Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film Festival Announces Winner

[caption id="attachment_58086" align="alignnone" width="576"] Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film Festival founder/executive director Jacqui Lofaro, left, with the Brown Harris Stevens Audience Award-winning filmmakers—director Thomas Bena, center, and co-producer James Holland—of “One Big Home,” about the proliferation of outsized homes in Chilmark on Martha’s Vineyard.[/caption]

Last week, Jacqui Lofaro, the founder and executive director of the Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film Festival announced “One Big Home” was the festival’s winner of the Brown Harris Stevens Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature.

The film, 12 years in the making was directed by Thomas Bena and chronicles his crusade against the spread of outsized homes in Chilmark on Martha’s Vineyard, where he lives with his family. Aerial views of the oversized homes in the Hamptons are also included in the film.

Mr. Bena, originally a carpenter by trade, 17 years ago founded the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival and continues to serve as its executive and creative director. He and his co-producer James Holland attended the HT2FF for the Sunday morning screening and Q&A.

A 30th anniversary tribute to the American Masters series on PBS took place on the Friday night of the festival, with awards presented to Susan Lacy, creator/executive producer of the American Masters series on PBS, 1986-2014, and Michael Kantor, executive producer from 2014-16.

Those that missed the two American Masters films screened that evening to sold-out audiences can catch “Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw the Future” on PBS on December 27, and “Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise,” on February 21, 2017.

The Filmmakers’ Choice Award was presented to Catherine Tambini for her over 20-year career as a documentarian, followed by the screening of her film “Art & Heart, The World of Isaiah Sheffer” about the New York City cultural figure. The Career Achievement Award was presented to documentary filmmaker, Alex Gibney and his latest film “Zero Days,” an exposé of cyberwar was screened.

For more information, please visit ht2ff.com, email info@ht2ff.com or call (631) 237-8055.