Hyannis Film Festival To Highlight Movies Made On Cape Cod

HYANNIS, MA — The Hyannis Film Festival is bringing some movies to Main Street this month, and all the movies were either made on Cape Cod or have stories of special interest to the area.

The screenings are scheduled for Oct. 16 and 17 at 529 Main St in Hyannis. For the Saturday date, movies screen from noon to 8 p.m., and on day two from noon to 5:30 p.m.

One of day one's films include a nostalgic look at baseball's past, and hopefully the Red Sox are still alive in the playoffs to make it even more festive. Producer Kris Meyer's documentary "The Lost Son of Havana," is first on the festival schedule at noon and covers Red Sox legend Luis Tiant's return to Cuba after 46 years. The film is one of many that Meyer co-produced with the Farrelly Brothers.

Tiant and Bill "Spaceman" Lee are scheduled to make an appearance at the screening, since at 4 p.m., there will be another movie for the baseball lovers out there.

Lee, a well-known left-handed pitcher for the Red Sox during the 1970s, will appear at 4 pm with the documentary High & Outside. The movie by Peter Vogt looks at how Lee won his fame and got his reputation as a colorful, eccentric baseball player. Familiar Boston sports personalities of the time offer commentary.

Between the looks at baseball from the recent past, Nantucket filmmaker John Stanton will show his "Last Call" documentary about the long-closed, iconic '60s-'70s Nantucket Main Street watering hole Preston’s. "Last Call shows" at 2 p.m, with Stanton in attendance.

Saturday at 6 p.m., director Gwen Wynne and producer James Egan will bring a sneak peek of their feature film "Wild About Harry," a family “dramedy” set on Cape Cod in 1973 about a widowed father of two teen girls who comes out as gay. The 2009 movie has been re-discovered by distributors and is set for a new release later this year on a major streaming service.

Short films and videos by area filmmakers kick off Sunday's 90-minute session at noon, scheduled as part of Hyannis Open Streets, with free admission all day.

Among films scheduled are "Runner," a heart-pounding thriller by Cape Cod filmmakers Paul and Jade Schuyler, whose COVID-era family drama Red River Road is now showing at film festivals.

Michael Cestaro, of North Eastham, will also bring his provocative "White Space," about issues of
prejudice, through the words of people of color on Cape Cod, and "Clay," about an artist’s journey as a creator. Other video shorts created on the Cape and Islands will be also shown.

Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m., Cape Cod filmmaker Dan McCarthy and musician John Morgan will bring "Kings of Cape Cod," a nostalgic chronicle of bygone happy hours on Cape Cod. The afternoon ends with a 4:30 p.m. showing of the Farrelly Brothers feature film "Fever Pitch," starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon in the story of a budding romance challenged by Fallon's character's obsession with the Red Sox.

Tickets for the screenings, all at 529 Main Street, are available via Movies on Main in Hyannis at EventBrite. A weekend contribution of $25 includes guaranteed seating up to 10 minutes before all screenings. Individual movie sessions have a suggested donation of $10. Sunday is free on a first-come-next-served basis for non-pass and non-ticket holders.

Hyannis Film Festival requires all participants to be vaccinated and wear face masks when necessary, if safe distancing isn’t possible. Seating inside will be at less than 50 percent capacity, with chairs that can be moved to a safe distance from non-household members.

For more information, visit the website for the Hyannis Film Festival.