HIFF SummerDocs Returns for 10th Year of Engaging Films

The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) SummerDocs series returns for its 10th year with three film screenings at Guild Hall in East Hampton (158 Main Street) starting next month.

HIFF’s 2018 series, which aims to present “entertaining and engaging documentary filmmaking and revolutionary storytellers” to the East End, kicks off with a screening of HBO’s Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind on Friday, June 29 at 7 p.m.

The series continues with Bathtubs Over Broadway on Saturday, July 21, at 7 p.m. and concludes with Chef Flynn (pictured above) on Saturday, August 25, at 7 p.m.

Scroll down for more info on each of the three documentary films.

Following the screenings, HIFF co-chairman Alec Baldwin and HIFF Artistic Director David Nugent will lead conversations with filmmakers and subjects, including Marina Zenovich, director of Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind; Dava Whisenant, director of Bathtubs Over Broadway; and Cameron Yates, director of Chef Flynn, along with the film’s subject, celebrated chef Flynn McGarry.

“We are excited to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our SummerDocs series with three dynamic films covering a variety of topics, including a legendary actor, forgotten Broadway musicals and a culinary prodigy,” Baldwin says. “Over the last decade we have captivated audiences with some of the most incredible storytelling and know that our 10th anniversary continues that tradition.”

“Between our SummerDocs program and the outdoor Summer of Spielberg program at the Southampton Arts Center, our audiences will have much to choose from in the run up to our 26th edition,” Nugent adds.

Past SummerDocs selections—such as Icarus (2017), Twenty Feet from Stardom (2013), Last Days of Vietnam (2014), The Cove (2009), Searching for Sugar Man (2012) and How to Survive a Plague (2012)—have gone on to earn Oscars and Academy Award nominations.

Tickets for the screenings are available at hamptonsfilmfest.org.

Full Lineup of 2018 Summer Docs

Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind
Friday, June 29 at 7 p.m. at Guild Hall
A funny, intimate and heartbreaking portrait of one of the world’s most beloved and inventive comedians, this film takes us through his extraordinary life and career and reveals what drove him to give voice to the characters in his mind. Told largely by Williams himself, with a wealth of never-before-seen footage, and informed by in-depth interviews with those who loved and knew him, the film features Billy Crystal, Eric Idle, Whoopi Goldberg, David Letterman, Steve Martin, Pam Dawber, Zak Williams and many others. Directed by Marina Zenovich. Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind will premiere on HBO on Monday, July 16.

Bathtubs Over Broadway
Saturday, July 21 at 7 p.m. at Guild Hall
When he started as a comedy writer for The Late Show with David Letterman, Steve Young had few interests outside of his day job. But while gathering material for a segment on the show, Steve stumbled onto a few vintage record albums that would change his life forever. Bizarre cast recordings—marked “internal use only”—revealed full-throated Broadway-style musical shows about some of the most recognizable corporations in America: General Electric, McDonald’s, Ford, DuPont, Xerox. Steve didn’t know much about musical theater, but these recordings delighted him in a way that nothing ever had. Bathtubs Over Broadway follows Young on his quest to find all he can about this hidden world. While tracking down rare albums, unseen footage, composers and performers, Young forms unlikely friendships and discovers how this discarded musical genre starring tractors and bathtubs was bigger than Broadway. With David Letterman, Chita Rivera, Martin Short, Florence Henderson, Susan Stroman, Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra and more.

Chef Flynn
Saturday, August 25 at 7 p.m. at Guild Hall
While many of young Flynn McGarry’s peers were playing video games, he was creating remarkable gastronomic delights far beyond his years at his home in Studio City, California. Flynn’s family encouraged him to pursue his creative passion, and his unique journey was thoroughly documented by his artist mother. He loved to prepare elaborate dinners for friends and family and soon became known as the “Teen Chef,” establishing his own supper club at age 12 and being featured in a New York Times Magazine cover story at age 15. Before he was 16, he had staged in top restaurants in Los Angeles, New York and Europe. Trying to stay focused on his dream, Flynn had to weather the critics who challenged his rapid ascent in the culinary world. With access to a trove of personal archival footage and including new, intimate vérité footage, director Cameron Yates creates a collage of Flynn’s singular focus and distinctive path through childhood. Chef Flynn shares a rare view of a young man’s successful rise from the inside.