The East Coast premiere of Oliver Hermanus's film "Living" will open the 30th Hamptons International Film Festival on Oct. 7. HamptonsFilm has also disclosed that Florian Zeller's "The Son" has been selected as the Centerpiece film, and that Martin McDonagh's "The Banshees of Inisherin" will be a Spotlight selection.
Stephanie Hsu, the star of "Everything Everywhere All at Once" will receive the festival's Breakthrough Artist Award, and Mr. McDonagh will participate in a program of "A Conversation With. . . ."
Adapted by the Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro, "Living," set in London in 1953, stars Bill Nighy as a civil servant buried by paperwork at the office, lonely at home, and beset by feelings of life's emptiness. A shocking medical diagnosis leads him to try to turn his life into something meaningful. An adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's 1952 film "Ikiru," "Living" also stars Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp, and Tom Burke.
"The Son," also having its East Coast premiere, features Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, and Anthony Hopkins. An adaptation of Mr. Zeller's play of the same name, "The Son" tells the story of a troubled teenager (Mr. McGrath) nobody seems to understand, including his father (Mr. Jackman), a successful lawyer. It is a prequel to Mr. Zeller's "The Father," for which Mr. Hopkins won a best actor Academy Award.
Mr. McDonagh, a multiple award-winning director, producer, and screenwriter, will discuss his career in "A Conversation With . . . " on Oct. 9. His previous film, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," won best film and best original screenplay awards from the Golden Globes and the British Academy. Mr. McDonagh also wrote and directed "In Bruges" and "Seven Psychopaths."
"The Banshees of Inisherin" is the story of a conflict that arises between two friends when one of them abruptly ends their relationship. Set in Ireland in 1923, the film stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in what Variety called "lovely, perfectly mismatched performances" in a "quietly magnificent film."
The festival's Breakthrough Artist Award honors emerging talent within the arts, highlighting rising careers and exceptional work on stage and screen. Ms. Hsu is known for what rogerebert.com called her "true breakout performance" in "Everything Everywhere All at Once," as well as her role of Mei in the comedy series "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." Previous winners of the award include Emily Blunt, Brie Larson, Adam Driver, Jessica Chastain, Oscar Isaac, and Elisabeth Moss.
The festival will run from Oct. 7 through Oct. 16. Passes and packages are now on sale. Members pre-sale will begin Sept. 24, and individual tickets will become available to the general public at noon on Sept. 26.
