Highlights: The 34th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival

The 34th annual Hamptons International Film Festival returned to the East End October 2 to 12, with screenings and events taking place across the Hamptons.

The festival opened with the East Coast Premiere of “I Play Rocky,” directed by Peter Farrelly and starring Anthony Ippolito. Ippolito also received one of the festival’s FLYTE Breakthrough Performer Awards. 

This year’s Centerpiece screenings included the U.S. premiere of Tim Blake Nelson’s “The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd,” starring Amanda Seyfried and Scoot McNairy, and Noah Segan’s “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,” starring John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, Giancarlo Esposito, Will Price, and Tatiana Maslany. Amanda Seyfried and John Turturro joined the festival’s “A Conversation With” series.

Jesse Eisenberg took part in the festival’s “A Conversation With” series. Eisenberg wrote and directed “The Debut,” which screened. Ron Howard attended the festival for “A Conversation With.” Howard’s film “Avedon” had its East Coast Premiere.

Academy Award nominee Bob Balaban received the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. A longtime East End resident and Hamptons Film Board Member, Balaban has built a prolific career across film and television, with credits including “Gosford Park,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “Best in Show,” “For Your Consideration,” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

The festival presented Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid” in its Spotlight section. Rosalind Eleazar also received one of the festival’s FLYTE Breakthrough Performer Awards for her performance in “Misty Green.”

The 34th edition featured more than 140 films and 205 total screenings, including seven feature World Premieres and 8 short film World Premieres. HIFF also hosted the U.S. Premiere of “Bunker,” one of 10 U.S. premieres overall at this year’s edition, and, fresh off Telluride and Venice, presented 15 East Coast Premieres, including “Elsinore,” “Wild Horse Nine,” and “The Liberation.”

 “La Bola Negra,” directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, won the Award for Best Narrative Feature. “If Pigeons Turned to Gold,” directed by Pepa Lubojacki, received the Award for Best Documentary Feature.

“‘Vaterland’ Or A Blue Named Yanto,” directed by Berthold Wahjudi, won the Award for Best Narrative Short Film, and “Water Cooler,” directed by Emma V.F., won the Award for Best Documentary Short Film.

Festival audiences selected narrative feature “Elsinore,” directed by Simon Stone, and documentary feature “Burgundy,” directed by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw, as this year’s winners of the Hamptons International Film Festival Audience Awards. ‘The Grandfather Puzzle,” directed by Ora DeKornfeld, received the Audience Awards for Short Film. 

“Congratulations to this year’s award winners, whose films stayed with our audiences long after the credits rolled,” said HamptonsFilm Chief Creative Officer David Nugent. “From ‘La Bola Negra,’ our jury’s pick for Best Narrative Feature, to ‘Elsinore,’ which won over our audiences, this year’s honorees brought stories from around the world and right here on Long Island to the East End. Many of these films are heading into awards season with real momentum, and we’re proud the Hamptons is once again part of that journey. We’re deeply grateful to everyone who makes the festival possible, including our filmmakers, jurors, sponsors, board, staff, volunteers, and, of course, our audiences.”

Festival attendees included Sindha Agha, Livia Albeck-Ripka, Josh Alexander, Waad Al-Kateab, Louis Anania, Annabelle Attanasio, Lauren Avinoam, Maiken Baird, Bob Balaban, Alec Baldwin, Anna Barnes, Elizabeth Baudouin, Lexie Bean, Beau Bedford, Ed Begley Jr., Dori Berinstein, Ryan Biegel, Ada Bland, Carl Bernstein, Thai Bonapart, Nanette Burstein, Carter Burwell, Philip Byron, Colin Cadarette, Lindsay Calleran, Sofia Camargo, Sophie Chahinian, Neil Chatterjee, Alison Chernick, Julie Cohen, John David Coles, Katie Colwell, Dominic Cooper, Bryan Cranston, Akanksha Cruczynski, Michael Cuomo, Victor Cunha, Grant Cutler, Rick Cutter, Leslye Davis, Zella Day, Blythe Danner, Anne de Mare, Lauren DeFilippo, Michael DeGrandpre, Ora DeKornfeld, Nina Dobrev, Pawo Choyning Dorji, Owen Dubeck, Michael Dweck, Jesse Eisenberg, Rosalind Eleazar, Tovah Feldshuh, Nicholas Ferrall, Jordan Firstman, Alex Huston Fischer, Luther Ford, Bastien Garcia, Hunter Gause, Karma Gelek, Richard Gelfond, Alex Gibney, John Gilroy, Tony Gilroy, Griffin Gluck, Nina Gold, Jillian Goldstein, Carolina Gonzalez Valencia, Eli Goss, Bella Graves, Ryan Harrington, Cassidy Hartmann, Jack Heller, Mye Hoang, Sarah Catherine Hook, Ron Howard, Rhys Ifans, Anthony Ippolito, Josh Izenberg, Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, Tamar Joffe, Jake Junkins, David Kaplan, Al Karr, Alexandra Kern, Henry Kinder, Greg Kohs, Beth Kojima, Gary Krieg, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Penny Lane, Iazua Larios, Hope Lennox, Viridiana Lieberman, Jiaying Lin, Vicky Liu, Phil Lord, Pepa Lubojacki, Tara Mallen, Fern Mallis, Frank Marshall, Brett Marty, Scott McGehee, Katy McHugh, Scoot McNairy, Mads Mengel, Célia Millat, Chris Miller, Eliza Mitnick, Mary Elizabeth Monda, Andrew Morgan, Zach Morgan, Sarah Mowaswes, Pete Muller, Wafa Mustafa, Dana Nachman, Tim Blake Nelson, Brian Nugent, Jamie Kiernan O’Brien, Kelly O’Sullivan, Janet Hyojo Oh, Anette Ostrø, Amin Pakparvar, Erica Pappas, Kirsten Pasewaldt, Andrew Penn, Melinda Pinecone, Alex Pritz, Lily Rabe, Paul Raci, Jeff Ragovin, Marion Roaman, Yamil Rodriguez, Logan Rozos, Lindsey Ryan, Ellie Sachs, Ira Sachs, Ilyas Sakrouhi, Meriem Sakrouhi, Mehraneh Salimian, Magnus Sandnes, Matteo Sangalli, Vic Sarin, Samantha Scolarici, Gabriel Sedgwick, Sophie Seyd, Amanda Seyfried, Ellie Shanahan, Cindy Sherman, Natalie Shirinian, Dallin Shovlin, David Siegel, Holly Siegel, Jake Silbermann, Nigel Sinclair, John Slattery, Kaily Morgan Smith, Roberta Smith, Jason Spingarn-Koff, Mike Spreter, Joan Stein, Trudie Styler, Victor Tadashi Suarez, Anne Sundberg, Lillian Thakuria, Alex Thompson, Barnaby Thompson, Josh Thompson, Ellen Toland, YuHan Tsai, John Turturro, Emma V.F., Beatriz Valencia, Jordan Walker-Pearlman, Eric Weber, Nick Weber, Betsy West, Emmy Wheeler, Sighle Williams, Eleanor Wilson, Quinn Whitney Wilson, Fletcher Wolfe, Jesse Woods, Jeremy Workman, Helen Yum, Erika Zorzi, Ruth Zukerman, and more.