This summer, the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center is pleased to announce its continuation of The Finest in World Cinema program. Every Tuesday and Wednesday night from June 7 to August 31, the WHBPAC will present a carefully curated program of first run, independent and foreign films for the enjoyment, edification, and enrichment of the community.
Beginning on June 7, Andrew Botsford of Quogue will once again introduce our summer films each Tuesday night and discuss them afterward, often with guest commentators, followed by an informal audience discussion.
Most recently a visiting professor and communications consultant for the graduate arts program at Stony Brook Southampton, Andrew was for 20 years the associate editor of The Southampton Press and editor of its Arts & Living section. He has written extensively about film, theatre, and the arts. The host of the annual Hamptons Doc Fest in Sag Harbor, he has been an actor, director and producer with the Hampton Theatre Company in Quogue since 1985.
This is Andrew’s 16th year of hosting the WHBPAC summer film series.
DONBASS
June 7 & 8 @ 7:30pm
Directed by Sergei Loznitsa
In the Donbass region of Eastern Ukraine, mid-2010s: a hybrid war takes place, involving an open armed conflict alongside killings and robberies on a mass scale perpetrated by Russian-separatist gangs. In the Donbass, war is called peace, propaganda is uttered as truth, and hatred is declared to be love. Life is suffused with fear and suspicion. What is real and what is fake news? Called “a darkly satirical omnibus of scathing vignettes” by the Washington Post, DONBASS serves as a crucial interpretation of the Russo-Ukrainian war, but the film is not, ultimately, a tale of one region or one conflict. It is about a world lost in post-truth and fake identities. It is about each and every one of us. “There is no other antiwar film quite like DONBASS” (Los Angeles Times).
122 Minutes | Russian, Ukrainian, English | Not Rated
BENEDICTION
June 14 & 15 @ 7:30pm
Directed by Terence Davies
Decorated for bravery during World War I, British soldier Siegfried Sassoon returns from service and becomes a vocal critic of the government’s continuation of the war. Adored by the aristocracy and the stars of London’s literary and stage world, Sassoon’s experiences inspire him to write poetry about the horrors of battle.
137 minutes | English | PG-13
LOST ILLUSIONS
June 21 & 22 @ 7:30pm
Directed by Xavier Giannoli
In 1821, Lucien de Rubempré (César winner Benjamin Voisin) arrives in Paris as a sensitive, and idealistic young poet determined to write a reputation-making novel. Instead, he finds himself swept into journalism, whose influence and reach is booming with the help of the printing press, widely available of late. Under the mentorship of cynical editor Étienne Lousteau (César winner Vincent Lacoste), Lucien agrees to write rave theater reviews for bribes, achieving material success at the expense of his conscience. With this sweeping adaptation of one of Balzac’s greatest novels, Xavier Giannoli crafts a contemporary tale of corruption amidst an early form of “fake news”.
149 minutes | French | NR
THE ART OF MAKING IT
July 5 & 6 @ 7:30pm
Directed by Kelcey Edwards
With special appearance by the director on July 5!
Follow a diverse group of young artists on the brink of success or failure as they challenge systems, break barriers, and risk it all with the goal of making it in an industry where all the rules are currently being rewritten.
THE PEZ OUTLAW
July 12 & 13 @ 7:30pm
Directed by Amy Storkel & Bryan Storkel
The story of Steve Glew, a Midwestern machinist who smuggles rare Pez dispensers from Europe and sells them for thousands, drawing the ire of both U.S. Pez and rival collectors.
87 minutes | English | NR
QUEEN OF GLORY
July 19 & 20 @ 7:30pm
Directed by Nana Mensah
Ghanaian-American Sarah is all set to abandon her Ivy League doctoral program to follow her married lover across the country. Her plans are derailed, however when her mother’s sudden death leaves her the owner of a neighborhood bookshop in the Bronx.
78 Minutes | English | Not Rated
OFFICIAL COMPETITION
July 26 & 27 @ 7:30pm
Directed by Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn
Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas star as two egomaniacs commissioned by a millionaire to make a movie together in this sharp comedy skewering wealth, art, and pride.
115 mins | Spanish | R
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN
August 2 & 3 @ 7:30pm
Directed by Craig Roberts
Amateur golfer Maurice Flitcroft achieves his late-in-life goal of participating in the British Open Golf Championship, much to the ire of the staid golfing community.
132 mins | English | PG-13
BUTTERFLY IN THE SKY
August 9 & 10 @ 7:30pm
Directed by Bradford Thomason & Brett Whitcomb
A new feature-length documentary chronicling the legacy of one of the most important and influential children’s television shows of all time, Reading Rainbow. Spanning nearly 40 years from 1981 to the present, the film tells the story of a handful of broadcasters, educators, filmmakers, and one incredible host – LeVar Burton – who believed television could inspire a lifelong love of reading. A selection at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.
87 minutes | English | NR
BEBA
August 23 & 24 @ 7:30pm
Directed by Rebeca Huntt
First-time feature filmmaker Rebeca “Beba” Huntt undertakes an unflinching exploration of her own identity in the remarkable coming-of-age documentary/cinematic memoir BEBA. Reflecting on her childhood and adolescence in New York City as the daughter of a Dominican father and Venezuelan mother, Huntt investigates the historical, societal, and generational trauma she’s inherited and ponders how those ancient wounds have shaped her, while simultaneously considering the universal truths that connect us all as humans.
Throughout BEBA, Huntt searches for a way to forge her own creative path amid a landscape of intense racial and political unrest. Poetic, powerful and profound, BEBA is a courageous, deeply human self-portrait of an Afro-Latina artist hungry for knowledge and yearning for connection.
79 minutes | English | R
HALLELUJAH: LEONARD COHEN, A JOURNEY, A SONG
August 30 & 31 @ 7:30pm
Directed by Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine
HALLELUJAH: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song is a definitive exploration of singer songwriter Leonard Cohen as seen through the prism of his internationally renowned hymn, “Hallelujah.” This feature-length documentary weaves together three creative strands: The songwriter and his times; the song’s dramatic journey from record label reject to chart-topping hit; and moving testimonies from major recording artists for whom “Hallelujah” has become a personal touchstone. Approved for production by Leonard Cohen just before his 80th birthday in 2014, the film accesses a wealth of never-before-seen archival materials from the Cohen Trust including Cohen’s personal notebooks, journals and photographs, performance footage, and extremely rare audio recordings and interviews. Featuring Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, John Cale, Brandi Carlile, Eric Church, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Glen Hansard, Sharon Robinson, Rufus Wainwright, and many others, this film was a selection at Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, and Tribeca Film Festival.
115 minutes | English | PG-13
For more info, visit www.whbpac.org
