Local Director to Showcase Latest at Hamptons Film Festival

By Ian Rice
Arts and Lifestyle Editor

Next month, the annual Hamptons International Film Festival will take place on Long Island's beautiful East End. The always-tremendous event (which was founded to celebrate the American Independent film and to introduce a unique and varied spectrum of international films and filmmakers to audiences) is committed to exhibiting films that express fresh voices and differing global perspectives with the hope that these programs will enlighten audiences, provide invaluable exposure for filmmakers and present inspired entertainment for all. It's an event that is on par with the more universally-known festivals, like this month's Toronto Film Festival and the mecca of all independent film showcases, the Sundance Film Festival. 


This year's festival, the thirteenth to be held, will feature many big names and superior films in its lineup. But perhaps the most intriguing to Long Island residents will be the inclusion of own of its own artists, writer/director Kevin Jordan. A Rockville Centre native, Jordan has contributed his highly-anticipated piece Brooklyn Lobster to this year's festival and anticipation of its success is high to say the least. Loosely based on his family's lobster shop in Brooklyn, NY, the film stars Oscar nominee Danny Aiello (Moonstruck, Do the Right Thing) and Emmy Award winner Jane Curtin ("Saturday Night Live", "Kate and Allie"). Prior to the film's production, Jordan teamed up with his brothers Darren and Brian to create a ten-minute documentary on their family's shop to both generate interest in and raise funds for the full-length narrative feature. 


After a screening of their documentary and a subsequent lobster party, sufficient funding was secured by the Jordans to start production. Casting director Phyllis Huffman (Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River) was the first to join the team. She got the script to Danny Aiello, who signed on immediately, with Jane Curtin soon joining the cast to play opposite him. The film was shot in less than five weeks on location in Brooklyn as well as in Manhattan and Long Island. It focuses primarily on Frank Giorgio (played by Aiello), the stubborn, good-hearted, blue-collar owner of Giorgio's Lobster Farm, and how he deals with the impending foreclosure on the small, shaker-shingled lobster shop he inherited from his father. Although Frank refuses help, his family members also want to save the business that has always been a cornerstone of their lives-but the underlying story is really about their relationships with one another, especially Frank and Maureen (Curtin), whose marriage is coming to a quiet, matter-of-fact end, and Frank and their son Michael (Daniel Sauli), who is visiting for the holidays but reluctant to return full time to lobster land and his father's obstinacy. The film explores the complicated dynamics of family relations, marked with drama and humor, as the Giorgios face their greatest challenge yet. 


Brooklyn Lobster will be apart of the festival's popular "View From Long Island" section, which presents a group of films made by filmmakers from the area. The "View From Long Island" segment is geared toward highlighting the wealth of creativity and film resources on Long Island.
The Hamptons Internation Film Festival will commence on October 19th and run through the 23rd. Passes and tickets can be ordered beginning through the festival website (www.hamptonsfilmfest.org), through the new Festival Box Offices at 126 N. Main Street, East Hampton, or The South Hampton Inn, 91 Hill Street, South Hampton or by telephone at 1-866-HIFF-TIX (1-866-443-3849).