‘Mothering Sunday’ Will Have Its U.S. Premiere At HIFF

HamptonsFilm has announced that Eva Husson’s film “Mothering Sunday,” will have its U.S. premiere at the upcoming Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF), screening as the Sunday Centerpiece film on Sunday, October 10. In the Spotlight Section, the festival will screen Mike Mills’ “C’mon C’mon,” Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” and the East Coast premiere of Clint Bentley’s “Jockey.” The festival will also feature the New York premiere of Penny Lane’s “Listening to Kenny G,” the East Coast premiere of both Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God” and Rachel Fleit’s “Introducing, Selma Blair.” Selma Blair and Clifton Collins Jr. (“Jockey”) plan to attend the festival in person on behalf of their films. The festival also announced the titles that will be showcased in the World Cinema and the Compassion, Justice & Animal Rights section. HIFF will take place October 7-13, with in-person screenings across the East End.

The festival announced the World Cinema section, including the world premiere of Amanda Lipitz’s “Found” and the East Coast premiere of Asghar Farhadi’s “A Hero.” The East Coast premiere of Andrea Arnold’s “Cow” will screen in the Compassion, Justice and Animal Rights section. Additional titles selected for the World Cinema Section include Ryuske Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car,” Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s “Julia,” Céline Sciamma’s “Petite Maman,” Nana Mensah’s “Queen of Glory, E,” Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “The Rescue,” Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir Part II,” and Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World.”

“Every year we work to bring our audiences out east a diverse and thoughtful selection of films that excite and expand perspectives. We look forward to welcoming this year’s films and filmmakers to the 29th edition,” said Anne Chaisson, HamptonsFilm’s executive director. “We are overjoyed to once again be bringing our community together in celebration of some of the year’s most incredible films.”

“We are thrilled to announce even more wonderful programming for this year’s festival. We will be presenting some of the best films from all over the world, which will transport our audiences to different places, perspectives and stories and help us understand the world that we are in,” said David Nugent, HamptonsFilm’s artistic director. “We can’t wait to be back in theaters to see and hear how our passionate audiences respond to the films in this year’s Festival.”

HIFF previously announced that the 2021 festival will open with the world premiere of “The First Wave.” Additional films previously announced include the world premiere of The Art of Making It,” the New York premiere of “Becoming Cousteau,” East Coast premiere of “The Last Horns of Africa,” and will also screen the film “Paper & Glue.” It was also announced that local End artist and HIFF co-founder and founding chairman of the board, Toni Ross’ artwork “Finding Beauty in a Dark Place” will be featured on the 2021 poster.

The 29th annual Hamptons Film Festival will run October 7 to 13. Passes will go on sale September 7. For more information, visit hamptonsfilmfest.org.

2021 Hamptons International Film Festival - Additional Films Lineup

“A Hero”

East Coast Premiere

dir. Asghar Farhadi (Iran), 2021

Rahim is in jail for a debt he hasn’t been able to pay. During a two-day leave, he tries to convince his creditor to withdraw his complaint in exchange for paying back part of the debt. Rahim is then confronted with a crisis he would never have imagined.

“C’mon C’mon”

Dir. Mike Mills (USA), 2021

Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix) and his young nephew (Woody Norman) forge a tenuous but transformational relationship when they are unexpectedly thrown together, in this delicate and deeply moving story from writer-director Mike Mills about the connections between adults and children, the past and the future.

“Cow”

East Coast Premiere

dir. Andrea Arnold (UK), 2021

This film is an endeavor to consider cows. To move us closer to them. To see both their beauty and the challenge of their lives. Not in a romantic way but in a real way. It’s a film about one dairy cow’s reality and acknowledging her great service to us. When I look at Luma, our cow, I see the whole world in her.

“Drive My Car”

dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Japan), 2021

Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a stage actor and director, is happily married to Oto (Reika Kirishima), a screenwriter. However, Oto suddenly dies, leaving behind a secret. Two years later, Kafuku, still unable to fully cope with the loss of his wife, receives an offer to direct a play at a theater festival and drives to Hiroshima with his car. There, he meets Misaki (Toko Miura), a reticent woman assigned to become his chauffeur. As they spend time together, Kafuku finally begins to confront the haunting mystery of his wife.

“Found”

World Premiere

dir. Amanda Lipitz (USA), 2021

In Amanda Lipitz’s documentary, three adopted American teenage girls discover that they are blood-related cousins. Their online meeting inspires the young women to confront complicated and emotional questions, and embark on a once in a lifetime journey to China together in search of answers, connections, and their lost history.

“The French Dispatch”

dir. Wes Anderson (USA), 2021

This film brings to life a collection of stories from the final issue of an American magazine published in a fictional 20th-century French city. It stars Benicio Del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Christoph Waltz, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, Anjelica Huston.

“The Hand of God”

East Coast Premiere

Dir. Paolo Sorrentino (Italy), 2021

From Academy Award-winning writer and director Paolo Sorrentino comes the story of a boy, Fabietto Schisa, in the tumultuous Naples of the 1980s. The film is a story full of unexpected joys, such as the arrival of football legend Diego Maradona, and an equally unexpected tragedy. Fate plays its part, joy and tragedy intertwine, and Fabietto’s future is set in motion. Sorrentino returns to his hometown to tell his most personal story, a tale of fate and family, sports and cinema, love and loss.

“Introducing, Selma Blair”

East Coast Premiere

dir. Rachel Fleit, (USA), 2021

Director Rachel Fleit’s deeply intimate and powerful feature of one woman’s journey of personal acceptance and resilience, the film follows the singular actress as she reckons with the next chapter of her life after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. The film explores complex issues ranging from dissecting deep-rooted myths about beauty to the collective fear around disability and mortality. Complete with her trademark wit and humor, the documentary film follows Blair as she reconciles a journey of monumental transition.

“Jockey”

East Coast Premiere

dir. Clint Bentley (USA), 2021

An aging jockey (Clifton Collins Jr.), hopes to win one last title for his longtime trainer (Molly Parker), who has acquired what appears to be a championship horse. But the years — and injuries — have taken a toll on his body, throwing into question his ability to continue his lifelong passion. And the arrival of a young rookie rider (Moises Arias), who claims to be his son, and whom he takes under his wing, further complicates the path to fulfilling his dream.

“Julia”

dir. Julie Cohen, Betsy West (USA), 2021

This film brings to life the legendary cookbook author and television superstar who changed the way Americans think about food, television, and even women. Using never-before-seen archival footage, personal photos, first-person narratives, and cutting-edge, mouth-watering food cinematography, the film traces Julia Child’s 12-year struggle to create and publish the revolutionary “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” (1961), which has sold more than 2.5 million copies to date, and her rapid ascent to become the country’s most unlikely television star. It’s the empowering story of a woman who found her purpose — and her fame — at 50, and took America along on the whole delicious journey.

“Listening to Kenny G”

New York Premiere

Dir. Penny Lane (USA), 2021

This film is about why some people hate Kenny G’s music, and why so many more people love it. A light-hearted exploration of this conflict raises big questions about taste, genre, and marketing. Along the way we hear from music critics, record executives, radio personalities, market researchers, fans — and of course, the G man himself.

“Mothering Sunday”

U.S. Premiere

dir. Eva Husson (UK), 2021

On a warm spring day in 1924, housemaid and foundling Jane Fairchild (Odessa Young) finds herself alone on Mother’s Day. Her employers, Mr. and Mrs. Niven (Colin Firth and Olivia Colman), are out and she has the rare chance to spend quality time with her secret lover. Paul (Josh O’Connor) is the boy from the manor house nearby and Jane’s long-term love, despite the fact that he’s engaged to be married to another woman, a childhood friend and daughter of his parents’ friends. But events that neither can foresee will change the course of Jane’s life forever.

“Petite Maman”

dir. Céline Sciamma (France), 2021

Nelly has just lost her grandmother and is helping her parents clean out her mother’s childhood home. She explores the house and the surrounding woods. One day she meets a girl her same age building a treehouse.

“Queen of Glory”

dir. Nana Mensah (USA), 2021

The film follows the story of Sarah Obeng (Mensah), the brilliant child of Ghanaian immigrants, who is quitting her Ivy League PhD program to follow her married lover to Ohio. When her mother dies suddenly, she bequeaths her daughter a Christian bookstore in the Pelham Parkway section of the Bronx where Sarah was raised. A follow-up on the classic immigrant’s tale, “Queen of Glory” provokes laughter and empathy, as its heroine is reborn through her inheritance.

“The Rescue”

dir. E. Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin (USA/UK), 2021

The film chronicles the dramatic 2018 rescue of 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach, trapped deep inside a flooded cave. Academy Award-winning directors and producers E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin reveal the perilous world of cave diving, the bravery of the rescuers, and the dedication of an entire community that made great sacrifices to save these young boys. An outing to explore a nearby system of caves after soccer practice transformed into a two-week saga of survival and a story that would capture the world’s attention. With exclusive access and never-before-seen footage from the rescue, the film tells the story of the imagination, determination and unprecedented teamwork displayed during this heroic, edge-of-your-seat mission with life-or-death stakes.

“The Souvenir Part II”

dir. Joanna Hogg (UK), 2021

In the aftermath of her tumultuous relationship with a charismatic and manipulative older man, Julie begins to untangle her fraught love for him in making her graduation film, sorting fact from his elaborately constructed fiction. Joanna Hogg’s shimmering story of first love and a young woman’s formative years, this film is a portrait of the artist that transcends the halting particulars of everyday life — a singular, alchemic mix of memoir and fantasy.

“The Worst Person in the World”

dir. Joachim Trier (Norway/France/Sweden/Denmark), 2021

This film chronicles four years in the life of Julie, a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.