Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film Festival To Present “All Docs, All Day”

From Thursday, December 1st through Sunday, December 4th expect “all docs, all day” at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor during the 9th annual Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film Festival (HT2FF).

“There’s something for every documentary film lover in this year’s line-up,” noted HT2FF founder and executive director Jacqui Lofaro. “There’s a film about Hamptons artists, visionary architect Eero Saarinen, African-American writer Maya Angelou, New York City’s Symphony Space co-founder Isaiah Sheffer, R&B songwriter Bert Berns, the extraordinary New York Times obit writers, perfect 10 gymnast Nadia Comaneci, an American beauty pageant winner, Israeli cuisine, saving Jamaica Bay, saving Martha’s Vineyard, the militarization of American policing, an exposé of America’s nuclear arsenal, an inspiring story of a boy with autism, one about animal rights, and one about cyberwar.”

The Festival will debut on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. with a special Young Voices Program featuring Next Medal and Brendan Gallagher: Always a General that is open to participating middle and high schools. Additional screenings will include Lorenzo DeStefano’s Hearing Is Believing at 2 p.m., David Sigal’s Saving Jamaica Bay at 4:15 p.m., Susan Steinberg’s Mirrors to Windows: The Artist as Woman at 6 p.m. and the Opening Night Film – A Moment in Time: Hamptons Artists at 8 p.m. Directed by Lana Jokel, the film features intimate interviews from the 1990’s with notable local artists like John Alexander, April Gornik, Sven Lukin, Nathan Joseph, Li-Lan, Eric Fischl, Elizabeth Strong Cuevas, Donald Sultan, Audrey Flack, Howard Kanovitz, John Chamberlain and Robert Dash. The Opening Night celebration will include a wine reception and Q&A with Jokel and some of the featured artists.

Friday will include screenings of Brett Berns and Bob Sarles’ Bang! The Bert Berns Story at 10 a.m., Anne Newman’s Beauty and the Beer at 12 p.m., Craig Atkinson’s Do Not Resist at 2:15 p.m., Robyn Symon’s Uncle Gloria: One Helluva Ride! at 4 p.m., and a tribute to American Masters 30th anniversary, which will begin with a screening of Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw the Future at 6 p.m. Director Peter Rosen will take part in a Q&A following the film. Susan Lacy, who launched the PBS series in 1986 and served as executive producer until 2014, and current executive producer Michael Kantor will be honored during a Tribute Awards that begins at 8 p.m. and a screening of Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise will follow at 8:30 p.m. Filmmakers Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack will take part in a Q&A after the film.

Saturday documentaries will feature Antonella Carrasco Zuffi’s Pele, My Paradise at 11 a.m., followed by Art & Heart, the World of Isaiah Sheffer, directed by Catherine Tambini, which was honored with this year’s HT2FF Filmmakers’ Choice Award, Vanessa Gould’s Obit at 1 p.m., Amy Nicholson’s Pickle at 3 p.m., followed by Pola Rapaport’s Nadia Comaneci: The Gymnast and the Dictator, and Roger Ross Williams’ Life, Animated at 5 p.m. HT2FF will pay tribute to filmmaker Alex Gibney during a Gala where he will be honored with the Career Achievement Award. The celebration will begin at 7 p.m. with a cocktail buffet reception. A screening of Gibney’s latest film, Zero Days, will screen at 8:30 p.m.

The Festival’s final day will highlight Thomas Bena’s One Big Home at 11 a.m., Roger Sherman’s In Search of Israeli Cuisine at 1 p.m., Aaron Brookner’s Uncle Howard at 3:30 p.m., Robert Kenner’s Command and Control at 5:30 p.m. This year’s Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film Festival will culminate with Unlocking the Cage – the Closing Night Film. Directed by Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker, the documentary revolves around animal rights lawyer Steven Wise’s effort to win cognitively complex animals, like chimpanzees, some limited personhood rights to defend the animals from physical abuse. The film will screen at 7:30 p.m. and the event will include a Q&A with Hegedus, Pennebaker and attorney Liddy Stein.

Tickets to film screenings are $15.

Bay Street is located at 1 Bay Street in Sag Harbor. For more information, call 631-237-8055 or visit www.ht2ff.com.