the international premiere of “The Nicest Men on Earth,” directed by Josefine Exner and Sebastian Gerdes, a character study of emotionally sensitive men living in Denmark. Paige Bethmann’s “Remaining Native” follows Ku Stevens, a Native American high school runner pursuing his dream of becoming a collegiate athlete, and David Bim’s “To the West, In Zapata” explores a father’s harrowing quest to feed his family by hand-catching crocodiles in the Cuban marshlands.

The Films of Conflict and Resolution program includes “Cover-Up,” a political thriller from Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus about Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh. The U.S. premiere of “The Eyes of Ghana,” directed by Ben Proudfoot, centers on 93-year-old filmmaker Chris Hesse, who served as cinematographer to Ghana’s first elected president, Kwame Nkrumah. In “Holding Liat,” director Brandon Kramer documents a family’s divided emotions as they work to free Liat Beinin Atzili, kidnapped on October 7. “Love+War,” by E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, follows the rise of war photographer Lynsey Addario, and “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, tells the true story of a six-year-old girl trapped in war-torn Gaza.

The Air, Land and Sea program will include the New York premiere of “A Life Illuminated” by Tasha Van Zandt, which follows marine biologist Edie Widder in her quest to understand bioluminescence. “Turtle Walker,” directed by Taira Malaney, documents Satish Bhaskar’s coastal journey to track endangered sea turtles in India, while Richard Ladkani’s “Yanuni” profiles Indigenous Amazonian leader Juma Xipaia and her environmental activism. Werner Herzog’s “Ghost Elephants” follows an expedition in the Angolan highlands in search of a mysterious elephant herd, and “Trade Secret,” directed by Abraham Joffe, tracks three allies working to halt the global trade of polar bears.

The World Cinema Documentary section includes the East Coast premiere of “Ask E. Jean,” Ivy Meeropol’s profile of journalist E. Jean Carroll, and the world premiere of “Marilyn Minter: Pretty/Dirty,” an intimate look at the provocateur who disrupted the art world beginning in the 1970s. Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus’ “Cover-Up” will also screen in this section. Orlando von Einsiedel’s “The Cycle of Love” premieres on the East Coast, telling the story of a Delhi street artist who bikes 6,000 miles for love. The North American premiere of Toby Trackman’s “The Last Musician of Auschwitz” explores how music served as resistance in the Nazi concentration camp. Kim A. Snyder’s “The Librarians” portrays librarians fighting for intellectual freedom, while “The New Yorker at 100,” directed by Marshall Curry, offers a behind-the-scenes look at the iconic magazine. Additional titles include “Natchez,” “Seeds,” “The Perfect Neighbor,” “The Stringer,” “Raoul’s: A New York Story,” and “Underland.”

World Cinema Narrative films include the East Coast premiere of “All That’s Left of You,” directed by Cherien Dabis, about a Palestinian family displaced from Jaffa in 1948. Fatih Akin’s “Amrum,” set in postwar Germany, and Ugo Bienvenu’s sci-fi tale “Arco” will make their U.S. debuts. Maryam Touzani’s “Calle Malaga” follows a Spanish woman fighting to stay in her longtime Moroccan home. Other international highlights include Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident,” Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague,” and the U.S. premiere of “Young Mothers” by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, which portrays teen mothers in a shelter hoping for a better future.

The festival's local showcase, Views from Long Island, will feature four world premieres: “Arthur Elgort: Models & Muses,” directed by Warren Elgort, a documentary on the legendary Vogue photographer; Ari Selinger’s “On the End,” about a Montauk mechanic who falls in love with a fellow outcast; Patricia E. Gillespie’s “The Secrets We Bury,” which follows a man uncovering dark truths about his father’s disappearance; and Halina Krystyna Dyrschka’s “Thoughts of Infinity,” a portrait of painter James Howell.

HIFF will present 11 short film programs, including “Conflict and Resolution Shorts,” “New York Women in Film & Television: Filmmakers Calling the Shots,” “Air, Land and Sea Shorts” and others, as well as two short films preceding features.

Jurors for the 2025 festival include Variety’s Matt Donnelly, Tony Award-winning actor and director John Benjamin Hickey, and Sundance’s Jody Arlington on the Narrative Jury. Agnes Chu, former president of Condé Nast Entertainment, and Loren Hammonds of TIME Studios will serve on the Documentary Jury.

As previously announced, the festival will open on October 3 with the U.S. premiere of David Freyne’s “Eternity,” with Elizabeth Olsen attending and participating in a “Conversation With.” The world premiere of Maria Friedman’s “Merrily We Roll Along,” starring Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez, will close the festival. David Michôd’s “Christy,” screening as the Centerpiece film, will feature Sydney Sweeney, who will receive the Achievement in Acting Award. Additional honorees include Eva Victor as UBS Breakthrough Director.

Ethan Hawke will also appear in a “Conversation With” event during the festival.

The 33rd annual Hamptons International Film Festival will run October 3 to 13, with screenings and events taking place in East Hampton, Southampton and other nearby locations. More information, including tickets and full schedule, is available at hamptonsfilmfest.org.