Here’s the release from HIFF.

The 29th Hamptons International Film Festival, presented by HamptonsFilm, today announced their award winners at a ceremony in East Hampton. This year HIFF screened 61 films from 34 countries, with five (5) World premieres, two (2) North American premieres, and two (5) U.S. premieres. We are very proud to report that 53% of this year’s films were directed by women, and 36% were directed by filmmakers of color.

MURINA, directed by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović, won the Award for Best Narrative Feature. ASCENSION “登楼叹”, directed by Jessica Kingdon, received the Award for Best Documentary Feature. EGÚNGÚN (MASQUERADE), directed by Olive Nwosu, received the Award for Best Narrative Short Film, and IN FLOW OF WORDS, directed by Eliane Esther Bots, won for Best Documentary Short Film. Both Short Films will qualify for Academy® awards consideration.

In addition, Franz Rogowski received a Special Jury Prize for Exceptional Performances for his work in GREAT FREEDOM “GROSSE FREIHEIT.”

BAD OMEN, directed by Salar Pashtoonyar, was awarded the 2021 The Peter Macgregor-Scott Memorial Award. The award, which is accompanied by a $10,000 cash prize, aims to continue the celebrated producer’s mentorship for a new generation of passionate filmmakers. Sponsored by Susan Macgregor-Scott, this award is specifically designed to recognize narrative short filmmakers and reward creative approaches to solving practical production challenges in the service of storytelling.

PAPER & GLUE, A JR Project, was awarded the 2021 Brizzolara Family Foundation Award to Films of Conflict and Resolution, which is accompanied by a $5,000 cash prize.

PAPER & GLUE was also presented with the Victor Rabinowitz & Joanne Grant Award for Social Justice. The annual award is handed to a film that exemplifies the values of peace, equality, global justice and civil liberties, and is named after iconic civil rights lawyer Victor Rabinowitz and his wife Joanne Grant, an author, filmmaker and journalist. The award, which is accompanied by a cash prize of $2,000, is named in honor of two people who spent their entire lives fighting for those values.

GOOD GRIEF, directed by Nastasya Popov, was awarded the Suffolk County Next Exposure Grant. This program supports the completion of high quality, original, director-driven, low-budget independent films from both emerging and established filmmakers who have completed 50% of principal photography within Suffolk County. The film was awarded a $3,000 grant.

COW, directed by Andrea Arnold, was awarded the Zelda Penzel Giving Voice to the Voiceless Award. This award is presented to a film that raises public awareness about contemporary social issues, including the moral and ethical treatment and the rights of animals as well as environmental protection. The film was awarded $2,500.

QUEEN OF GLORY, directed by Nana Mensah and INTRODUCING, SELMA BLAIR, directed by Rachel Fleit were awarded the New York Women in Film & Television Awards. These two awards honor outstanding female narrative and documentary filmmakers who have demonstrated exceptional artistic vision and dedication to their craft. Each award is accompanied by a $1,000 cash prize.

The festival also announced the recipients of the University Short Film Awards, highlighting the extraordinary talent and achievements of five exceptional students. Each will receive a $500 cash prize. Awardees include BAD OMEN, directed by Salar Pashtoonyar (York University), BUZZKILL, directed by Kathy E. Mitrani (Columbia University), NEURIM, directed by Shaylee Atary (Steve Tisch School of Film & Television, Tel Aviv University), UN DIABLE DANS LA POCHE, directed by Antoine Bonnet and Mathilde Loubes (GOBELINS, l’école de l’Image), and WAVELENGTHS, directed by Jessie Zinn (Stanford University).

This year’s narrative competition jury was comprised of producer Sam Bisbee, whose work includes the Emmy Award-winning documentary THE SENTENCE, as well as THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS, HEARTS BEAT LOUD, and FAREWELL AMOR, among others; screenwriter Bill Collage, best known for his work on ASSASSIN’S CREED and THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT; and Entertainment Weekly’s Critic at Large Leah Greenblatt.

The documentary competition jury included co-founder of Chicken & Egg Pictures Wendy Ettinger, whose production company has awarded $8 million in grants and thousands of hours of creative mentorship to over 340 female nonfiction filmmakers; Senior Curator for Staff Picks at Vimeo Ina Pira; and filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun, whose most recent project WE’RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD’S FAIR debuted in the NEXT section at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.

This year the Festival was honored to partner with the New York Film Critics Circle for the thirteenth year.

“Being able to once again experience the power of cinema on a big screen with audiences was incredible and something that was dearly missed within our community,” said David Nugent, HamptonsFilm Artistic Director. “We are so thankful to all of the filmmakers and artists who allowed us to showcase their films.”

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring everyone safely back together this year. It so clearly remains that our community out East loves cinema and we are so glad to be able to share such an incredible slate of films with them,” said Anne Chaisson, HamptonsFilm Executive Director. “We are so thankful to all of the staff, volunteers, sponsors and most of all to the audiences for their continued support. Next up, our 30th anniversary!”

Attendees of the 2021 festival included Don Argott, Alec Baldwin, Bob Balaban, Michael Barker, Susan Bedusa, Clint Bentley, Selma Blair, Dan Cogan, Julie Cohen, Clifton Collins, Jr., Kelcey Edwards, Rachel Fleit, Liz Garbus, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Matt Heineman, Sheena M. Joyce, Penny Lane, Amanda Lipitz, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Josh O’Connor, Nancy Schafer, Doug Tirola, E. Chai Vasarhelyi, Ari Wegner, Betsy West, Debi Wisch, Joe Wright, Odessa Young and more.

The festival has awarded prizes to filmmakers in cash and goods and services of over $130,000 each year, with over $5 million awarded in competition funds and services over the past 29 years.

HIFF thanks the supporters for this year’s festival, including corporate sponsors Audi, Netflix, Chantecaille, KORE Private Wealth, Silvercup Studios, Press Seltzer, and official media sponsors WNBC, Variety, The Purist Magazine, and The East Hampton Star. HamptonsFilm is grateful for the long-term support from New York State Council on the Arts and Suffolk County. For more information please visit www.hamptonsfilmfest.org.

You remember the Winkelvoss twins: they claimed also to be founders of Facebook and sued Mark Zuckerberg back in the day. Their settlement with him was a measly $65 million. They were played by Armie Hammer in “The Social Network.” They started the website Guest of a Guest and a couple of financial companies. They are reported to be crypto currency billionaires.

The Winkelvi, as they are known, are also rowers. They are big, big fellas, and took up rowing as teens. They rowed at Harvard, started and bought teams, and even participated in the Olympics (they took sixth place in the men’s pairs rowing event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics).

Now it turns out they have paid for — i.e. “executive produced” — a movie about rowing called “Heart of Champions.” This is not grammatically correct. You could have Hearts of Champions, all plural. or Heart of a (singular) Champion. But many hearts of one champion suggest science fiction.

Just sayin’…

They hired a very good director, Michael Mailer, who got a real movie actor, Michael Shannon, to play the coach of their fictional rowing team. There’s a trailer that’s just appeared and looks good. The cinematography seems like it was top notch. The screenplay does not:  Shannon’s dialogue in it is so cliched that the very low level Vertical Entertainment is releasing the film on October 29th. It will go straight to video. And airplanes.

So far there is no listing for “Heart of a Champion” on the imdb. Most people will never know about it, but now the Winklevi can call themselves movie producers.

There’s nothing wrong with vanity movies, by the way. I always remember the one Greg Kinnear was in about the invention of timed windshield wipers. I just got new wipers at Valvoline and thought about that movie. So you see, films do make a difference even if no one wants them!

PS I learned about Mailer’s involvement in this thanks to Richard Johnson’s new Sunday column in the New York Daily News. I wish the News would highlight that column instead of hiding it!

“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” is a film fan’s dream come true: a charming, fun and mightily enjoyable time at the movies. This is because director Jason Reitman, son of original director Ivan Reitman, chose the path of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.’

In the new movie, the late Harold Ramis’s Egon Spengler, the famed Ghostbuster, has a daughter named Callie played by Carrie Coons. Dad left her a dilapidated house in the middle of nowhere called Summerville, Oklahoma. Reluctantly she moves there with her kids Trevor (Finn Wolfhard from “Stranger Things”) and Phoebe (McKenna Grace). Phoebe is a 12-year-old scientific genius, while her brother aches to fit in to any group he can. Phoebe is in summer school; the school still uses VHS’s to give you a clue to how un-hip this town is. Her teacher (the always appealing Paul Rudd) quickly realizes how wise and smart Phoebe is. Phoebe literally stumbles onto Granddad’s true identity and calling, to save the world from this supernatural threat of evil ghosts.

From there the plot unfolds, and critics have been asked not to reveal any spoilers. Suffice to say that the actors are all absolutely off the charts engaging and appealing, and boy do they have the comic beats down to a ‘science’! McKenna Grace is the beating heart of this film, and wow is she good. Her Phoebe is rebellious, smart, funny and a truthteller.

Reitman directs all his actors from a clever script he co-wrote with Gil Kenan, pitch perfectly. Kudos to Reitman for making a sequel with sincere movie love and respect, paying tribute to the themes and characters that make it so beloved and iconic. Remember the disaster that was the 2016 reboot? Not so easy, but Reitman more than succeeds. Now this generation has its own “Ghostbusters,” and a worthy tribute it is to its classic predecessor. “Afterlife” will have film nerds jumping for joy and newcomers delighted.

PS With “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and “Spider Man: No Way Home,” Sony’s going to have an excellent season. No Oscars, but that’s what Sony Pictures Classics is for.

Daniel Craig’s final “James Bond” movie didn’t bring audiences back to movie theaters in droves.

I knew this was happened last week. The advance sales for “No Time to Die” weren’t very encouraging. You could see it on the maps of movie theater seats. IMAX looked pretty full for the first couple of days but regular theaters in 2D were mostly empty.

The fact is, people are not comfortable going to theaters. Masks are one problem. But audiences are also used to staying home now, watching movies on the TV screens, not paying for baby sitters and expensive popcorn. These are issues not going away fast.

“No Time to Die” took in just over $56 million. It runs long, three hours, so there are fewer shows per day. Cineplexes are making up for this by showing it on many screens since they don’t have that many new releases. But next Friday they’re going to cut back to a normal number of showings, and “No Time to Die” will slow down.

PS The release of the film didn’t do anything to revive the theme song by Billie Eilish. Originally released in February 2020 and not much of a hit, the languid record sold just 6,100 copies last week all streaming, almost no downloads. The producers should have replaced it during the hiatus or asked for a livelier remix.

The opening night film is tough, warned a programmer at the beloved Hamptons International Film Festival, in person once again after the pandemic shutdown last year. “The First Wave” is directed by Matthew Heinemann, the documentary filmmaker who was embedded with Mexico’s cartels in his edgy doc, “Cartel Land,” so  of course it is tough. If you can insinuate yourself with murderous drug traffickers, might the hospital wards overwhelmed by COVID be a good subject? But here’s the unexpected: “The First Wave” covers a tough subject with enormous heart.

Ahmed, a police officer overweight and diabetic oozes pus on a hospital bed. A nurse, Kelly, knows he’s a family guy with young kids; she’s determined to help him make it through. He does not look so good, going in and out of ventilators. Not a good sign. We check in on him as he strains to have face time calls with his wife, Alexis, and their children.

Other families come into view: one is a woman who just gave birth now fighting for her life. You know these stories and hundreds like them. Here’s what makes you cheer: Karl, a hospital physical therapist who jokes Ahmed into his routines. Hospital workers clapping as survivors make their way out into the world and the arms of loved ones. The woman reunited with her new born.

Mix in, the convergence with Black Lives Matter after the murder of George Floyd, not a casual coincidence. We all know that the worst hit are Blacks. As New York  emerges as the most deadly locale, Andrew Cuomo surfaces as a hero, pulling everyone through, at least in this film’s insider view of the first four months. (Cuomo’s next acts will turn out to be quite different.)

Onstage for a post-screening Q&A, Ahmed gets a bear hug from Alec Baldwin who states he should be in every movie.

At SiSi, a re-creation of East Hampton Point, owned by the great Jerry Della Femina, was the site of a big after-bash. Della Femina and his wife, Judy Licht, were on hand greeting festival guests and filmmakers. Heinemann told me the  hardest part of making this film was knowing he and his crew were putting themselves at risk, possibly bringing COVID home to their families. Kelly tells me she’s expecting her third daughter, back at work, of course. And with a huge grin of pride, Ahmed tells me he’s back on his South Brooklyn beat.

There’s been a lot of festival talk about Kristen Stewart playing Princess Diana in “Spencer.” The push is on for an Oscar nomination, which she’ll probably get thanks to a small field and aggressive campaigning. But it’s a performance lost in a horror, and horrible film.

Pablo Lorrain also made “Jackie” with Natalie Portman’s pill box hat recreation of the Kennedy widow. These are similar movies, fables that have little to do with any reality and minimize the protagonist’s actual life into some perverse version of itself.

“Spencer,” which played at the Hamptons Film Festival last night, is as unenjoyable a movie as you can imagine. If you want something hewing closer to historically accurate and brightly made, stick to “The Crown.” “Spencer” is a horror film, something along the lines of “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” It runs the gamut from insane to inane.

The only redeeming feature is Stewart herself. It’s a very astute performance that shows her range. She is absorbed into Princess Diana fully, the accent, the posture, little movements, something flickering behind the eyes. Stewart’s Diana is looking around desperately for a movie she can part of.

But this “fable” or whatever it’s supposed to be is highly ludicrous. It’s Diana at Christmas trapped at Sandringham with the Windsors. The children are her only friends aside from a dresser, played by Sally Hawkins, who declares herself to be in love with the princess. There’s also a major who runs the house played by Timothy Spall as if he’s been embalmed and placed back in service.

Otherwise this could be Diana in “Get Out.” She has no relationships and is depicted as going mad. having hallucinations of Anne Boleyn, the beheaded wife of Henry the Eighth. (His portrait looms over the household.) Camilla Parker Bowles, of course, is hanging around. Diana is obsessed with a string of pearls the size of malted milk balls that Charles has given each to his wife and mistress. She’s also bent over a toilet, regurgitating, and cutting herself with wire clippers causing a bloody gash in her arm.

But this is all just a sadistic caricature of the real Diana, currently being tortured on Netflix, as well, in the looming Broadway disaster. If all these content creators were actually sympathetic to Diana we might have gotten different results. But this movie and the Broadway show only to serve to make her seem crazy and stupid, two things I don’t think she was. They get nothing of her wily instinct to survive and thrive outside the royals.

“Spencer” really has the earmarks of a festival film that’s taken critics hostage in isolated environments. When it hits the open air of a real audience, as it did last night, it will die more violently than poor Diana. Kristen Stewart may have her Oscar nomination, but that’s as far as she’ll get I think.