HamptonsFilm Announces 2023 SummerDoc Series

The HamptonsFilm SummerDocs series returns for its fifteenth year to present engaging and socially relevant documentary films from the industry’s most brilliant  storytellers. The series will kick off with a screening of MTV Documentary Films’ THE ETERNAL MEMORY, directed by Maite Alberdi, winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, on Friday, June 16th at 7:00pm; followed by Netflix’s THE DEEPEST BREATH, directed by Laura McGann, on Saturday, July 8th at 7:00pm; and concluding with a third film on Saturday, July 22nd at 7:00pm to be announced in the coming weeks. All screenings will be held at the Regal UA East Hampton Cinema.

HamptonsFilm Artistic Director David Nugent will also lead conversations with attending filmmakers and subjects, including film subject Paulina Urrutia for THE ETERNAL MEMORY; director Laura McGann for THE DEEPEST BREATH; and others to be announced.

The 15th anniversary season of the SummerDocs series includes a diverse selection of remarkable documentaries: THE ETERNAL MEMORY, which tells the uplifting yet heartbreaking love story of Augusto Góngora and Paulina Urrutia, balancing vibrant individual and collective remembrance with the longevity of an unbreakable human bond, in partnership with The Purist; and THE DEEPEST BREATH, which follows champion freediver Alessia Zecchini and expert safety diver Stephen Keenan, who seemed destined for one another despite the different paths they took to meet at the pinnacle of the freediving world.

“As we look ahead to summer, we are excited to share the robust and diverse slate of documentaries showcased at the landmark 15th annual edition of the SummerDocs Series,” said HamptonsFilm Artistic Director, David Nugent. “It is truly one of the highlights of HamptonsFilm’s year-round programming as we continue to bring topical issues to our audiences.”

New York has established itself as the premier home for documentary filmmakers, creating a community of artists from all backgrounds that share and honor compelling, challenging stories year after year. To commemorate the fifteenth annual HamptonsFilm SummerDocs Series and to celebrate the incredible critical success of the films featured each summer, HamptonsFilm will bring back their SummerDocs Audience Award. Voted on by the film-loving community out East, this award will recognize one of this year’s strongest documentaries highlighted within their programming.

“We have a rich history of showing award-winning projects as part of the SummerDocs series, and it is a privilege to recognize the work of documentary filmmakers as we have over 15 summers,” said HamptonsFilm Executive Director Anne Chaisson. “Further involving our documentary-loving community in awarding one of these filmmakers with an additional honor shines a light on the issues and challenges these films bring to all of our attention.”

Many past SummerDocs Series selections have gone on to be shortlisted, be nominated and even win an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature Film, including NAVALNY (2023), FIRE OF LOVE (2023), SUMMER OF SOUL (2021), ICARUS (2017), TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM (2013), SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN (2012), and THE COVE (2009). The series has also featured films from filmmakers including Sara Dosa, Fisher Stevens, Rory Kennedy, Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, Davis Guggenheim, Andrew Rossi, Chiemi Karasawa, Jesse Moss, Morgan Neville, Marina Zenovich, Louie Psihoyos, and Steve James.

Tickets for the 2023 SummerDocs Series individual screenings will be sold for $35 and are available for purchase at the HamptonsFilm website.