32nd Hamptons International Film Festival to Close with ‘Nightbitch,’ Plus ‘A Real Pain,’ Host U.S. Premiere of ‘We Live in Time’

HamptonsFilm announced today that the 32nd annual edition of the Hamptons International Film Festival presented by Artemis Rising Foundation will screen Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch as its Closing Night film on Sunday, October 13, with festival programming continuing through Monday, October 14. The festival will also host Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain and the US Premiere of John Crowley’s We Live in Time as Spotlight presentations, sponsored by Audi. The 2024 Hamptons International Film Festival will run as an expanded, eleven-day event from October 4 through October 14.

The 32nd edition of HIFF will present the East Coast Premiere of Searchlight Pictures’ Nightbitch as the Closing Night Film on October 13, sponsored by UBS.  From writer/director Marielle Heller and starring Academy Award nominee Amy Adams and Scoot McNairy, the film follows a woman (Adams) who pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mom when her new domesticity takes a surreal turn.  Heller is scheduled to attend the festival and participate in a post-screening Q&A.

Searchlight Pictures’ A Real Pain, directed by Academy Award nominee Jesse Eisenberg and starring Eisenberg and Emmy Award winner Kieran Culkin, sees mismatched cousins David (Eisenberg) and Benji (Culkin) reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother.  Culkin will attend and participate in a post-screening Q&A. 

A24’s We Live in Time, directed by John Crowley, stars Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh in a decade-spanning, deeply moving romance between Almut (Pugh) and Tobias (Garfield), who are brought together in a surprise encounter that changes their lives. Andrew Garfield is expected to participate in a post-screening Q&A.

Garfield will also sit for an “A Conversation With…” event on Sunday, October 6th.  Garfield is a Tony and Golden Globe Award-winning and Emmy and Academy Award-nominated actor, best known for his roles in The Social Network, Hacksaw Ridge, TICK, TICK… BOOM!, Under the Banner of Heaven, and The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel.  On the stage, Garfield is also noted for his work in revival productions of Death of a Salesman and Angels in America.  Garfield will next star alongside Julia Roberts in Luca Guadagnino’s thriller After the Hunt, as well as in Ben Gregor’s The Magic Faraway Tree, based on the British children’s book series of the same name.

“We feel incredibly fortunate to bring not only some of the most talked-about films of the season to this year’s edition of the festival, but also many of the talented voices at the helm of these projects as well,” said HamptonsFilm Artistic Director David Nugent.  “It is always a treat when we are able to enrich the moviegoing experience for our audiences with these uniquely intimate conversations with artists and filmmakers.”

In addition, HIFF announced the lineup of features for this year’s Views From Long Island Signature Program, focused on local filmmakers, the area’s unique landscapes, and the important social and political issues facing Long Island communities.  Presented with support from the Suffolk County Film Commission, the program will screen the World Premieres of Evan Ari Kelman’s Barron’s Cove, in which a grieving father with a history of violence kidnaps the child responsible for his son’s tragic death,  igniting a frenzied manhunt fueled by a powerful politician— the father of the kidnapped boy; and Sam Pezzullo and Christopher Bouckoms’ The Premiere, a largely improvised comedy following Sam, a painfully narcissistic and delusional theater producer who attempts to make a musical version of his favorite movie, Scream, at a local Sag Harbor theater.  The previously announced Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point will also screen as part of the section.

Passes and packages for the 32nd edition of HIFF will be on sale beginning September 4, 2024, at the HamptonsFilm website.  Additional programming will continue to be announced in the coming weeks.

2024 Hamptons International Film Festival Lineup

CLOSING NIGHT FILM

Sponsored by UBS

NIGHTBITCH

East Coast Premiere

dir. Marielle Heller (USA), 2024

A woman (Amy Adams) pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mom, but soon her new domesticity takes a surreal turn. A Searchlight Pictures release.

SPOTLIGHT FILMS

Sponsored by Audi

A REAL PAIN

dir. Jesse Eisenberg (USA), 2024

Mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history. A Searchlight Pictures release.

WE LIVE IN TIME

US Premiere

dir. John Crowley (UK), 2024

Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield) are brought together in a surprise encounter that changes their lives. Through snapshots of their life together—falling for each other, building a home, becoming a family—a difficult truth is revealed that rocks its foundation. As they embark on a path challenged by the limits of time, they learn to cherish each moment of the unconventional route their love story has taken, in filmmaker John Crowley’s decade-spanning, deeply moving romance. An A24 release.

VIEWS FROM LONG ISLAND

With support from the Suffolk County Film Commission

BARRON’S COVE

World Premiere

dir. Evan Ari Kelman (USA), 2024

The story follows a grieving father (Garrett Hedlund) with a violent past, whose life is shattered by the tragic death of his young son. Consumed with the need for answers, he kidnaps the child (Christian Convery) he believes is responsible for his son’s death, igniting a frenzied manhunt fueled by the kidnapped boy’s powerful politician father (Hamish Linklater).

THE PREMIERE

World Premiere

dirs. Sam Pezzullo, Christopher Bouckoms (USA), 2024

Drawing inspiration from cringe comedy classics, THE PREMIERE is a largely improvised comedy that blurs the line between fact and fiction, taking the audience on a hilarious and unpredictable ride from start to finish. Sam (played by Pezzullo), a painfully narcissistic and delusional theater producer, attempts to make a musical version of his favorite movie, SCREAM, at a local theater in Sag Harbor, New York, encountering a series of awkward and outrageous scenarios along the way. Supported by a cast of quirky characters and real life locals, the film is both a love letter to and a satirical commentary on the Hamptons that breaks the mold of traditional storytelling, described by the filmmakers simply as a mockumentary about a documentary about making a musical about a movie.

CHRISTMAS EVE IN MILLER’S POINT

North American Premiere

dir. Tyler Taormina (USA), 2024

On Christmas Eve, a family gathers for what could be the last holiday in their ancestral home. As the night wears on and generational tensions arise, one of the teenagers sneaks out with her friends to claim the wintry suburb for her own. An IFC Films release.

HIFF thanks this year’s festival sponsors: new Presenting Sponsor Regina K. Scully’s Artemis Rising Foundation; returning sponsors Premiere Sponsor Audi; Signature Sponsors UBS and King & Spalding; official Media Partners WNBC, The Atlantic, The East Hampton Star, The Purist, and Variety; Contributing Sponsors Naturopathica, Silvercup Studios, Netflix,  Assemble Media, and Dragon Hemp; and foundation supporters New York State Council on the Arts and Suffolk County Film Commission.  For more information, visit www.hamptonsfilmfest.org.