Breakthrough Artists

Each year, the Hamptons International Film Festival recognizes a new class of Breakthrough Artists, celebrating up-and-coming actors and directors with uncommonly bright futures. Three of the most recent Breakthrough Artists at HIFF have gone on to receive Academy Award® nominations, with Stephanie Hsu winning in 2022 for Best Supporting Actress.

2024

Malcolm Washington: Breakthrough Director
THE PIANO LESSON

Malcolm Washington received the 2024 Breakthrough Director Award, celebrating an up-and-coming filmmaker with an uncommonly bright future. Washington is a Los Angeles filmmaker making his feature film directorial debut with THE PIANO LESSON, an adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork for Netflix, which screened as the Festival’s Centerpiece on Saturday, October 5.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania and the prestigious American Film Institute, Washington went on to direct award-winning short films and music videos. In 2017, he wrote and directed the short film BENNY GOT SHOT. For his work, he received the Filmmaker to Watch Award at the Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF). His previous credits include SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT, SUMMER OF 17, THE DISPUTE, and NORTH HOLLYWOOD.

Clarence Maclin: Breakthrough Performer
SING SING

Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin reflects, “My life was influenced by hip-hop, but I was drawn to the negative parts of a beautiful culture.” In 1995, he was incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, where he joined the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program, debuting in
Twelve Angry Men. After earning an associate’s degree in Behavioral Psychology from Mercy College, Maclin has since worked as a youth counselor, creative arts specialist, and gang intervention specialist, and now serves as an RTA mentor.

In SING SING, filmmakers Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley focused on the bond between RTA members John “Divine G” Whitfield and Maclin, with Maclin making his film debut and executive producing. Premiering at TIFF 2023 and winning the Festival Favorite Award at SXSW 2024, SING SING was released in July 2024 to critical and popular acclaim. Robert Daniels praised Maclin’s debut as “deeply felt, magnetic, emotionally and physically attuned.” Maclin’s journey underscores his belief: “If we never take the time to invest in others, we’ll never see the beauty they possess on the inside…That’s where the world misses out.”

Clarence Maclin received an nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 97th Annual Academy Awards®. 

2023

Celine Song: Breakthrough Artist

Celine Song is a filmmaker and playwright. Her debut feature film PAST LIVES premiered at Sundance 2023. The film was released in the U.S. in June to critical and audience acclaim, and will be released globally throughout the year. Her play Endlings received its world premiere in 2019 at American Repertory Theater and had its New York premiere in 2020 at New York Theatre Workshop. She has been a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and a semifinalist for the American Playwriting Foundation’s Relentless Award.

Celine Song received an nomination for Best Original Screenplay at the 96th Annual Academy Awards®. 

2022

Stephanie Hsu: Breakthrough Artist

Breakthrough Artist Award Stephanie Hsu is known for her breakout performance in A24’s EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, as well as her role as Mei in THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL, for which Hsu and the cast ​​were awarded the 2020 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. More recently, THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL was nominated for the 2022 Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.

Hsu began her career in the arts on Broadway, where she played Karen the Computer in ‘SpongeBob The Musical,’ and Christine Canigula in ‘Be More Chill,’ the latter of which earned Hsu nominations for a Lucille Lortel Award and a Drama Desk Award in the category of Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. ‘Be More Chill’ was also nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award and a Drama Desk Award for Best New Musical.

Stephanie Hsu was named Best Supporting Actress at the 95th Annual Academy Awards®. 

Past honorees include many future Oscar® winners and nominees, including Emma Stone, Mahershala Ali, Jessica Chastain, Taraji P. Henson, Lupita Nyong’o, Adam Driver, Brie Larson, Timothée Chalamet, Riz Ahmed, Hong Chau, and more. Additional actors who have received this honor include Michael B. Jordan, Oscar Isaac, Alexander Skarsgård, David Oyelowo, Miles Teller, Kaitlyn Dever, Emily Blunt, and Elizabeth Moss.