What's Playing at HIFF? David Nugent Offers a Sneak Peek

The 2024 Hamptons International Film Festival is about a week away, and soon hundreds of film fans will hustle between theaters to watch some of the most anticipated movies of the year. Cinephiles will likely have a blast barreling through the shorts, documentaries, and narrative films on display this year. For now, though, it’s all business and busy work for David Nugent.

“There’s always stuff left to do,” Nugent said with a light laugh over the phone. “It’s a lot of coordinating travel and tickets and who’s gonna be here when and how do the films themselves get here and stuff like that.

“There’s a lot left to do, but it’s not as fun as the parts of actually picking the films themselves.”

Nugent, HIFF’s artistic director, is in the middle of putting the final preparations together. He needs all the time he can get with this year’s sizable lineup: 86 feature-length titles (including documentaries) and 61 short films will be playing over the 11-day bonanza starting Friday, October 4. Eight of those movies will make their world premieres at HIFF, while others that hit big at overseas festivals earlier this year will make their New York debuts through Monday, October 14.

Variety is the fruit of HIFF, and this year’s festival is no exception. Attendees can watch the intense drama of “Small Things Like These,” directed by Tim Mielants and adapted by Enda Walsh from the 2021 novel by Claire Keegan and starring recent Academy Award-winner Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”), HIFF Breakthrough Director Malcolm Washington’s adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “The Piano Lesson” or Academy Award-nominee Amy Adams (“Arrival”) go to the dogs with “Nightbitch,” which is directed by Marielle Heller and closes the festival. There are also plenty of eye-opening documentaries on tap, from Michael Premo’s “Homegrown,” which follows three right-wing activists losing themselves to election conspiracies in 2020, to Sally Aitken’s “Every Little Thing” about author Terry Masear’s quest to rehabilitate injured hummingbirds.

Though his brain is busy putting the final pieces of the festival in place, Nugent does have one title he hopes attendees will seek out: “The World According to Allee Willis.” Directed by Alexis Spraic, the documentary traces its titular subject through her eccentric career as an award-winning songwriter who penned the likes of Earth Wind & Fire’s “September” and “I’ll Be There for You” by The Rembrandts, better known as the theme from the TV show “Friends.” Nugent said he saw it earlier this year and hopes it’ll be a “sleeper” hit at the festival.

“It’s hard to play favorites when you have a lot of films you like,” Nugent added. “I didn’t know anything about Allee Willis and when I saw this film, I was just amazed at how this woman was so accomplished and had so many fascinating interceptions with art, and I had never heard of her. When you really see the film and learn about her, it’s really fascinating. It’s a film that really jumps out to me a lot.”

The aforementioned “fun and exciting parts” Nugent talked about involved him touring the lineups of other festivals throughout the year. That took him to Austin, Texas, for South by Southwest back in March, Cannes in France in May and the Toronto International Film Festival, which just wrapped on September 15.

“Ultimately, I’m looking for films that I think will connect with our audiences,” he added. “Even if our audience wouldn’t appreciate [those films], they probably wouldn’t have a chance to see them otherwise.”

That’s not always the easiest task, especially this year. While HIFF has traditionally lasted between five to eight days, in recent years the festival has been expanded and will be running for 11 days again this year. Nugent says this expansion was put in place to give attendees more time to watch titles and allow the festival to bring in more attendees.

“It’s hard for people to see as much as they want in five days when there’s so much going on,” he added.

But of course, Nugent looks for films with local connections. For example, “The Premiere,” directed by Sam Pezzullo and Christopher Bouckoms. This mockumentary follows Pezzullo trying to stage a musical theater adaptation of the 1996 slasher thriller “Scream.” Not only is said performance set to take place at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, but it also features characters played by real-life local residents. You might even notice a certain someone showing up.

“I actually have a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny role in the film playing myself,” Nugent said, chuckling at his involvement in the film.

This year’s festival will also host a pair of special screenings. One of them is for one of 2024’s most acclaimed features, “Sing Sing.” Directed by Greg Kwedar, the intimate drama sees Academy Award nominee Colman Domingo (“Rustin,” “Fear the Walking Dead”) play a wrongly imprisoned man keeping the spirits of himself and other inmates at Sing Sing maximum security prison alive by acting in a theater group. One of many wonderful pieces to the movie’s puzzle is Clarence Maclin, who plays a younger fictionalized version of himself finding peace in shaking things out on stage. Maclin served 17 years at the real Sing Sing prison before being approached by Kwedar and co-writer Clint Bentley to be in the film.

“I just thought his performance was really fascinating,” Nugent said. “The story he tells and how he achieved the performance he did will really get a lot of attention.”

It’s been a wild ride for Nugent, who first joined HIFF in 2007. With the 32nd festival set to open next week, Nugent looked back on when he first joined the organization and everything he’s learned over the years. Of the many things he’s picked up on, chief among them is prepping for Q&A segments with attending filmmakers and actors. Though there’s plenty of scheduling and minute detail that goes into the festival, Nugent has learned to always “think about each film on its own terms” and “have a meaningful dialogue” with the creators of those projects when there’s a chance to speak with them.

Above all else, he said, it makes the experience all the more special for attendees.

“You’re bringing these films that you think will resonate with the audiences,” he added. “As people can be tempted to stay home and stream a film, and not leave their house to go watch a film, we want to remind people of why they should get out and watch a film.

“Films are made by a huge group of people that are all passionate about what they do, whether it’s the costume design or the cinematographer or the director or the actor,” he continued. “Being able to go to a festival screening and hear from those people really distinguishes it from watching something at home.”

Not only is the festival a haven for film fans, but also for the Hamptons itself. According to Nugent, it’s a fantastic way to experience the community for the first time and for the community to get another one last surge of activity before the off-season creeps in.

“I just lived through Tumbleweed Tuesday about a week-and-a-half ago, and now I’ve seen the precipitous change in energy around here, for the better,” he explained. “It really gives a jolt of energy to the community and a real buzz of excitement. You get this really passionate, committed group of artists who come to town.

“I love walking around the community during the festival and seeing people with the catalog or badges, knowing that they’re fired up and excited, and all they’re thinking about is what films they’re going to see.”

The 32nd Hamptons International Film Festival begins on Friday, October 4, and runs through October 14. Films screen at the Regal UA East Hampton Cinema, East Hampton Middle School, Guild Hall and Sag Harbor Cinema. For tickets and full schedule, visit hamptonsfilmfest.org.