Rise and Shine! Hamptons Doc Fest’s ‘Shorts & Breakfast Bites’ Is Back!

The popular “Shorts & Breakfast Bites,” a Hamptons Doc Fest special feature on Saturday and Sunday mornings which debuted two years ago, will be returning as part of this year’s festival. It pairs a program of short documentary films with coffee, tea and breakfast treats such as bagels, muffins and fruit, all for the regular price of a $17 film ticket.

“Shorts & Breakfast Bites” starts with breakfast at 9:30 a.m. on both Saturday, December 6, and Sunday, December 7, with the films following at 10 a.m. at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theater

The short films for Program 1 on Saturday, December 6 will include a two-hour series of four docs: “All the Empty Rooms” (33 min.), directed by Joshua Seftel, about correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they embark on a cross-country journey to memorialize victims of school violence; “Saving Our Ancestors: Reflections by Dr. Biruté Galdikas” (27 min.), directed by Charles Annenberg Weingarten, about scientist and orangutan specialist Dr. Galdikas and his study of the orangutans of Indonesian Borneo; “Doc Albany” (19 min.), directed by Ben Proudfoot, about obstetrician/gynecologist Dr. Sheena Favors, who must decide between working in the city or staying in rural Georgia to provide vital maternal care, as inspired by Doc Hollywood, Dr. James Hotz; and “Women Laughing” (37 min.), directed by Kathleen Hughes and Liza Donnelly, about long-time “New Yorker” cartoonist Liza Donnelly’s interviews with a diverse group of “New Yorker” women cartoonists, based on her biography and her book “Very Funny Ladies.”

In attendance for the Q&A will be director Weingarten for “Saving Our Ancestors,” and both directors Hughes and Donnelly as well as producer Judith Mizrachy for “Women Laughing,”

The Program 2 films on Sunday, December 7, include a 98-minute series of four shorts — starting with the winner of Hamptons Doc Fest’s second annual “Hometown Heroes” Student Film Contest, with the student director expected to attend for the award presentation.

This will be followed by “It’s Different for Girls” (38 min.), directed by Billie JD Porter, which asks whether the holdup for improved birth control is due to a scientific roadblock or gender bias against new male contraceptives; “La Liga” (25 min.), directed by Paul Rosenfeld and Mac Christopher, about Vermont immigrant dairy farmworkers who endure hardships while forging community through soccer; and “West Landing” (15 min.) directed by Doug Gallo, about open-water swimmers at West Landing in Hampton Bays, Long Island, and the sense of calm and newfound community the daily swims provide. Both directors Billie JD Porter and Doug Gallo will attend the Q&A afterwards.

The “Shorts & Breakfast Bites” screenings will be held at Bay Street Theater on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor. Tickets are available at hamptonsdocfest.com.