It is that time of the year again, the 21st Annual Hamptons International Film Festival in the Hamptons Thursday, October 10th-Monday, October 14th, 2013. Will this years films at The 21st Hamptons Film Festival take the Oscar? If you are a movie fan, than I am sure you must love this time in the Hamptons. The stars are out, Directors, Producers and everyone associated with the Film. Among those expected to attend the Festival are: Anna Paquin, Bruce Dern, Ralph Fiennes, Renee Zellweger, Dakota Fanning, David Duchovny, Helena Bonham Carter, Edgar Wright, Kevin Connolly, Will Forte, Timothy Hutton, Amy Ryan, Richard Curtis, Adepero Oduye, Brie Larson, Dane DeHaan, David Oyelowo, Jonathan Franzen, Paul Dano, Ralph Macchio, Richard Curtis, Scott Haze, Spike Jonze and Joe Wright. Although these Festivals take place all over the world, there is something very special about the Festival in the Hamptons. I am very excited about the Films selected this year and I am truly excited to see 12 YEARS A SLAVE, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY & LONG WALK TO FREEDOM, and Foreign Film THE PAST…I have highlighted a couple of the films to be shown this year, for a complete schedule of the movies click here.  Hurry and get your tickets the popular ones might be SOLD OUT already…

The Spotlight films include: BREATHE IN, FREE RIDE, HER, LABOR DAY, LOUDER THAN WORDS, MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM, THE PAST and CAPITAL.This year the festival will pay special tribute to Oscar Award winning director Costa-Gavras before the screening of his latest film CAPITAL.

OPENING NIGHT FILM: Thursday, October 10th

KILL YOUR DARLINGS

With a loose, heady energy that echoes a Beat poem, John Krokidas’ impressive feature film debut tracks the meeting of Allen Ginsberg, Lucien Carr, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs during Ginsberg’s early days at Columbia University. They forge a bond looking for a “new vision”––daring each other to innovate and redefine their voices––and splinter apart when one of them becomes involved in a murder in 1944. Daniel Radcliffe and Dane DeHaan lead an exceptional cast that also features Michael C. Hall, Elizabeth Olsen, David Cross, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Huston as Kerouac, and an almost unrecognizable Ben Foster as Burroughs. Featuring Dane DeHaan and Jack Huston:

see trailer:

ABOUT TIME

At age 21, Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) learns a strange family secret passed down from his father (Bill Nighy): he can travel back in time. From this premise springs another winning romantic comedy from one of the genre’s most beloved filmmakers, Richard Curtis (NOTTING HILL, LOVE ACTUALLY). As a young man, Tim’s immediate anxiety and excitement over his special abilities centers on falling in love with a pretty girl. When he meets Mary, played by the incandescent Rachel McAdams, he must master his time-tripping powers to woo the woman of his dreams. see trailer: 

12 YEARS AS A SLAVE: Monday 10/14 715pm and 745pm (closing night film)

12 YEARS AS A SLAVE is based on an incredible true story of one man’s fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender) as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) forever alters his life.

Director: Steve McQueen, Screenwriter: John Ridley, Producers: Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Bill Pohlad and Anthony Katagas….Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong’o, Paul Giamatti, Sarh Paulson, Alfre Woodard 

see trailer:

 AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY…Centerpiece Film…

A star-studded ensemble led by Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts brings Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning play to life in this gutsy, powerful screen adaptation. Beverly Weston (Sam Shepard) is an Oklahoma poet battling alcoholism, while his wife Violet (Streep) suffers from cancer and a new-found drug dependency. When Beverly vanishes, the family unites in a search that ends with a morbid discovery. Mother and daughters are left to deal with the aftermath… and each other. Director John Wells and his ferocious cast electrify Letts’ singular prose and craft one of this year’s must-see films. see trailer: 

FREE RIDE: 10/11 915pm & 10/12 615pm

Set in the 1970s, FREE RIDE stars Academy Award® winner Anna Paquin (THE PIANO, HBO’s TRUE BLOOD) as a single mother who moves to Florida with her daughters in search of a better life, but gets pulled into the high-stakes drug-trade business. This accomplished, gritty directorial debut, based on writer/director Shana Betz’s life story, delivers as both a provocative crime thriller and a powerfully rendered family portrait. Paquin’s dynamic star turn and a vivid supporting cast, including Cam Gigandet and THE SOPRANO’s Drea De Matteo, help make FREE RIDE an unforgettable trip.

 

HER: Written and directed by Spike Jonze, HER is an original love story that explores the evolving nature—and the risks—of intimacy in the modern world. Set in Los Angeles in the near future, it follows Theodore, a complex, soulful man, heartbroken after the end of a relationship, who becomes intrigued with a new, advanced operating system promising to be an intuitive and unique entity in its own right. Upon initiating it, he meets “Samantha,” a bright voice who is insightful, sensitive, and surprisingly funny. As their needs and desires grow in tandem, their friendship deepens into an eventual love.

see trailer: 

 

LOUDER THAN WORDS: Family Movie : 12 and up. John Fareri (David Duchovny) and his wife Brenda (Hope Davis) live an idyllic suburban life. After the sudden death of their young daughter, and deeply shaken by the less than ideal conditions of her hospital, the couple decides to build a premier children’s hospital, with the help of consultant Bruce Komiske (Timothy Hutton). Inspired by true events, this touching film portrays a family who instead of being gripped by loss created an extraordinary place of healing for thousands of ailing children and implemented a national standard for family health facilities.

 LONG WALK TO FREEDOM… 10/11, 4:30pm 10/12, 8:00pm

Idris Elba, best known for his roles on TV’s THE WIRE and LUTHER, transforms into the legendary Nelson Mandela in this exhilarating screen adaptation of the political leader’s autobiography. Director Justin Chadwick’s (THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL) portrait charts the incredible true story of the many struggles that took Mandela from South Africa’s rural Cape region to armed struggle and arrest, and then to the president’s mansion as his nation’s first democratically elected leader. More than just a historical biopic, the film also tracks the incredible love story between Mandela and his wife Winnie, soulfully embodied by Naomi Harris. see trailer:

 

THE PAST: Foreign Film… 10/12, 6:15pm, 10/13, 3:15pm

Family secrets and domestic strife lurk under the surface of this riveting new drama from Asghar Farhadi, the writer/director of A SEPARATION, the 2011 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film. Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) travels from Iran to France at the behest of his estranged wife Marie (Bérénice Bejo, THE ARTIST) to finalize their divorce. Further escalating their immediate tension, Marie insists Ahmad stay in her home with live-in boyfriend Samir (Tahar Rahim, A PROPHET), and Samir’s children from his own stalled marriage. With this latest film, Farhadi cements his status as one of the world’s preeminent filmmakers.

 

To see a Full List of all the movies and events during the Hamptons International Film Festival visit their website, http://hamptonsfilmfest.org/program/