2023 Hamptons Doc Fest is now in its 16th year. In the Company of Rose is the opening night film November 30th.
Rose Styron will attend via zoom and Director James Lapine will attend in-person for the Q&A following the film. A cocktail reception will follow the film screening and Q&A. The evening begins at 8p.m. at Sage Harbor Cinema.
On Martha's Vineyard, Tony-winning playwright and director James Lapine meets Rose Styron, the widow of the great American novelist William Styron. Over six years of periodic meetings, 95-year old Rose shares the fascinating story of her complex life as a poet, journalist, human rights activist, and life partner to William. During their 53-year marriage, the Styrons befriended and hosted the political and literary luminaries of their time at their Martha's Vineyard home, including President Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Leonard Bernstein, Truman Capote, Philip Roth, Arthur Miller, James Baldwin and Jerzy Kosinski, to name a few.
December 6th is the closing night film Rather. The film is about American journalist Dan Rather who at 92 years old is now reflecting on seven decades of service and journalism. The documentary Rather is directed by Frank Marshall. The film's screening will take place at Bay Street Theater at 7p.m.
What is in between the opening and closing the program has additional highlights. December 1st, Regina K. Scully will receive the Impact Award and a screening of Obsessed with Light will play co-presented with Artemis Rising Foundation and New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT). December 2, Shorts and Breakfast Bites, The ABC's of Book Banning, Sheila Nevins new film, is one of three shorts on Program 1. Later that evening at 6:30p.m., a Gala Honoring Matthew Heinman, Pennebaker Award recipient, will have a cocktail buffet reception followed by a screening of American Symphony.
Additionally an Environmental Award, Human Rights Award, and Posthumous Legacy Award to Nancy Buirski will be presented at the festival.