SPOTLIGHT FILMS

EAST COAST PREMIERE, NARRATIVE FEATURE, USA, 2023, 133 MINUTES, ENGLISH

Academy Award-winning director Alexander Payne (ELECTION, SIDEWAYS) returns to HIFF with the story of a curmudgeonly instructor (Academy Award nominee Paul Giamatti) at a 1970s New England prep school, who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break with the handful of students with nowhere to go. Gradually, he forms an unlikely bond with brainy troublemaker Angus (newcomer Dominic Sessa) and the school’s head cook Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who is grieving her son’s recent death. Brought to life through instantly memorable performances, playfully stylized cinematography and a nostalgic soundtrack, THE HOLDOVERS immerses audiences in a bygone era in this charming holiday story of friendship amongst misanthropes and outcasts.

DIRECTOR: Alexander Payne

The Holdovers

10/7 8:15PM EAST HAMPTON - EHMS

10/8 8:15PM SAG HARBOR - SHC1

I’LL BE RIGHT THERE

SCREENWRITER: David Hemingson

PRODUCERS: Mark Johnson, Bill Block, David Hemingson

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Andrew Golov, Thom Zadra, Chris Stinson

CAST: Paul Giamatti, Da’vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa

WORLD PREMIERE, NARRATIVE FEATURE, USA, 2023, 97 MINUTES, ENGLISH

Emmy Award winner Edie Falco (TheSopranos,NurseJackie) delivers an affecting performance as Wanda, a woman who barely has time for herself, not that she would know what to do with it anyway. Her very pregnant daughter (Kayli Carter, HIFF 2018 Breakthrough Artist) wants a wedding, which her ex-husband (Emmy Award winner Bradley Whitford) is flaking on paying for. Her mother (Jeannie Berlin) thinks she’s dying. Her son (Charlie Tahan, Ozark) is going into either rehab or the army. And her boyfriend (Michael Rapaport) doesn’t excite her, but does her new girlfriend (Sepideh Moafi)? I’LL BE RIGHT THERE is a heartfelt comedy about a family falling apart and one mother’s role in bringing it all together.

DIRECTOR: Brendan Walsh

SCREENWRITER: Jim Beggarly

PRODUCERS: Bradley Ross, Peter Block, Cory Neal, Ross Meyerson, Julie Tucker, Brendan Walsh

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Edie Falco, Jesse Eisenberg

CAST: Edie Falco, Jeannie Berlin, Bradley Whitford, Kayli Carter, Charlie Tahan, Michael Rapaport, Sepideh Moafi

NARRATIVE FEATURE, USA, 2023, 117 MINUTES, ENGLISH

Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe (23 years her junior) brace themselves for their twins’ high school graduation. When actress Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) comes to spend time with the family to better understand Gracie—whom she will be playing in a film—family dynamics begin to unravel. Joe (Charles Melton) gradually confronts the reality of what happened in his youth, and as the two women study each other, their similarities and differences begin to ebb and flow. Academy Awardnominated director Todd Haynes crafts an exploration of truth, storytelling and the challenges of fully understanding another person. A Netflix release.

DIRECTOR: Todd Haynes

SCREENWRITER: Samy Burch

PRODUCERS: Natalie Portman, Sophie Mas, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon, Grant S. Johnson, Tyler W. Konney, Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell

May December

10/8 5PM EAST HAMPTON - EHMS

10/9 8PM EAST HAMPTON - UA2

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Madeleine K. Rudin, Thomas K. Richards, Lee Broda, Jeff Rice, Jonathan Montepare, Samy Burch, Alex Brown, Thorsten Schumacher, Claire Taylor

CAST: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton