by Evelyn J. Mocbeichel
As part of the Hampton International Film Festival (HIFF) each summer a series of documentary features are shown throughout the Hamptons. During the summer months HIFF continues showing unique films in East Hampton through its SummerDoc series. www.hamptonsfilmfest.org In addition this summer’s offerings, there are a host of free outdoor screenings that include a popular adventure film, classic musical and an animated film. The first of the series, MAIDEN, was held in June and featured a post screening conversation with Alec Baldwin and Alex Holmes, the film’s director. The story is about yacht racing and an all women crew. In 1989, the very idea of a competitive all-female sailboat crew was nearly inconceivable to the manly world of open-ocean yacht racing. They’d never make it to the start of the Whitbread Round the World Race much less survive to the finish. They’d never find funding. They didn’t have the strength or skill. They’d die at sea. Did that many female professional sailors even exist? Tracy Edwards proved them wrong. 26-year-old skipper Edwards, her second-hand racing yacht Maiden, and her seasoned crew not only became the first-ever all-woman challenge to the Whitbread, they proved able competitors in the famously grueling race, besting male crews in their class. By the time they returned to their starting point at Southampton, England, after 32,000 miles of global racing, they had shocked, inspired, and transfixed the sailing world and the British nation. Tracy Edwards was awarded the 1990 Yachtsman of the Year Award, the first woman ever to receive the accolade, and was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
COLD CASE HAMMARSKJÖLD – Guild Hall in East Hampton, will host this screening on Saturday, July 20th, at 7:00 pm. The film is directed by Mads Brugger. Tickets are $23-$25 each.
In 1961, United Nations secretary-general Dag Hammarskjöld’s plane mysteriously crashed, killing Hammarskjöld and most of the crew. With the case still unsolved 50-plus years later, Danish journalist, filmmaker, and provocateur Mads Brügger (The Red Chapel, The Ambassador) leads us down an investigative rabbit hole to unearth the truth. Scores of false starts, dead ends, and elusive interviews later, Brügger and his sidekick, Swedish Göran Björkdahl, begin to sniff out something more monumental than anything they’d initially imagined. In his signature agitprop style, Brügger becomes both filmmaker and subject, challenging the very nature of truth by “performing” the role of truth seeker. As Brügger uncovers a critical secret that could send shockwaves around the world, we realize that sometimes absurdity and irony are the emboldening ingredients needed to confront what’s truly sinister.
Free July Screenings
The Southampton Arts Center at 25 Jobs Lane is the location for a series of free outdoor screenings. The films begin at approximately 8:30 pm when it’s dark enough for viewing.
July 5th Friday – Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, directed by George Lucas. (Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire’s world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.) The free films are as follows:
July 12th, Friday – Finding Nemo
July 16th, Wed. – Get Out – directed by Jordan Peele
July 19th, Friday – Singin’ in the Rain
