Hamptons Film Festival

The menu of films is trimmer, but the list of celebs isn't

BY JAN STUART | Newsday Staff Writer

October 18, 2006

Billy Bob Thornton stars in "The Astronaut Farmer," a film featured at the Hamptons FIlm Festival.

In the rarefied universe of film festivals, success is too often measured by size: Are there more films than last year, more tickets sold than ever, bigger names in attendance?

When the Hamptons International Film Festival notches its 14th year beginning tonight, it will not be wanting for film luminaries or appreciative audiences, which have been on a rising curve since it opened for business in 1992.

In terms of selections, however, one can expect a newly svelte affair, trimmed down by 30 films from last year. And with a mere 114 selections to show for themselves in 2006, festival organizers are insisting that the new diet look is just right.

"The Hamptons is an intimate community and it's pretty obvious that we would be more of an intimate festival," says the festival's artistic director, Rajendra Roy, who spends the other half of his year in Berlin helping to prepare that city's high-profile film festival.

"The pressure from the industry once you start having some hits on your hand is to try and accommodate as much as possible," he continues. "But in an era in which the trend seems to be the mega-box festival, I think you can have an important international festival that is midsize in scale, that still serves the industry but allows the audience to get its head around the program, to read it in a way that is comprehensible. And that's the direction we are going."

It'll still be glam

That said, one should still expect the glamour quotient and signature events that have given this rite of autumn its particular, Hamptonesque je ne sais quoi. Director Robert Altman will be in the interview seat for the annual "A Conversation With...," and Oscar-winner Ellen Burstyn will field questions as this year's winner of the career achievement prize for acting.

As in the past, those honorees also fulfill a mentoring role for the acting up-and-comers who'll be spotlighted in the festival's Rising Stars program. Among earlier designees whose stars are currently in ascension are Emily Blunt, who stole the show from Anne Hathaway as Meryl Streep's other assistant in "The Devil Wears Prada"; and Aaron Stanford, who was in a recent hit, "Live Free or Die," at Austin's South by Southwest festival and can be seen throwing flames as Pyro in the X-Men films.

The Rising Stars to watch for at this year's Hamptons festival are Carmen Chaplin ("Day on Fire"), Matt Davis ("Mentor"), Dagmara Dominczyk ("Mentor"), Noah Fleiss ("Day on Fire"), Mido Hamada ("The Situation") and Sandra Hüller ("Requiem").

In addition, Films of Conflict and Resolution, the penetrating series that delves into social and political issues of the moment, will continue to provide a counterweight to the festival's more commercial products.

This year, a film that might have shown up in that category has been accorded the showcase spot as opening night film. Philip Haas' "The Situation," a tense, uncompromising thriller that explores the complex relationship between Iraqi-war journalists, the fighters and the civilians caught in the middle, is the first dramatic film to emerge from the war.

An imported flavor

"The Situation's" melting pot of creative and acting talent reflects the festival's sympathies for foreign-based talent and product, an inclination supported by its middle-to-high-bracket audience.

"They've demonstrated that through their audience award," Roy attests, "giving it to foreign films consistently over the years. That was part of our inspiration for involving more international films throughout. [The Hamptons] is not simply a host community. It's a cinema-loving culture here, and there are specific tastes. We have a lot of people who have been involved in the industry, either retirees or actively engaged."

For Roy, striking the right balance between global equity, resident-friendly intimacy and industry interest is paramount.

"You know when Robert Redford comes out himself and says that Park City [Utah] is lost, that he has to do something serious or it's just going to be taken over by the sponsors, that's a warning sign for all of us who have festivals in resort areas. We really want to maintain the atmosphere of going to a movie, having a discussion with the filmmakers, going to a bar or restaurant in the neighborhood. Continuing the discussion that [otherwise] gets lost when you are distracted by a million different people throwing swag bags at you."

Some noteworthy films at the Hamptons Fest:

The Situation: "Angels and Insects" director Philip Haas takes a dark contemporary turn with this taut thriller, the first dramatic feature to emerge from the war in Iraq. Connie Nielsen, so marvelous in "Brothers," the Danish drama set against the fighting in Afghanistan, stars as an American journalist covering the war.

Avenue Montaigne: Daniele Thompson's frothy comedy-romance charts the fates of three Parisian movers and shakers: a pianist, a TV actress and a millionaire art collector. Among the familiar faces in France's 2006 Oscar contender are Laura Morante, Claude Brasseur and director-sometime actor Sydney Pollack.

Inheritance: James Moll's documentary follows the efforts of Monika Hertwig to come to terms with the crimes of her father, Amon Goeth, the Nazi commandant of the Plaszow concentration camp who was subsequently portrayed by Ralph Fiennes in "Schindler's List. "

The Fountain: Brooklyn-born director Darren Aronofsky reunites with his "Requiem for a Dream" star Ellen Burstyn for this rigorous sci-fi romance, recently seen at the Toronto festival. The heady international cast also features Hugh Jackman and last year's best supporting actress Oscar winner, Rachel Weisz.

Soap: From Denmark, Pernille Fischer Christensen's edgy romantic comedy unites an obstreperous beauty clinic owner with an emotionally distressed pre-op transsexual living in the apartment below. A Silver Bear winner at last year's Berlin Film Festival.

Day on Fire: Two of the festival's "Rising Stars" this year, Noah Fleiss ("Brick") and Carmen Chaplin (granddaughter of cinema's most famous tramp), co-star with Olympia Dukakis, Martin Donovan and Judy Kuhn in Jay Anania's drama of a group of New Yorkers whose lives are connected by a Palestinian suicide bomber. Featured in the festival's signature "Films of Conflict and Resolution" section.

The Astronaut Farmer: The ubiquitous Billy Bob Thornton stars in the closing-night film, a drama about a NASA astronaut who hangs up his spacesuit to save the family farm. Also on board are Bruce Willis, Virginia Madsen and the marvelous Tim Blake Nelson.

I Am the Other Woman: Pre-eminent German director Margarethe von Trotta (Rosa Luxembourg) will be on hand for her newest drama, about a businessman who spends an evening with a prostitute, only to run into her the next day at a high-end law firm.

Stranger than Fiction: Will Farrell, Emma Thompson, Queen Latifah, Dustin Hoffman and Maggie Gyllenhaal constitute what must be the most intriguing all-star cast at the festival, in this comedy about an IRS agent who finds the trajectory of his life is determined by a female narrator. Marc Forster ("Monster's Ball") directs.

Ticket info

How to buy tickets: Passes and tickets can be ordered through the festival Web site, hamptonsfilmfest.org or through the new East Hampton box office location at East Hampton Historical Society, 101 Main St., East Hampton. Tickets online, hamptons filmfest.org. Films are $12, early bird screenings $9, children 12 and younger $8. "A Conversation with Robert Altman" is $25. Panel discussions $10, opening night party $75, Packages and passes run from $60-$1,000.