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.
Past honorees include many future Oscar® winners and nominees, including Celine Song, Stephanie Hsu, 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.
2025
Eva Victor
Tonatiuh
2024
Malcolm Washington
Clarence Maclin
2023
Celine Song
2022
Stephanie Hsu
2019
Aldis Hodge
Camila Morrone
Lulu Wang
2018
Kayli Carter
Cory Michael Smith
Amandla Stenberg
2017
Hong Chau
Ali Fazal
Danielle MacDonald
Kiersey Clemons
Daniel Kaluuya
Kumail Nanjiani
Timothée Chalamet
Daveed Diggs
Barry Keoghan
Grace Van Patten
2016
Riz Ahmed
Mahershala Ali
Rachel Brosnahan
Ana de Armas
Alden Ehrenreich
Tavi Gevinson
Kara Hayward
Lucas Hedges
Aja Naomi King
John Legend
2015
Christopher Abbott
Emory Cohen
Thomas Mann
Bel Powley
Rebecca Ferguson
Jason Mitchell
Maika Monroe
LaKeith Stanfield
Tessa Thompson
Jessie T. Usher
2014
Kaitlyn Dever
Eve Hewson
Dakota Johnson
Lola Kirke
Zoe Kravitz
Caleb Landry Jones
Jack O’Connell
Tye Sheridan
Jenny Slate
Miles Teller
2013
Dane Dehaan
Scott Haze
Jack Huston
Oscar Isaac
Michael B. Jordan
Brie Larson
Tatiana Maslany
Lupita Nyong’o
David Oyelowo
Léa Seydoux
2012
Adam Driver
Bella Heathcote
Domnhall Gleeson
Dree Hemingway
Boyd Holbrook
Elyas M’Barek
Scoot McNairy
Nate Parker
Imogen Poots
Alicia Vikander
2011
Stine Fischer Christensen
Ezra Miller
Emily Browning
Alexander Skarsgard
Shailene Woodley
Anton Yelchin
2010
Jessica Chastain
Freida Pinto
Brittany Robertson
Zrinka Cvitešic
Anaïs Demoustier
Pihla Viitala
2009
Emmy Rossum
Rooney Mara
Zach Gilford
Emma Stone
Alba Rohrwacher
Cyron Melville
Samuli Varaumo
2008
Jake Abel
Kate Mara
Taylor Kitsch
Hannah Herzsprung
Maryam Hassouni
Anamaria Marinca
2007
Hannah Herzsprung
Jess Weixler
Blake Lively
Egbert Jan Weeber
2006
Carmen Chaplin
Matt Davis
Dagmara Dominczyk
Noah Fleiss
Mido Hamada
Sandra Hüller
2005
Eugene Byrd
Kip Pardue
Emily Blunt
Florian Lukas
Elizabeth Reaser
Jake Muxworthy
2004
Norman Reedus
Vinessa Shaw
Aaron Stanford
Mark Webber
Eugenia Yuan
2003
Mylika Davis
GQ
Savannah Haske
Dean Wareham
Elizabeth Moss
2002
Jordan Bridges
Jacqueline Kim
Ryan Locke
Andrea Navedo
Susan May Pratt
