Obviously it was a pretty busy weekend, since I didn’t have time to update this blog once. Jarren and I are back on the Jitney, only now we’re headed back to Manhattan so that we can catch a flight back home. My first time attending the Hamptons International Film Festival was a great one. I had a great Documentary Jury, which included filmmaker Jamie Johnson and Docurama’s Liz Ogilvie. Our winner was Matthew Galkin’s fantastic I Am An Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA.
This documentary portrait of Newkirk and the organization she co-founded, and still runs today, hit all the right notes. Galkin goes inside PETA, to examine both its positive and negative reputations. With beautiful cinematography and terrific editing, I Am An Animal could have easily been a disaster-in-the-making. But, it’s so not. Be sure to check it out next month, as it will have its HBO premiere on November 19. The entire program was really strong, from exciting debate-team story Resolved to the funny and charming look at Rex Reed, Do You Sleep in the Nude?
Big thanks to everyone at the festival: the jurors, the staff, the volunteers, the filmmakers, the gracious hosts, Alec Baldwin, and Jerry Seinfeld. Here’s some pics I took:
