Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film Festival
10:00 am - 10:00 pm
Bay Street Theatre, Bay St. at Long Wharf, Sag Harbor, NY. 11963.
Fifth annual Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film Festival showcases “all docs, all day” on Nov. 30 (3 films, 4:30-10 p.m.), Dec. 1 (10 films, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.), and Dec. 2 (6 films, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.) at Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, all with a Montauk-to-Manhattan focus. Post-event Q&As with directors, emceed by Bonnie Grice and Andrew Botsford. Audience award. Presenting sponsor, Bridgehampton Nat’l Bank. Full schedule at www.HT2FF.com
Gala on Saturday, December 1, begins with cocktail reception at 6:30 p.m., followed by tribute to documentary legend Susan Lacy, who lives part-time in Sag Harbor. The evening includes screening of her Emmy Award-winning “Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note”; opening remarks by Mr. Bernstein’s daughter Jamie Bernstein; and panel discussion with Lacy and three of her American Masters directors—Michael Epstein, Anne Makepeace and Roger Sherman.
“Susan Lacy is one of the giants in the documentary field, who created the American Masters series for PBS and who for 26 years has produced, directed and written scores of documentaries highlighting Americans who made major contributions to our culture,” said HT2FF founder and executive director Jacqui Lofaro of Bridgehampton, who is a documentary filmmaker herself.
“Susan Lacy has been responsible for building an exceptional archive of more than 185 documentary films about American cultural giants and has been involved in every aspect of the series, including selecting the artists to be profiled, hiring the teams to research and direct each film, writing grants, handling budgets and making final cuts on every documentary.”
Documentaries written, directed or produced by Lacy include the film biographies of media mogul David Geffen (premiering nationwide November 20 on PBS), fashion designer Richard Avedon, talk show host Johnny Carson, opera star Placido Domingo, architect Buckminster Fuller, entertainer Judy Garland, actor Lillian Gish, singer Lena Horne, singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell, reporter Edward R. Murrow, television producer Rod Serling, musician Paul Simon, playwright Tennessee Williams, and many others.
Lacy has said of her vision for the series: “I wanted to do for creative people and the creative process what ‘American Playhouse’ had done for drama, what ‘NOVA’ did for science on PBS.”
Tickets for the Susan Lacy gala are $25 and are available at www.HT2FF.com, at the Bay Street box office, by phone at 631-725-9500, or at the door.
Presenting Sponsor for the Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film Festival is Bridgehampton National Bank.
A total of 10 films will be screened on Saturday, December 1, 10 a.m.-10 p.m., with Q&As emceed by lively broadcast personality Bonnie Grice.
10 a.m. The day opens with three short four-minute student films, all winning entries in Suffolk County Film Commission’s “First Exposure” annual competition: “The Kite” by Gaby Mikorenda of Northport H.S., “Decisions” by Richard Anderson of Sachem East H.S., and “Where You and I Exist” by Zachary Towlen of Bellport H.S.
These will be followed by a sneak preview of “The Wind That Blows” (60 min.) by New York City director Tom Weston, about the last Yankee whalers on tiny island of Bequia in West Indies.
12:15 p.m. “The Salt of the Sea” (53 min.) by award-winning director Tom Garber of Hampton Bays tells the story of a vanishing breed of independent commercial fishermen from Long Island and New England. Following that is “Shinnecock: Remember the Past, Hope for the Future” (21 min.), a film by Autumn Rose Williams, a recent graduate of the Ross School in East Hampton, who explores the Shinnecock Indian tradition of storytelling.
2 p.m. “Kings Park: Stories From an American Mental Institution” (108 min.) is a documentary by award-winning director Lucy Winer, a former inmate of the now-abandoned Long Island hospital.
4:30 p.m. “After” (22 min.) by director Jeremy Cohan tells of the grief suffered by a couple whose son, filmmaker Jesse Feigelman, took his life in 2002. This is followed by “Irene Williams: Queen of Lincoln Road” (24 min.) by director Eric Smith, who documents the life of an eccentric woman he met in South Beach, Miami.
6:30 p.m. The gala reception at Bay Street Theatre will be followed by tribute to “American Masters” creator/executive producer Susan Lacy of Sag Harbor; 7:45 p.m. screening of her Emmy Award-winning film “Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note” (120 min.); and panel discussion with Lacy and three American Masters directors.
Tickets for each film segment are $15 ($13 for senior citizens, though no online sales). Saturday night gala, including reception and “Leonard Bernstein” film is $25. A full festival pass for all three days of films including the gala is $100.
Tickets may be purchased online at www.HT2FF.com; at Bay Street Theatre box office in person, by phone at 631-725-9500, online at www.baystreet.org or at the door; and in person at the Romany Kramoris Gallery, 41 Main Street, Sag Harbor, 631-725-2499.
The HT2FF.com website has a full description of films, photos, and links for purchasing tickets.
Further information is available from executive director Jacqui Lofaro at info@HT2FF.com.
