The 2024 edition of the Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) has finally unveiled its Opening Night selection — and a partial lineup.
The beloved local festival, hosted by HamptonsFilm, is celebrating its 32nd annual program. The festival will take place from October 4-14.
HIFF opens with the east coast premiere of R.J. Cutler‘s “Martha” documentary about the life and legacy of Martha Stewart. Academy Award-nominated and Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning director Cutler captures mogul Stewart through a series of candid interviews that chart her early start on Wall Street to becoming a housewares icon. Cutler previously directed the definitive Anna Wintour and Vogue documentary “The September Issue.”
“It feels only fitting that we open this year’s event with R.J. Cutler’s portrait of Martha Stewart,” HamptonsFilm Executive Director Anne Chaisson said. “We are delighted to welcome Martha — a truly trailblazing cultural figure and an East End resident of more than three decades — back to the Hamptons community with open arms and give her space to graciously share her inspiring story with us all.”
Both Stewart and Cutler will be in attendance at the festival and participate in a post-screening conversation. The documentary is scheduled to be released by Netflix later this year.
Additional programming highlights include Emmy Award winner Dori Berinstein’s own buzzy documentary “A Man with Sole” centered on fashion designer Kenneth Cole, and the Kino Lorber-produced “Daytime Revolution” documentary about when John Lennon and Yoko Ono took over a Philadelphia broadcasting studio to co-host a radio show.
“We are incredibly grateful to the teams behind ‘Daytime Revolution’ and ‘A Man with Sole: The Impact of Kenneth Cole’ for entrusting our festival to launch their projects for the first time,” HamptonsFilm Artistic Director David Nugent said. “Both of these films are uniquely compelling in the ways they reintroduce audiences to familiar subjects, while showcasing new sides to these characters and adding to their already vibrant legacies.”
Tribeca breakout film “Bad Shabbos,” directed by Daniel Robbins, will be presented as a Spotlight screening, and the North-American premiere of Tyler Taormina’s Suffolk County-set “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” is part of the “Views From Long Island” program. “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” debuted at Cannes and stars Michael Cera, Francesca Scorsese, Sawyer Spielberg, and Elsie Fisher.
Check out the lineup below.
OPENING NIGHT FILM, Sponsored by Audi
MARTHA
East Coast Premiere
dir. R.J. Cutler (USA), 2024
The definitive documentary on Martha Stewart, featuring a series of candid interviews with the icon herself. From her early start on Wall Street to becoming the original influencer, Stewart continues to reinvent herself with each passing decade. A Netflix release.
SPOTLIGHT FILMS, Sponsored by Audi
BAD SHABBOS
dir. Daniel Robbins (USA), 2024
An engaged interfaith couple are about to have their parents meet for the first time over Shabbat dinner when an accidental death gets in the way.
WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY
DAYTIME REVOLUTION
World Premiere
dir. Erik Nelson (USA), 2024
For one extraordinary week in February 1972, the Revolution WAS televised. DAYTIME REVOLUTION takes us back in time to the week that John Lennon and Yoko Ono descended upon a Philadelphia broadcasting studio to co-host the iconic Mike Douglas Show, at that time the most popular show on daytime television, with a national audience of 40 million viewers each week. What followed was five unforgettable episodes of television, with Lennon and Ono at the helm and Douglas gamely keeping the show on track. Acting as both producers and hosts, Lennon and Ono handpicked their guests, ranging from iconic musicians like Chuck Berry, to comic truth teller George Carlin, to radical activists like Yippie founder Jerry Rubin, Black Panther chairman Bobby Seale, and nascent consumer protection guru Ralph Nader. John and Yoko’s version of daytime TV was a radical take on the traditional format, incorporating candid Q&A sessions with their transfixed audience, frank conversations about hot-button issues like police violence and women’s liberation, impromptu conceptual art events, and of course, one-of-a-kind musical performances. A document of the past that speaks to our turbulent present, DAYTIME REVOLUTION is a time capsule reminding us of art’s power to break down barriers, and the bravery of two artists who never took the easy way out as they fought for their vision of a better world. A Kino Lorber release.
A MAN WITH SOLE: THE IMPACT OF KENNETH COLE
World Premiere
dir. Dori Berinstein (USA), 2024
With heart & ‘sole’ and unflinching determination, global fashion icon/social activist Kenneth Cole has put ’cause’ before ‘commerce’ for 40 years. Kenneth’s commitment to HIV AIDS, homelessness, LGBTQIA+ rights, social justice and mental health, has shattered stigmas, ignited social awareness, given voice to the voiceless, built coalitions and inspired action for good.
AIR, LAND + SEA, Sponsored by Dragon Hemp
NOCTURNES
dir. Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan (USA, India), 2024
In the dark of night, two curious observers shine a light on this secret universe. Together, they are on an expedition to decode these nocturnal creatures in a remote ecological “hot spot” on the border of India and Bhutan. The result is a deeply immersive film that transports audiences to a rarely-seen place and urges us all to look more closely at the hidden interconnections of the natural world. A Grasshopper Film release.
FILMS OF CONFLICT AND RESOLUTION, Sponsored by Audi
HOMEGROWN
New York Premiere
dir. Michael Premo (USA), 2024
Homegrown is an unflinching chronicle of Americans at war with each other. Three right-wing activists—a newly politicized father-to-be in New Jersey, an Air Force veteran organizing conservatives in New York City, and a charismatic activist from Texas—crisscross the country in the summer of 2020, campaigning for Donald Trump and building a movement they hope will outlast him. When they become convinced that the election is stolen, they take their fight to the streets. The result is a chilling portrait of a growing movement pushing American democracy to the brink.
VIEWS FROM LONG ISLAND
CHRISTMAS EVE IN MILLER’S POINT
North American Premiere
dir. Tyler Taormina (USA), 2024
On Christmas Eve, a family gathers for what could be the last holiday in their ancestral home. As the night wears on and generational tensions arise, one of the teenagers sneaks out with her friends to claim the wintry suburb for her own. An IFC Films release.
