30th Nantucket Film Festival Kicks Off On Wednesday

The 30th edition of the Nantucket Film Festival (NFF) runs from June 25th to 30th, featuring multiple Sundance Audience Award-winning films and a retrospective on “Jaws" on its 50th anniversary.

The festival also features a number of celebrity special guests, including actor and comedian Ben Stiller and documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. Burns, who was previously celebrated at NFF’s 2023 Screenwriters Tribute event, returns to NFF’s “In Their Shoes…” program for the second consecutive year with an exclusive first look at “The American Revolution,” his forthcoming six-part, 12-hour documentary series premiering November 16 on PBS.

Burns will be joined in conversation after the preview by Nantucket author and historian Nathaniel Philbrick, who has written multiple books about George Washington and the American Revolution.

The first of the two Sundance Audience Award winners is James Sweeney’s feature film “Twinless,” starring Dylan O’Brien of “Teen Wolf” and “Maze Runner” fame and Lauren Graham, who played one of the titular roles in “Gilmore Girls.” The other is Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz’s documentary “Prime Minister,” following former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Both are listed as NFF’s opening-night films.

The closing night film, “Speak,” also premiered at Sundance. A documentary directed by Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman, “Speak” follows high school students who participate in speech and debate competitions as they prepare for nationals.

The centrepiece film is “Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story,” a documentary directed by Laurent Bouzereau that shares an authorized inside look at the story of “Jaws.” The film’s world premiere was on Martha’s Vineyard on June 20th, closely followed by its screening at NFF, meaning that attendees will be some of the first people in the world to see the highly anticipated documentary.

The 2025 NFF Screenwriters Tribute will honor three screenwriters, including Tony Gilroy, fresh off the success of the hit “Star Wars” television series “Andor,” who also wrote a number of “Jason Bourne” films and wrote and directed the Oscar-winning legal thriller “Michael Clayton.” The other honorees are award-winning documentary director Alex Gibney and Joanna Calo, who co-wrote Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*” and is one of two showrunners for FX’s “The Bear,” which has won 21 Emmys in two years.

NFF will also host an event called “Flipping the Script: Bestsellers to Screen” featuring author Elin Hildebrandt. Hildebrandt, who has a long connection to Nantucket, will discuss television series based on her novels, including Netflix’s “The Perfect Couple” and “Winter Street.” She will also discuss the new series “The Five-Star Weekend,” starring and executive-produced by Emmy-nominated actress Jennifer Garner.

Tickets are still available, and a full schedule can be found here.