“A Conversation With” To Feature Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, Director Damien Chazelle, And Actor/Director Emilio Estevez

The 26th annual Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF), which will run Thursday, October 4 through Monday, October 8, will welcome Academy Award®-winning director Damien Chazelle, actor and director Emilio Estevez, and Academy Award®- and Golden Globe®-nominated actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, who will share insight about their storied careers during the Festival’s signature program “A Conversation With…” series.

Gyllenhaal stars in the Festival’s Opening Night film, Sara Colangelo’s The Kindergarten Teacher. She plays a kindergarten teacher who after learning one of her students is extremely gifted, develops an unhealthy fixation with the young boy. Gyllenhaal will take part in “A Conversation With…” on Friday, October 5 at 3 p.m.

And, Maggie won’t be the only Gyllenhaal represented at this year’s HIFF. Brother Jake Gyllenhaal stars in Paul Dano’s Wildlife, which is featured in the Spotlight section. Set in Montana in the 1960s, the film – which also stars Carey Mulligan – takes a melancholic look at the steady decline of the nuclear family.

The Public, which Estevez directed and stars in, will make its East Coast Premiere at HIFF. The film follows library workers Stuart (Estevez) and Myra (Jena Malone) who find themselves in the midst of a major situation when a group of homeless patrons decide to stage a coup and refuse to leave when it’s time to close the library and set out into the blustery night. This leads to a standoff between the city’s have’s and have-not’s. Estevez will take part in “A Conversation With…” on Saturday, October 6th at 3:30 p.m.

Chazelle’s First Man will make its East Coast Premiere at HIFF, screening as the Festival’s Saturday Night Centerpiece Film. For the film, Chazelle once again teamed up with actor Ryan Gosling who was featured in the director’s La La Land – which screened during the 2016 Hamptons International Film Festival. First Man follows the groundbreaking NASA mission to put a man on the moon – with Gosling starring as Neil Armstrong, Claire Foy as Janet Shearon, and Corey Stoll at Buzz Aldrin. The director’s Whiplash screened during the 2014 Festival. Chazelle will take part in “A Conversation With…” on Sunday, October 7 at 12:30 p.m.

“A Conversation With…” series will take place at Bay Street (1 Bay Street, Sag Harbor).

Winick Talks at Rowdy Hall will include a #MeToo focused panel with the one-year anniversary of the global movement for change on Friday, October 5. There will also be the Breakthrough Artists panel with Kayli Carter, Cory Michael Smith and Amandla Stenberg on Saturday, October 6, as well as a VR-focused panel on Sunday, October 7.

The 26th annual Hamptons International Film Festival will take place Thursday, October 4 through Monday, October 8.

For more information, visit hamptonsfilmfest.org.