HamptonsInternationalFilmFestival Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Opening nights at film festivals are usually black-tie, red carpet, invitation-only affairs, but let me extend an invite for you to crash the Hamptons International Film Festival, which opens tonight in New York, for free. You don't have to wear a tuxedo or, hey, even get dressed if that's your thing; all you have to do is point your browser to our friends at SnagFilms. Two docs are enjoying their world online premiere starting today, available for free streaming through Sunday, October 19.

My suggestion is to watch Great Speeches From a Dying World immediately before or after the Presidential debate tonight. Sure, the title sounds dire, but Linas Phillips' documentary promises to uncover "the stories and struggles of 10 Seattle homeless people, each of whom recite famous speeches from history that relate to their lives: from Shakespeare to JFK to Chief Sealth." What a country! We can listen to the next President of the United States debate his opponent on the issues of the day, and then watch homeless folk recreating great historical speeches.

For a lighter alternative, consider Between the Folds (pictured), a doc by Vanessa Gould that follows artists and scientists who have forsaken their careeers to "forge lives as modern-day paperfolders." (?!) Now, the last time I was heavy into paperfolding was when I played paper football at school, but I'm always down to hear about well-educated people who have developed "passion and determination to reinterpret the world in paper."

Last night, Vanessa Redgrave accepted a career achievement award during the Hamptons International Film Festival. Of course, if you know anything about the actress besides her work, you know that she doesn't bite her lip in awards situations. In the seventies, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her supporting performance in Julia. Members of the Jewish Defense League protested the ceremony, the Academy got death threats, but Redgrave still won the Oscar, and in her speech, she said she wouldn't be influenced by "a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums - whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world, and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression."

The JDL continues to be less than a fan 30 years later, regardless of the actress supporting Israel's right to exist and fighting against Anti-Semitism. Chairman Shelley Rubin said before the appearance: "Even though many in the motion picture industry happen to be Jewish, any and all of them responsible for giving her work or honoring her as the Hamptons International Film Festival has done evidently suffer from either self-hatred or idol-worship." Meanwhile, festival chairman Stuart Match Suna said: "I'm a Jew who's visited Israel twice, and it's a very complex geographical, religious, and political situation there. Vanessa is a true artist who cares about humanity, and artists need to be provocative and provoke thought." I guess he's not one of the fans of summer fluff that rule the box office.

Anyhow, the night included a talk with fellow actor Alec Baldwin, and Redgrave discussed California spending more on prisons than schools, to which he said: "You're not going political on me now? Because you know I have no tolerance for that bullshit." She continued with: "We're losing all our human and democratic rights in all countries all over the world. If every politician devoted their entire attention to the well-being of children, they'd change everything in 10 years." That's not so incendiary, right? Then again, I don't think her acceptance speech was enough to label her a terrorist, like some have.