Hamptons International Film Festival: Women Calling The Shots Shorts

The Hamptons International Film Festival has officially kicked off and is bringing some of the best in film to Long Island. Held annually in East Hampton, this festival hosts a plethora of events, including Q&As with actors, directors, and other people involved in the creative process as well as spotlight screenings of major movies coming out later in the award season like She Said, The Banshees of Inisherin, and Empire of Light while also showcasing smaller independent releases. Sunday marked the 19th Women Calling The Shots Shorts Showcase, which featured six short films made by women.

Of the six shorts, two are documentaries and four are narrative. The documentaries were Sana Que Sana, which tells a story of betrayal through the lens of family history and Girls Got Game, which tells the story of GX3, the first all woman E-sports team for the game Valorant. Both these documentaries were very interesting and well shot and showcased the skills of directors Elizabeth Lo and Gabriella Aguirre.

The narrative shorts also covered a wide variety of topics. Hanna Gray Organschi’s debut as writer and director Bea, Seriously follows the decision-making that goes into handling an unwanted pregnancy, Winter Dunn’s short Dear Mama… tells the story of a family dealing with loss, Zahida Pirani’s first narrative short El Carrito tells the story of a woman trying to change her life after working as a street vendor in Queens, and Elizabeth Chatelain’s latest short Paper Geese tells the story of parental expectations from the perspective of the daughter. All four of these shorts are excellent and the creative teams behind the productions deserve the highest of praise for their achievements.

There are other shorts showcases happening over the course of the week of the festival including a Voices of Long Island series about films shot on Long Island, a university series of shorts made by film school students, a series of family-friendly short films, and a series of shorts that are more avant-garde that try to buck the usual rules of filmmaking. It is a worthwhile experience for anyone who is interested in seeing the next generation of filmmakers.