Insider Info on the Hamptons International Film Fest
By LINDA LEE
There are a few films that people are talking about at HIFF, for good reasons and bad. One is the opening night film, “I Play Rocky,” a film that was a favorite in Toronto (it came in second in the Audience Award to the Cannes winner “La Bola Negra,” a poetic Spanish film that has been nominated for best foreign-language film in the Oscar race).
“I Play Rocky” directed by Peter Farelly. Sold out, but opening November 6 in theaters.
“I Play Rocky” was directed by Peter Farelly, who has written, directed or produced “Dumb and Dumber,” “There’s Something About Mary,” “Green Book,” “Three Stooges” and other films. So there’s a track record there. And of course it’s about how Sylvester Stallone came to make “Rocky.”
But you won’t have to wait long to see it in theaters. It will be in limited release on November 6, and in wider release on November 20, Yo, Adrian, the weekend before Thanksgiving. Still that means there will be competition from the big boys: Disney’s animated “Hexed,” “Focker-in-Law,” “Madden” (John Madden), “Hershey” (Milton Hershey), oh, and the new “Hunger Games” starring a bunch of young actors whose names you don’t know, yet, and seasoned actors you may not recognize, like Glenn Close as Druzilla.
“I Play Rocky” will jump into the holiday movie season, which includes the new “Hunger Games,” starring Elle Fanning, Kieran Culkin, Glenn Close, Jesse Plemons and Ralph Fiennes and young stars.
The expected big bow-wow of the holiday movie season, Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia” for Netflix has been kicked from November to February in a dispute over theatrical first screening, something Netflix does not do (it was planned, or not, for IMAX). Gerwig (“Barbie”) will probably come up with a mind-bending film, even if it won’t qualify for an Oscar.
So all is not lost if you miss “I Play Rocky” on opening night, Oct 2, which you will if you haven’t already bought a ticket. It’s sold out. Then again, I remind you about the rush ticket option. Especially if it’s raining, or, as in fact, it’s when the Steelers play the Cleveland Browns. I’ve seen many a sold-out festival movie with a rush ticket.
The other film that has a lot of buzz, some of it the kind you don’t want to hear, is “Naza,” a documentary on October 3 and 9. It is sold out. But because there is a threat of a picket you might try for a rush ticket at the October 9 screening at the East Hampton Regal at 4:15. It’s a big theater and some people may decide not to go if the opening on the 3rd is fractious.
The directors of the documentary “Naza” are Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, both Israli.
The picket has been threatened by a group claiming to represent Jewish interests. They say they will boycott HIFF theaters in protest of an anti-semitic, and anti-Israel documentary that focuses on what has happened in Gaza. They also say the film was financed by Qatar. The film was in fact funded by “The Guardian” newspaper in the UK and by the producer James Wilson’s company, JW Films. Wilson produced the riveting film “The Zone of Interest” about Nazi domestic life next door to a death camp.
The filmmakers of “Naza” are Israeli, and the documentary has been shown at the Venice Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. It will start playing at the end of the month at the IFC Center in New York City. On October 9 it will expand to independent cinemas in Los Angeles and elsewhere. Will you be able to see it again in the Hamptons? Check with the people at the Sag Harbor Cinema, the Southampton Playhouse and Guild Hall.
Julianne Mooew in “The Debut” which is getting Oscar talk for her performance as a plain housewife who is cast in a bit part in a community musical. Jesse Eisenberg wrote the movie with her in mind.
The two other hot films you cannot see, “The Debut” and “Club Kid” are so popular they will be opening soon in theaters. “The Debut” stars a bunch of people. Ready for this? Paul Giamatti, Bernadette Peters, Halle Berry and, in what is predicted to get her an Oscar nomination, Julianne Moore. Moore plays a dowdy suburban housewife, which you might think is not possible, but remember. She is an actress. Her character has tried out for a community theater production, “Nosy Neighbors,” and gotten a bit part. Jessie Eisenberg wrote the movie specifically for her, directed, and even appears in a musical number, which he wrote, within the play. ” One critic in Toronto at the film festival thought the song deserved an Oscar nomination. The same critic, obviously besotted, said, ” ‘The Debut’ is one of the best films of the year. It doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s funny, entertaining, a true crowdpleaser with an exceptional cast.”
The movie will open wide in movie theaters on December 11.
Jonathan Firstman, a new star on TV, now a triple threat on film: writing, directing, starring.
The other crowd pleaser that sold out at the Hamptons Festival — remember, you can always try for “rush tickets” at the door — is “Club Kid.” It has Cara Delevigne — now a musician as well as an actress — and the creative wonderboy Jonathan Firstman. Firstman broke into public consciousness with “I Love LA” last winter (which has been picked up for a second season), at the same time he appeared in the second season of the comic series “English Teacher” on X. And he already had done a concept comedy album.
That left him some free time to write, produce, direct and star in “Club Kid” as a gay nightlife promoter who suddenly discovered he had a 10 year old son whose mother had died. A sobering turn once before experience by Hugh Grant, as a straight man, in “About a Boy.” The myth-making studio A24 grabbed the film for $17 million after it had its premier at the Cannes Film Festival. It will be released in select theaters on November 6. “Select” theaters means “not yours.”
“Club Kid,” which premiered at Cannes. The movie was shot on 35 mm film.
Reviews of “Club Kid” out of the Toronto International Film Festival ran something like this. “The incredibly emotional, but hilarious screenplay has more heart than you would expect from a movie about club culture. But with the small beauties come enormous heartbreaks, and it’s only thanks to a combination of smart writing and restrained performances that something truly magnificent is made.” You are going to have to travel to see it. Streaming rights have not yet been announced. (Industry speak for: A24 is waiting to see what awards the movie gets, so they can increase the asking price. They are in no hurry. They know what they have.)
So what can you see? Plenty. “Being Heumann,” a dramatic film about one of the protestors behind the Americans With Disabilities Act, a woman in a wheelchair named Heumann. It’s got Mark Ruffalo, a man with the sympathetic look of a St. Bernard, so good in these sympathetic roles. Tickets are available for Guild Hall on Oct 9 and East Hampton Cinema on Oct 3. It will be on Apple TV+ later in October.
The composer and singer Sara Barielles has released her first album in seven years. if you see the documentary about the making of “Good Grief” you can cry along with others.
There is a documentary about the singer and composer Sara Bareilles that was inspired by her watching two men talk about their grief in losing family members. The two men were Stephen Colbert (losing his father and two older brothers in a plane crash when he was 10) and Anderson Cooper, whose older brother jumped off the balcony of their mother’s apartment, while she watched. Because of that, and her own experience when two close friends died, she wrote the song “Home” with the lyrics mentioning the lesson she has learned, “That what is broken cannot heal/Until it’s known and loved by name.” She then produced her first album, “Good Grief,” in seven years.
Ok, here’s the truth. It will cost you $20 to see the film in the film festival. Meanwhile you can rent it at home for $9.99 from KINEMA. But this is why it is worth seeing this movie with an audience. There is going to be laughter, and there is going to be a lot of emotion and group sniffling. Sometimes it’s cathartic to have a good group cry. Guild Hall October 10.
The title is “24 Cats,” so that should give you a clue. The drama comes from rounding up the cats, meeting the transport, finding the right papers and getting the cats into the right hands. Nail-biting.
More cheerful, some animal films, suitable for children. “25 Cats” from Qatar, in English. Tuesday at 5:515 or Wednesay at 8:15, both at the Regal East Hampton. “Nuisance Bear,” polar bears October 11 2:45 East Hampton Regal. Oh, and “Wild Inside” East Hampton Regal October 2 7:45 and October 6 at the same time, a documentary about Flaco — remember the owl who escaped from the Central Park Zoo and became a celebrity? The entire city embraced the owl, took pictures, made reports.
There is a category called “World Cinema” that seems to frighten people, because maybe the films were in foreign languages, or serious? It has some gems. One film there is long but for some people it will be a feast, a long feast.
Alex Gibney has made a four-hour film about Elon Musk. That may not be long enough to tell the whole story. Essential vviewing for Musk fanatics. There is an intermission at the two-hour mark.
“Musk” takes 240 minutes to look at the richest and possibly the most influential man in the United States (recall the damage DOGE did to the government in just a few months in 2025.) The movie does have an intermission after the first two hours. The doc is by the redoubtable Alex Gibney, a serious documentarian compared to the entertaining Michael Moore, who uses provocation and sardonic humor. Gibney’s films include “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,” and “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.” “Musk” plays at Guild Hall on October 5 at 5:30 (there is a wonderful refreshmen cart there) and at the East Hampton Regal at 7 pm on October 11. Bring stimulants.
There are lots of biographies in World Cinema. The Richard Avedon is sold out. The Carl Sagan is available, Saturday Oct 3 at 4:15 at the Sag Harbor Cinema and Sunday Oct 4 at 11 am. Basquiat is available, Guild Hall Oct 11 and East Hampton Regal Oct 12. Have there been too many Basquiat documentaries?
A hand-painted animated film in French about a farm boy who must wear a metal brace: “Iron Boy”
It would not be a film festival if there were not some oddball offering. How about “Iron Boy” a bad title for a French animated film called “Corset” in the original. A farm boy needs to wear a metal contraption to improve his posture which makes his oaf of a father consider him a wimp. This dreamy hand-drawn movie shows what happens when the boy goes to town and hears music. In French.
Here is the thing about a film festival: Go. Go out and meet like-minded people. Leave your comfortable home. You will be glad you did. It will make you a more interesting person.
