NewportFILM Unveils 2023 Summer Line-Up (EXCLUSIVE)
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
NewportFILM Outdoors, a unique celebration of documentary moviemaking that is held in some of the most iconic locations in one of the most storied summer resorts in America, has unveiled its latest line-up of films for its summer season.
They include “It’s Only Life After All,” a look at the Indigo Girls; “After the Bite,” an examination of a community’s reaction to a shark attack; and “Invisible Beauty,” the story of pioneering model, agent and activist, Bethann Hardison. What makes the Newport, Rhode Island event so memorable is that these screenings take place on the lawns of mansions like Marble House and The Elms, as well as historical locations like Fort Adams, which hosts the annual Newport Jazz Festival, and the Newport Polo Grounds. It’s all very shades of Edith Wharton (well, if Newland Archer were a cinephile instead of a conflicted aristocrat).
More from Variety
“Patrick and the Whale” will open the weekly series on the lawn of the Great Friends Meeting House. Additional films include premieres from this year’s Sundance Film Festival such as “Food & Country,” “Going Varsity in Mariachi,” and the aforementioned “It’s Only Life After All” and “Invisible Beauty.” There’s also “Ron Delsener Presents,” which debuted at Tribeca and will screen in partnership with Newport Folk Festival, as well as “Water Brother: The Sid Abbruzzi Story,” by local filmmakers the Kinnane Brothers. Post-screening conversations will include many of the films’ directors and subjects.
The lineup has been curated by newportFILM’s Founder and Artistic Director, Andrea van Beuren. Van Beuren stated, “Heading into another summer of exceptional documentaries. We are so looking forward to sharing these films and introducing filmmakers to our wonderful audiences at newportFILM.”
The series is presented by Lila Delman Compass. Audiences can vote for their favorite film and enjoy local musicians all summer long thanks to BankNewport’s 2023 Audience Award and Live Music Sponsorship. The series is also supported by The Schmidt Family Foundation/11th Hour Racing, Hammetts Hotel and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. Year-round sponsors include Kirby Construction, WIMCO Villas and the Park South Hotel NYC.
NewportFILM Outdoors 2023 Films include:
THURS, JUNE 22 — Patrick and the Whale
Great Friends Meeting House, Newport
Director: Mark Fletcher
Producer: Walter Köhler, Wolfgang Knöpfler
Synopsis: For twenty years, Patrick Dykstra has dedicated his life to traveling the globe, following and diving with whales. Over the years, Pat has learned how whales see and hear, how they perceive other creatures in the water and how they behave at close quarters. He has a finely tuned sense and knows how to act when within touching distance of a whale – what to do, what not to do and when. This allows him to consistently get closer than anyone else alive – a truly unique skill.
Patrick recently experienced a life-changing event. In Dominica in 2019, he had a close
encounter with a female sperm whale. She seemed to be curious about him, coming within touching distance, pulsing him with her sonar. She studied him as he studied her. Patrick felt an overwhelming sense that she was genuinely trying to communicate. We will follow Patrick as he travels to Dominica again to find this special whale he named “Dolores” so she can help him show us the hidden world of her species. Using stunning underwater footage, Patrick will explore the fascinating nature of the sperm whale, attempting to shine a light on its intelligence and complexity, as well as highlighting its current and past relationship with humankind. The film will also follow his personal journey and explore the psychology of a man who has sacrificed everything in his single-minded quest to connect with and understand the biggest creatures in the ocean.
THURS, JUNE 29 —It’s Only Life After All
Marble House, Newport
Director: Alexandria Bombach
Producer: Kathlyn Horan, Jess Devaney, Anya Rous
Synopsis: Forty years of making music as the iconic folk-rock band Indigo Girls, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have made their mark as musicians, songwriters and dedicated activists.
The duo began their musical connection as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, eventually honing their skills in dive bars and clubs across the South. Their unexpected rise to fame with the 1989 hit “Closer to Fine” propelled Indigo Girls to a Grammy award and rapid popularity. Fans quickly fell in love with their harmonies, moving lyrics, and ability to defy genre with a vast range of musical breadth – from folk-like soulful ballads to punk-inspired rock anthems.
Living out publicly as lesbians long before there was understanding or tolerance for queerness in the music industry, they have represented radical self-acceptance to many – leading now multiple generations of fans to say, “the Indigo Girls saved my life.” Still, Amy and Emily battled misogyny, homophobia, and a harsh cultural climate chastising them for not fitting into a female pop star mold. As a result, they each grappled with the impact of internalizing those messages.
Emily and Amy redefined success for their musical careers with an uncompromising dedication to staying true to themselves. After meeting Indigenous activist Winona LaDuke, supporting grassroots activism and speaking out against social and environmental injustice became essential to their lives.
In “It’s Only Life After All,” Sundance award-winning director Alexandria Bombach brings us into a contemporary conversation with Amy and Emily, alongside 40 years of home movies, raw film archives, and intimate present-day verité. With joy, humor, and heart-warming moments, the film subverts the typical music biopic format for the authentic and intimate storytelling for which Bombach’s work is known.
THURS, JULY 6 — After the Bite (HBO Documentary Films)
Salve O’Hare Lawn, Newport
**Ivy Meerpol in attendance**
Director: Ivy Meeropol
Producer: Ivy Meeropol, Xan Parker, Johnny Fego
Executive Producers: Whitney Dow, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Tina Nguyen
Synopsis: When a young man is killed by a shark at a popular beach on Cape Cod, the local community of lifeguards, fishermen, surfers, scientists, and citizen activists are forced to confront dramatic changes to their environment and way of life. “After the Bite” is a thoughtful exploration of how the Cape’s coastal community is renegotiating its relationship with the marine environment to consider the larger question that has plagued the human race since the industrial revolution: how far can we push nature before it bites back? Award-winning filmmaker Ivy Meeropol crafts an immersive story with multiple viewpoints with a focus on local voices.
THURS, JULY 13 — Forte
Aquidneck Park, Newport
*In partnership with Newport Classical*
Director: David Donnelly
Producer: Anastasia Boudanoque, David Donnelly
Synopsis: Forte is an ensemble cast documentary, featuring Tatiana Berman, Lucia Caruso, and Eldbjorg Hemsing. Directed by David Donnelly, this fast-paced documentary explores the notion of success and excellence from the female perspective. It challenges the popular and perhaps somewhat outdated notions of success in classical music through a fast-paced narrative of three female artists. A young Norwegian violinist on the brink of stardom, a cultural entrepreneur and mother of three who reinvents the traditional concert experience to inspire the younger audience, and a first-generation American from Argentina, whose creative process of composing a film soundtrack is documented and exposed in an unprecedented way.
THURS, JUL 20 — Food & Country
Fort Adams, Newport
*Laura Gabbert, Caroline Libresco and Ruth Reichl in attendance*
Director: Laura Gabbert
Producer: Laura Gabbert, Ruth Reichl, Paula P. Manzanedo, Caroline Libresco
Synopsis: Ruth Reichl—trailblazing NY Times food critic, groundbreaking Gourmet Magazine editor, best-selling memoirist, and for decades one of the most influential figures shaping American food culture—grows concerned about the fate of small farmers, ranchers, and chefs as they wrestle with both immediate and systemic challenges as the pandemic takes hold.
Reichl reaches across political and social divides to discover innovators who are risking it all to survive on the front lines. As one person leads her to the next, she follows the unfolding stories of ranchers in Kansas and Georgia, farmers in Nebraska, Ohio, and the Bronx, a New England fisherman, and maverick chefs on both coasts. As she witnesses them navigate intractable circumstances, Reichl shares pieces of her own life, and in doing so, begins to take stock of the path she has traveled and the ideals she left behind. Through her eyes, we get to know the humanity and struggle behind the food we eat. As Reichl says: “How we grow and make our food shows us our values – as a nation and as human beings.”
THURS, JULY 27 — Ron Delsener Presents
Safe Harbor New England Boat Works, Portsmouth
*In partnership with Newport Folk Festival*
*Jake Sumner in attendance*
Director: Jake Sumner
Producer: Jake Sumner, James A. Smith, Margaret Munzer Loeb
Synopsis: In a career spanning almost sixty years, concert promoter and impresario Ron Delsener has been behind virtually every major contemporary music concert in New York City. From the Beatles at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, to bringing David Bowie to Carnegie Hall and Patti Smith to the Palladium, to somehow convincing Simon and Garfunkel to come back together to play the biggest concert ever in Central Park, Ron Delsener was behind it all.
“Ron Delsener Presents” takes us behind-the-curtain through the last half century of the live music business, chronicling the tactics that drove live performance from disorganized, low-fi events to international tours, arenas, and, eventually, into a global empire. Now, at 86 years old, Ron’s still in the game, working in the now-multi-billion dollar industry he helped to create. Sure, he could stop – he maybe even should. But Ron doesn’t know how.
THURS, AUGUST 3 — Immediate Family
Chateau-sur-Mer, Newport
Director: Denny Tedesco
Producer: Jonathan Sheldon, Jack Piatt, Greg Richling
Synopsis: “Immediate Family” is the story of a group of close friends who became the studio band to the biggest stars of the 1970s and beyond. This documentary chronicles the next wave of studio players to follow in the footsteps of 60s session icons, The Wrecking Crew.
Directed by Denny Tedesco who made the original “The Wrecking Crew” documentary, “Immediate Family” follows the next wave of musicians who would create the Singer-Songwriter sound. They were Leland Sklar, Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel, and Waddy Wachtel. They backed everyone from James Taylor, Carole King, Don Henley and Linda Ronstadt, to Crosby & Nash, Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, Keith Richards and so many more. This small team of players would go on to change the course of musical history, creating the sound of the 70’s and all that came after.
THURS, AUGUST 10 — Cowboy Poets
Newport Polo Grounds, Portsmouth
Director: Mike Day
Producer: Susan Turley, Mike Day
Synopsis: The seemingly unlikely combination of cowboys and poetry come together during the American National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, happening since 1985. Through the written word, cowboys of the American West contend with their unique way-of-life. In the last years, they have been wrangling with their identity, environmental threats and change. This documentary-Western offers an intimate look at the lives of these modern-day cowboys.
THURS, AUG 17 — Water Brother: The Sid Abbruzzi Story
Fort Adams, Newport
*Kinnane Brothers in attendance*
A film by Kinnane Brothers
Director: Charles Kinnane & Daniel Kinnane
Producer: Colin Moniz, William Kinnane, Jeffrey Azize
Executive Producers: Jerry Kirby, Michael Anders
Synopsis: “Water Brother” is a feature documentary that follows the life of Sid Abbruzzi, an East Coast legend and culture icon. The film explores Sid’s lifelong passion for surfing, skating and his commitment to protecting the sport’s history and culture.
Through a mix of never before seen archival film, personal interviews, and large format cinematic footage, including interviews with Tony Hawk, Shepard Fairey, and other giants of the surf and skate world, this documentary takes the audience on a captivating journey through the history of surfing and skating; from 1960s Newport, to Santa Cruz, Cocoa Beach, South Africa’s Jeffrey’s Bay, and beyond. The film highlights Sid’s influential role in shaping the surf and skate world, his remarkable achievements, and his unwavering dedication to preserving access to endangered surf breaks, skateparks, and public spaces for future generations to discover their passions, just as he did.
As Sid turns 72, the film captures the final days of his famous Water Brothers Surf & Skate shop, set to be demolished. The documentary explores the impact of the shop’s closure on the local community and the surf and skate world at large, while emphasizing the importance of memory, personal history, and living in the moment. Sid’s story reminds us of the significance of cherishing our past and preserving cultural heritage.
THURS, AUGUST 24 — Invisible Beauty
The Elms, Newport
*Frédéric Tcheng and Bethann Hardison in attendance*
Director: Bethann Hardison, Frédéric Tcheng
Producer: Lisa Cortés, Paul Dallas
Synopsis: Naomi Campbell called her “Ma” but to many she’s simply Bethann. A pioneering model, agent and activist, Bethann Hardison is a pivotal figure in the fight for racial diversity in fashion. In her lifetime, she has seen the pendulum swing toward and away from the Black model. At every setback, she spoke up and rallied her colleagues and clients in the industry to advance change. Now in her 70s, the Brooklyn native is in the midst of writing her memoir, taking stock of her own legacy at a moment when the fashion industry is shaken — once again — by the Black Lives Matter movement.
Directing in tandem with Frédéric Tcheng, Hardison is a force at the helm of her own story. Together, they trace Hardison’s impact on fashion from runway shows in the 1970s to roundtables about the lack of racial diversity in the early 2000s. Candid and audacious, Invisible Beauty is an absorbing record of the racial evolution of fashion and an original contemplation on the life of a radical thinker.
Hardison embodied the ethos “Black is beautiful” long before the fashion industry acknowledged this truth. As a model, she walked the runway alongside Iman. As an agent, she discovered people such as Tyson Beckford and mentored supermodels like Naomi Campbell. Featuring intimate interviews with collaborators including Campbell, Beckford, Iman, Tracee Ellis Ross, Fran Lebowitz, Pat Cleveland, Stephen Burrows, Whoopi Goldberg, Ralph Lauren, Bruce Weber, as well as her son Kadeem Hardison, Invisible Beauty chronicles the life of a maverick at the epicenter of major representational shifts in fashion. The film also gazes toward the future with insights from a new generation Hardison has inspired, including Zendaya, designer-activist Aurora James and designer Kerby Jean-Raymond.
THURS, AUG 31 — Going Varsity in Mariachi
Miantonomi Park, Newport
Director: Sam Osborn, Alejandra Vasquez
Producer: James Lawler, Luis A. Miranda, Jr., Julia Pontecorvo
Synopsis: In a South Texas high school auditorium, trumpets ring out, thick guitarrón strings thrum, and violin bow hairs snap and swing wildly through the air. This is the world of competitive scholastic mariachi. This energetic documentary captures the highs and lows of Edinburg North High School’s Mariachi Oro as a green team strives for state championship. With tough love, finely tuned empathy, and a fiery passion for the music, Coach Abel Acuña guides the varsity band through a steep competition season and a fraught year in their adolescent lives. Team captains Abby, Marlena, and Bella prove the value of the skills taught in the band room as they navigate life’s challenges on and off the stage with grace, immutable work ethic, and total charm.
Filmmakers Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborn transport their audience to this symphonically, aesthetically, and emotionally vibrant world. A directorial debut for Vasquez and sophomore effort for Osborn, Going Varsity in Mariachi is a testament to their ability to explore identity, cultural roots, and pressing social issues with a nuance that foregrounds frankness, boldness, and joy.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
