The 2025 Nantucket Film Festival, set for June 25-30, will celebrate 30 years of programming with quite a robust lineup.
The festival will open with two Sundance Audience Award winners. First is “Twinless,” a story about men who form an unlikely friendship after meeting in a twin bereavement support group, starring Dylan O’Brien, Lauren Graham and writer and director James Sweeney.
The other is “Prime Minister,” a documentary by Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz, which tells the story of former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her five years in power.
On closing night, June 30, the festival will present Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman’s documentary “Speak,” which also debuted at Sundance in January. The doc follows five teenagers who prepare for a national oratory contest and, according to one Variety critic, “plays like the nonfiction equivalent of ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ or ‘A League of Their Own.’”
One of the biggest draws of the weekend will be NFF’s Centerpiece selection, National Geographic’s “Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story,” which is part of the festival’s Deep Dive Screening & Talk Presentations. The doc, directed by Laurent Bouzereau in partnership with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Documentaries, Nedland Media and Wendy Benchley, gives an authorized look inside how the iconic shark thriller was made in 1975 and continues to influence cinema. The doc will be followed by a conversation with Wendy Benchley, the widow of “Jaws” author Peter Benchley, producer Justin Falvey and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews.
“‘Prime Minister’ was an easy choice — a powerful documentary about Jacinda Arden leading with empathy and strength. It feels like essential viewing in 2025. ‘Jaws @ 50’ is our nod to legacy. Peter Benchley based ‘Jaws’ on stories from Nantucket, so it was a natural fit for our 30th,” Mystelle Brabbée, the festival’s executive director, tells Variety. “And ‘Speak,’ our closing night film, is a big-hearted crowd-pleaser — funny, moving and full of hope. We want the whole festival to leave people feeling a little taller. That’s the energy we’re aiming for.”
A crew examines the mechanical shark. (Edith B Meinfelder)
Edith Blake
For the 30th year, the festival is meant to “feel like both a celebration and a reunion,” says Brabbée. “So many incredible filmmakers, writers and artists have come through NFF over the years — like the Duplass brothers and Katie Aselton, who’ve been with us since ‘This Is John’ and ‘The Puffy Chair,’ or Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, returning for the sixth time with a body of work that spans ‘Jesus Camp,’ ‘The Boys of Baraka,’ ‘Norman Lear’ and ‘Folktales,’ just to name a few.”
Ben Stiller will return to the festival to host the All-Star Comedy Roundtable, with Zach Cherry, Amber Ruffin, Iliza Shlesinger, Mae Martin and a surprise guest.
Other big events include Flipping the Script: Bestsellers to Screen With Elin Hilderbrand, In Their Shoes … With Ken Burns and Nathaniel Philbrick (featuring an exclusive first look at “The American Revolution”) and the event’s signature celebration, Screenwriters Tribute, hosted by Michael Ian Black and honoring “Andor” creator Tony Gilroy, award-winning documentary director Alex Gibney and “The Bear” and “Thunderbolts*” writer Joanna Calo.
“As always, sitting in a theater is still magical — that will never change. But what makes a festival special is the chance to watch a film and then dive into a raw, candid conversation with the filmmaker on a subject,” Brabbée adds. “That’s the real power of what a festival offers.”
Additionally, they want to tell stories that feel both “timely and emotionally resonant — films that reflect where we are now, and where we might be headed.”
Or, as Brabbée perfectly puts it: “Nostalgia with purpose.”
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