FRESH VOICES

The Hamptons International Film Festival was founded to celebrate the Independent film - long, short, fiction and documentary - and to introduce a unique and varied spectrum of international films and filmmakers to our audiences. The festival is committed to exhibiting films that express fresh voices and differing global perspectives, with the hope that these programs will enlighten audiences, provide invaluable exposure for filmmakers and present inspired entertainment for all. The 17th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival will take place October 8 - 12, 2009.

FESTIVAL HISTORY

Now entering its 17th year, The Hamptons International Film Festival was founded to provide a forum for independent filmmakers from around the world to express their vision. The Festival is traditionally held for five days in mid-October in theatre venues from Montauk to Southampton and attracts roughly 15,000 visitors annually. At least twenty countries are represented in the slate of roughly 100 films that are showcased each year, with an awards package worth over $200,000. The festival continues to play a part in the awards season, with the 2008 edition featuring eventual Best Picture winners of the Academy Award, Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award.

In addition to short films (for which we are an Academy-qualifying festival), documentaries and narratives, the Festival offers special presentations such as; a Breakthrough Performers program, which showcases up-and-coming acting talent (past participants include Emily Blunt and Blake Lively); “A Conversation With…”, an intimate Q&A session with a film luminary (past participants include Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Vanessa Redgrave, Frances McDormand, Sidney Lumet, Julian Schnabel, Isabella Rossellini, Gena Rowlands, and Robert Altman); and Films of Conflict & Resolution, which utilizes the power of cinema to increase understanding of the human realities of war and conflict. The festival maintains a presence year round with other events as well such as screenings out east and in the city, and its annual Screenwriters Lab. The Lab, which recently wrapped its 9th edition, develops emerging screenwriting talent by pairing established writers with up-and-coming screenwriters (chosen by the festival in collaboration with key industry contacts).

The Hamptons International Film Festival has received a great deal of prestigious recognition, with the 2008 edition featuring the East Coast premiere of the eventual Academy Award winner for Best Picture (Slumdog Millionaire). The festival’s awards success in 2008 also included highlights such as the 8 total Academy Awards for Slumdog Millionaire (including Best Picture, Editing, Writing, Cinematography, Direction and the Golden Globe for Best Picture), The Wrestler (Golden Globe for Best Actor, Independent Spirit Award for Best Picture), The Black Balloon (US premiere, Australian Film Institute Award for Best Picture, Screenplay, Direction, Editing), Synecdoche, NY (US premiere), Two Lovers and three short films that were nominated for Academy Awards. In 2007, Taxi to the Dark Side, which screened in our World Cinema section, went on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary, while our Sloan Award-winner The Diving Bell and the Butterfly captured a Best Director nomination and Spotlight Film The Savages garnered a Best Actress nomination for Laura Linney. In 2005, films screened at the Festival went on to receive 13 Oscar nominations, including the Oscar for Best Live Action Short for the film Six Shooter, which had its US premiere at the Festival. Nowhere in Africa, which had its US premiere at the festival, went on to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2002.

NOTABLE FILMS

Avenue Montaigne, dir. Daniele Thompson
Antonia’s Line, dir. Marleen Gorris
Bee Season, dir. Scott McGehee & David Siegel
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, dir. Sidney Lumet
Bernard and Doris, dir. Bob Balaban
Birth, dir. Jonathan Glaser
Body of War, dir. Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro
The Cooler, dir. Wayne Kramer
Croupier, dir. Mike Hodges
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, dir. Julian Schnabel
El Crimen del Padre Amaro, dir. Carlos Carrera
Elf, dir. Jon Favreau
Enigma, dir. Michael Apted
The Fog of War, dir. Errol Morris
The Fountain, dir. Darren Aronofsky
Girl With A Pearl Earring, dir. Peter Webber
Gods and Monsters, dir. Bill Condon
The Hawk is Dying, dir. Julian Goldberger
Heavenly Creatures, dir. Peter Jackson
Hotel Rwanda, dir. Terry George
The Human Stain, dir. Robert Benton
Japanese Story, dir. Sue Brooks
Jesus’ Son, dir. Alison Maclean
Judy Berlin, dir. Eric Mendelsohn
Kinsey, dir. Bill Condon
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, dir. Shane Black
The Last Good Time, dir. Bob Balaban
Lemon Tree, dir. Eran Riklis
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, dir. Aviva Kempner
Life as a House, dir. Irwin Winkler
Living Out Loud, dir. Richard LaGravenese
Madness and Genius, dir. Ryan Eslinger
Mondovino, dir. Jonathan Nossiter
Monsieur Ibrahim, dir. Francois Dupeyron
My Architect, dir. Nathaniel Kahn
No Man’s Land, dir. Danis Tanovic
Nowhere in Africa, dir. Caroline Link
Off the Map, dir. Campbell Scott
Ondskan (Evil), dir. Mikael Hafstrom
Open Water, dir. Chris Kentis
Osama, dir. Siddiq Barmak
The Piano, dir. Jane Campion
Pollock, dir. Ed Harris
Rabbit-Proof Fence, dir. Phillip Noyce
The Savages, dir. Tamara Jenkins
The Situation, dir. Philip Haas
Slumdog Millionaire, dir. Danny Boyle
Songcatcher, dir. Maggie Greenwald
Starting out in the Evening, dir. Andrew Wagner
State and Main, dir. David Mamet
Synechdoche, New York, dir. Charlie Kauffman
Tango, dir. Carlos Saura
Taxi to the Dark Side, dir. Alex Gibney
Teeth, dir. Mitchell Lichtenstein
The Tic Code, dir. Gary Winick
The Triplets of Belleville, dir. Sylvain Chomet
Tumbleweeds, dir. Gavin O’Connor
Turn the River, dir. Chris Eigeman
Two Lovers, dir. James Gray
Valentino: The Last Emperor, dir. Matt Tyrnauer
The Walker, dir. Paul Schrader
The Weather Man, dir. Gore Verbinski
Who The $#%& is Jackson Pollock?, dir. Harry Moses
Why We Fight, dir. Eugene Jarecki
The Wrestler, dir. Darren Aronofsky

ATTENDEES HAVE INCLUDED