| Hamptons Film Fest Shakes up the East End |
15th Annual Hampton's International Film FestivalOct. 17-21, 2007Admission: $8-35, passes available Various locations in Easthampton and Southhampton 631-747-7978 or buy tickets here hamptonsfilmfest.org  Marisa Tomei in THINKFilm's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead." The Hamptons International Film Festival was founded to celebrate independent film and to introduce a unique and varied spectrum of international films and filmmakers to our audiences. The festival is committed to exhibiting films that express fresh voices and differing global perspectives, with the hope that these programs will enlighten audiences, provide invaluable exposure for filmmakers and present inspired entertainment for all. The festival opens to some of the most innovative films from around the world - maintaining the international perspective of the Hamptons' while turning an eye to the world of American independent film. This year's event features 103 films including 17 World Premieres, 11 US Premieres, 17 East Coast Premieres and 13 New York Premieres. The heart of the Hamptons International Film Festival has always been its Golden Starfish Award and the competitions offering scholarships, awards and in-kind services to developing filmmakers, screenwriters and students.  Susan Sarandon stars in the world premiere of Bob Balaban's "Bernard and Doris" with Ralph Fiennes. On Sunday the 21st, the festival will close with the drama "August Rush" (US), starring Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard and Robin Williams. Written by Nick Castle and James V. Hart and directed by Kirsten Sheridan, the film follows a guitarist (Meyers) and cellist (Russell) who fall in love and have a child, yet circumstances tear them apart before their son is born. Years later, the child (Highmore) uses his musical talent to seek the parents from whom he was separated at birth. "August Rush" opens nationally November 21. Film festivals wouldn't exist without filmmakers and film people. Among the highlights of the Hamptons experience each year is the amazing amount of talent that participates – as filmmakers, jurors, mentors, educators and honorees in programs and special events. Vanessa Redgrave will be honored at the Bay Street Theater with this year's Golden Starfish Award for Career Achievement in Acting.  Vanessa Redgrave will be the recipient of this year's Golden Starfish Award for career achievement in acting The Golden Starfish Narrative Competition will be presenting "Elvis and Anabelle," directed by Will Geiger with Blake Lively and Max Minghella; "Just Buried," directed by Chaz Thorne with Jay Baruchel, Graham Greene and Rose Byrne; "King," directed by Tom Collins; "Turn the River," directed by Chris Eigeman with Famke Janssen; and "Valerie," directed by Birgit Möller. The documentaries presented will include "Do you Sleep in the Nude?" directed by Marshall Fine, featuring celebrity testimonals and footage of Rex Reed's television appearances; "Born Dead, Still Weird," directed by Steven-Charles Jaffe about legendary cartoonist Gahan Wilson; and "I am an Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkird and PETA," directed by Matthew Galkin. Spotlight films include: "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" (US) Directed by Sidney Lumet – with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei and Albert Finney. "May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead," or so goes the Irish toast from which Sidney Lumet's latest tour de force borrows its title. "Body of War" (US, US Premiere) Directed by Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue. This powerful documentary confronts the physiological and psychological effects of war as it follows Tomas Young, a wounded soldier who served in Iraq and is now speaking out against the war. "Grey Gardens: From East Hampton to Broadway" (US, World Premiere) Directed by Albert Maysles. A documentary on the transition of Maysles' 1976 documentary Grey Gardens from film to a Broadway musical. "Kabluey" (US, East Coast Premiere) Directed by Scott Prendergast – with Lisa Kudrow, Scott Prendergast, Christine Taylor and Conchata Ferrell. 32-year-old loner Salman is the ne'er-do-well brother-in law of Iraq War bride and mother Leslie. In this poignant satire, Salman tries to save his brother's family even as the children threaten his life, their mother deceives him, and the world in general abuses him.  John Cusack and Bobby Coleman in New Line Cinema's "Martian Child." "My Sexiest Year" (US, World Premiere) Directed by Howard Himelstein – with Harvey Keitel, Frankie Muniz, Amber Valletta, Karolina Kurkova and Haylie Duff. The coming-of-age story of Jack Stein, a Brooklyn kid who is sent to Miami to live with his horse race-betting father. As Jack tries to adapt to Florida and to his eccentric father, he meets Marina, a model who sets Jack's future on course. "Rails and Ties" (US) Directed by Alison Eastwood – with Kevin Bacon, Marcia Gay Harden and Miles Heizer. Unable to face the possibility of losing his wife to illness, Tom Stark buries himself in his job as a train conductor. But when Tom's train hits a car on the tracks, a young woman is killed and her son, Davey, is left to cope with the loss of his mother. The accident puts the Starks and Davey on their own collision course. But instead of leading to tragedy, this crossing could mean new hope for a woman who has only one chance left to fulfill her dreams, for a man who must learn to open his heart before it is too late, and for a boy who has never known the true meaning of family. "The Savages" (US, East Coast Premiere) Directed by Tamara Jenkins – with Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman. A sister and brother face the realities of familial responsibility as they begin to care for their ailing father. "The Shell Seekers" (US, World Premiere) Directed by Piers Haggard – with Vanessa Redgrave, Maximilian Schell, Victoria Smurfit and Victoria Hamilton. A tender tale of romance, remembrance and renewal. "The Shell Seekers" spins a cautionary tale of true love and profound loss, while preferring a harsh lesson for those who know the price of everything but the value of nothing. "Starting Out in the Evening" (US, East Coast Premiere) Directed by Andrew Wagner – with Lauren Ambrose, Frank Langella, Lili Taylor and Adrian Lester. Heather Wolfe convinces Leonard Schiller, a past-his-prime writer, that her graduate thesis can resurrect his career. How far will Heather go in her quest to revive a man who's been her idol? And what will her digging reveal about Schiller's past? "Table in Heaven" (US, NY Premiere) Directed by Andrew Rossi – with Sirio Maccioni, Marco Maccioni, Mauro Maccioni and Woody Allen. Sirio Maccioni, owner of the world-renowned New York restaurant Le Cirque, is the star of this delectable documentary, which chronicles the closing of Le Cirque 2000 in the Palace Hotel and its reopening in midtown's Bloomberg building. Will the impending move turn out to be a recipe for disaster? "Teeth" (US, NY Premiere) Directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein – with Jess Weixler, John Hensley, Josh Pais, Hale Appleman and Ashley Springer. Sure to be one of the most talked-about movies this year, "Teeth" features an unforgettable performance by rising star Jess Weixler as a teenager who discovers – quite accidentally – that her body can be used as a weapon. Underneath the movie's sunny, comic surface lurks a darker story about sexual power. "Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot" (US, East Coast Premiere) Directed by Tod Harrison Williams – with Gretchen Mol, Sean William Scott, Deirde O'Connell, Kevin Conway and Jeff Garlin. A dramatic comedy about a self-induced attention-deficit disordered, learning disabled, Tourette's syndrome suffering, balance impaired, ex-alcoholic young man from the Upper East Side of Manhattan and the gold-digging girl who inspires him to try to get it together. Based on the memoir "The Little Yellow Bus" by Long Island native Jeff Nichols. "The Walker" (US) Directed by Paul Schrader – with Woody Harrelson, Lauren Bacall, Lily Tomlin, Ned Beatty and Willem DeFoe. An escort who caters to Washington D.C.'s society ladies becomes involved in a murder case. The World Cinema features presented this year include: "Caramel" (Lebanon, East Coast Premiere) Directed by Nadine Labaki. Lebanon's entry for the 2007 Academy Awards, this romantic comedy is centered on the daily lives of five Lebanese women in Beirut. "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (France) Directed by Julian Schnabel. This is the story of Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, in 1995 at the age of 43, suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body, except his left eye. Using that eye to blink out his memoir, Bauby eloquently described the aspects of his interior world, from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body to his imagined stories from lands he'd only visited in his mind.  Max von Sydow and Mathieu Amalric star in Miramax Film's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." "Four Minutes" (Germany, NY Premiere) Directed by Chris Kraus – with Hannah Herzsprung. An unlikely bond grows in an all-women's prison between a solitary piano teacher and a troubled but very talented young murderess. "House of Life: The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague" (US, World Premiere) Directed by Allan Miller. This documentary tells of The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague, the site of layer upon layer of buried members of the once-vibrant Jewish community of the Ghetto. "Irina Palm" (Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, UK and France, NY Premiere) Directed by Sam Eduard Garbarski – with Marianne Faithfull. A middle-aged Maggie must find enough money for her grandson's lifesaving medical treatment. When a "Hostess Wanted" sign catches her eye, she naively stumbles into a sex club. "Jump!" (US, East Coast Premiere) Directed by Helen Hood Scheer. A fervent documentary about stunningly talented young athletes who are devoted to an underappreciated yet attention-deserving sport: competitive jump roping. "Please Vote For Me" (China) Directed by Weijun Chen. A classic election drama, although the 60 year-old candidates have been replaced with 7-year-old versions. "The Substitute" (Denmark, US Premiere) Directed by Ole Bornedal. The story of a group of Danish 6th graders who discover their new substitute teacher is not merely peculiar, but an extraterrestrial. "Taxi to the Dark Side" (US) Directed by Alex Gibney. This film examines the death of an Afghan taxi driver at Bagram Air Base from injuries inflicted by U.S. soldiers. Academy Award Nominee director Alex Gibney takes us from a village in Afghanistan to Guantanamo and straight to the White House. "The Unforseen" (US) Directed by Laura Dunn. Executive producers Robert Redford and Terrance Malick. A documentary about the development around Barton Springs in Austin, Texas and nature's unexpected response to being threatened by human interference. "Vivere" (Germany, Netherlands) Directed by Angelina Maccarone – with Egbert Jan Weeber. Fate entangles the lives of two sisters and a lonely older woman, after the younger sister runs away from home. "Wade in the Water" (US, World Premiere) Directed by Elizabeth Wood and Gabriel Nussbaum. A New Orleans YMCA class put digital cameras in the hands of eighth-grade students whose lives were devastated by Hurricane Katrina. "Yella" (Germany, East Coast Premiere) Directed by Christian Petzold. Yella is plagued by a mysterious post-traumatic stress disorder, and finds herself teaming up with a handsome, roving banker named Philipp, to unlock a secret to try to put together a new life. {mos_ri}
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