The 2025 Hamptons Film Festival is set to honor Sydney Sweeney with its Achievement in Acting Award as her latest film, Christy, will receive its U.S. premiere as the centerpiece title at the event.
Additionally, the festival has set the world premiere of the filmed stage version of Tony-winning musical Merrily We Roll Along as its closing night film, with director Maria Friedman and cast set to attend. And this year’s Hamptons Festival has added additional spotlight films including After the Hunt, Bugonia, Hamnet, Hedda, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Is This Thing On?, Rental Family, Sentimental Value and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.
Christy, which is set to receive its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto Film Festival on Friday and has set a Nov. 7 release from production company Black Bear, tells the true story of West Virginia boxer Christy Martin (Sweeney) as she fights both inside and outside of the ring to reclaim her life.
Sweeney will be on hand for a post-screening conversation after the Oct. 4 screening of the David Michôd-directed film that also stars Ben Foster, Merritt Wever, Katy O’Brian and Ethan Embry. Demi Moore was honored with the Career Achievement in Acting Award at last year’s festival ahead of her Oscar nomination for her role in The Substance.
The Closing Night screening of Merrily is set for Sunday, Oct. 12.
Additional Spotlight films set to screen during this year’s Hamptons Film Festival include the U.S. premiere of Nicholas Hytner’s The Choral, starring Ralph Fiennes; the New York premiere of Michael Franco’s Dreams, starring Jessica Chastain and Rupert Friend; the New York premiere of Matthew Shear’s Fantasy Life, starring Shear, Amanda Peet, Alessandro Nivola, Judd Hirsch and Bob Balaban; the U.S. premiere of James Vanderbilt’s Nuremberg, starring Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, Michael Shannon, Richard E. Grant, Leo Woodall and John Slattery; the world premiere of Ari Selinger’s On The End, starring Tim Blake Nelson, Mireille Enos and Anna Chlumsky; Ira Sachs’ Peter Hujar’s Day, starring Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall; Rebecca Zlotowski’s A Private Life, starring Jodie Foster; the East Coast premiere of Max Walker-Silverman’s Rebuilding, starring Josh O’Connor, Meghann Fahy, Amy Madigan and Kali Reis; the U.S. premiere of Hikari’s Rental Family, starring Brendan Fraser; Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, starring Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning; the East Coast premiere of Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams, starring Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, William H. Macy and Kerry Condon; and the U.S. premiere of Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, starring Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin and Mila Kunis.
“This year’s program reflects the incredible range of contemporary cinema we strive to celebrate,” HamptonsFilm chief creative officer David Nugent said in a statement. “To close with Merrily We Roll Along feels both joyous and poignant, a film that encapsulates the spirit of looking back and moving forward. Our centerpiece selection Christy anchors the festival with its daring artistry and gives us the opportunity to honor the luminous Sydney Sweeney. Through our full lineup of Spotlight films section, we’re proud to showcase stories and voices that remind us of the vitality, ambition and emotion that define today’s filmmaking.”
The 2025 Hamptons International Film Festival is set to run from Oct. 3-13.
