Hamptons-Based Performing Arts Center Screening Oscar Submissions

Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center’s (WHBPAC) Rose and Don Ciampa World Cinema is highlighting submissions for the Academy Award’s Best Foreign Film category from Japan, Sudan, and Latvia, and more.

“We hope people watch these submissions and then tune into the Academy Awards to see who won,” WHBPAC Marketing Director Heather Draskin said.

Current WHBPAC’s virtual cinema features include Latvia’s Blizzard of Souls, Japan’s True Mothers, Switzerland’s My Little Sister, Sudan’s You Will Die at Twenty, Ukraine’s Atlantis, and the US’s Some Kind of Heaven and My Rembrandt.

Adapted from the book by Aleksandrs Grins, Blizzard of Souls delves into Grins’ experiences during WWI in a Latvian battalion. The film, which is the greatest box office success in Latvia in the past 30 years, is available to screen through Monday, February 8.

My Little Sister follows Lisa, a talented playwright that gave up on her passion, who lives in Switzerland with her husband. After her twin brother is diagnosed with an aggressive type of leukaemia, she returns to Berlin where her desire to be creative is once again ignited. My Little Sister can be seen through Monday, February 15.

You Will Die at Twenty is a “coming-of-death” fable. During Muzamil’s naming ceremony, a Sheikh predicts he will die at the age of 20. This prophecy causes his mother Sakina to become overly protective. But as Muzamil grows up, he questions that horrific destiny. The film will be on view through Monday, February 22.

True Mothers tells the story of Satoko and her husband, who decide to adopt after a lengthy fertility struggle. After the family and their young son Asato settle into their new life, Hikari, a young woman insisting she is Asato’s biological mother, shatters life as they know it. True Mothers can be seen through Sunday, February 28.

Atlantis is a sci-fi drama set in a post-apocalyptic Eastern Ukraine, 2025. Sergiy, a former soldier suffering from PTSD, befriends Katya, a young volunteer on a humanitarian mission. Atlantis will be on view through Monday, March 1.

Filmmaker Lance Oppenheim’s Some Kind of Heaven explores The Villages – America’s largest retirement community. The film is available to screen through Monday, February 15.

More than 350 years after his death, My Rembrandt delves into the art world and the select few that own a coveted Rembrandt painting. The documentary is on view through Monday, February 22.

The Hamptons-based Performing Arts Center also recently debuted a brand new interactive series, Watch with WHBPAC. “We are really excited for Watch with WHBPAC series. We have been missing the person-to-person connection of live events, and this is a way to engage moviegoers with something they won’t see anywhere else,” said Draskin.

Watch with WHBPAC features Fast Color on February 2, Stuffed on February 16, Generation Wealth on March 2, Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present on March 16, and A Suitable Girl on March 30. Viewings begin at 8:00 p.m.

While the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center’s doors remain closed, WHBPAC has remained committed to presenting a variety of performing arts to the East End and beyond through both virtual programming and drive-in events. “We have never stopped,” noted WHBPAC Executive Director Julienne Penza-Boone. “We have to continue to be inspirational to the community in every way we can.”

For more information, visit whbpac.org.