The 2024 Gold Coast International Film Festival, taking place Sept. 22 through Oct.22, is once again bringing the best in new independent and foreign films and special events to audiences throughout the region at venues across the north shore.
The Festival, which follows a successful year of near sold-out crowds at Gold Coast’s year-round film screening series, will include the types of award-winning feature-length and short films that audiences have come to expect, as well as Q&As with many directors, producers and special guests.
Films this year feature some of Hollywood’s finest actors, including Kyra Sedgwick, David Paymer and Griffin Dunne and award-winning actors and filmmakers from around the globe including Goya Award winner David Verdaguer (Spain) and Cesar Award winners Pascal Bonitzer and Agnes Jaoui (France).
In addition to feature film screenings at Manhasset Cinema, the Festival will include award-winning short films screened free at area libraries and an interactive Family Day filled with family-friendly short films and art activities art the Gold Coast Arts Center on Oct. 14 (Columbus Day) when kids are off from school.
This year’s not-to-miss films include:
AVENUE OF THE GIANTS
An inspiring story about the power of friendship and healing between a troubled teen and a man harboring a haunting secret as a Holocaust survivor; inspired by true events. WINNER: Miami Jewish Film Festival (Jury Award) (Monday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m., Manhasset Cinemas)
GIRL WHO WORE FREEDOM
A powerful and deeply personal film that recounts the untold stories of D-Day. This is a FREE event in honor of the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Presented in partnership with PSEG. INCLUDES POST-SCREENING Q&A WITH DIRECTOR CHRISTIAN TAYLOR AND PRODUCER DAVID PATERSON (Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m., Manhasset Cinemas)
JOKES & CIGARETTES
An engaging and moving biopic about the iconic Catalan comedian, Eugenio Jofra, who rose to fame in the 1970s. Nominated for 11 Goya Awards, including WINNER of Best Actor. (Thursday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m., Manhasset Cinemas)
AIR WAR
Israel’s answer to Top Gun! A rivalry between two charismatic Israeli air force fighter pilots reaches a breaking point on the eve of the six-day war. An Israeli action drama with romance, rivalry & thrilling aerial battles. INCLUDES POST-SCREENING Q&A WITH IAF FIGHTER PILOTS (Monday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m., Manhasset Cinemas)
AUCTION
An engaging French satire involving an Egon Schiele masterpiece that went missing after WWII, a hotshot modern art auctioneer and the ethical and moral questions that arise for all involved. (Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m., Manhasset Cinemas)
DAYTIME REVOLUTION
Re-live the incredible week in February 1972 when John Lennon and Yoko Ono produced and co-hosted “The Mike Douglas Show.” Official Selection: Hamptons International Film Festival (Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m., Manhasset Cinemas). After the screening, bring your ticket stub next door to Greens Irish Pub to celebrate John Lennon’s Birthday with Lennon-themed drink specials and John Lennon on the jukebox.
EX-HUSBANDS
In this beguilingly bittersweet seriocomedy, Griffin Dunne stars as Peter Pearce, a man floundering after his father leaves his mother after 65 years of marriage, and his own wife leaves him after 35 – and he inadvertently crashes his son’s bachelor party in Mexico. INCLUDES POST-SCREENING Q&A WITH DIRECTOR NOAH PRITZKER (Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m., Manhasset Cinemas)
THIS IS MY MOTHER
A poignant and beautiful French drama/comedy about a 33-year-old son and his mercurial mother who recently escaped from a residential clinic. (Monday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m., Manhasset Cinemas)
BAD SHABBOS
A darkly hilarious film with a warm heart, this charmingly modern screwball comedy, stars Kyra Sedgwick, Method Man, David Paymer, and Catherine Curtin. Official Selection: Hamptons International Film Festival INCLUDES POST-SCREENING Q&A WITH PRODUCER ADAM MITCHELL (Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m., Manhasset Cinemas)
The 2024 GCIFF will also feature an outstanding selection of over 40 short films presented free to the public at the Great Neck Library and Port Washington Public Library.
Great Shorts: Series 1 will be screened on Thursday, Sept. 26 at 2 p.m. at the Port Washington Public Library and Sunday, Sept. 29 at 2 p.m. at the Great Neck Library.
Great Shorts: Series 2 will be screened on Monday, Sept. 30 at 2 p.m. at the Great Neck Library and Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Port Washington Public Library.
Family Shorts will screen on Sunday, Sept. 22 at 2 p.m. at the Great Neck Library (Parkville branch) and Monday, Oct. 14 at 2 p.m. at the Port Washington Library. Gold Coast’s short film programs, curated by Alexandra Gil, have always been some of the Festival’s most popular events.
All Festival screenings and events are presented with the support of Founding Festival sponsor the Town of North Hempstead. Additional 2024 sponsors include Nassau County Industrial Development Agency; A.L. Sarroff Fund; Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP; The Katz Institute for Women’s Health at Northwell Health; Warner Brothers Discovery; WNET, PSEG Long Island, Liman Video Rental; the Great Neck BID, Manhasset Cinema, and many local businesses.
Information regarding this year’s films and events, and tickets is available at www.goldcoastarts.org.