HIFF has a long tradition of recognizing excellence across the film industry, and 2025 is no different! At HIFF33, we will honor up-and-coming stars Sydney Sweeney, Tonatiuh, and Eva Victor, and bestow our inaugural Achievement in Casting award on longtime casting director Bernard Telsey. Join us in celebrating these talents…
Bernard Telsey will receive the Achievement in Casting award at KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN on October 4.
Bernard Telsey, along with his team at The Telsey Office, have cast such films as KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, PLAINCLOTHES, WICKED 1&2, THE IDEA OF YOU, THE COLOR PURPLE, MEAN GIRLS: THE MUSICAL, IN THE HEIGHTS, TICK, TICK…BOOM, THE LITTLE MERMAID (Live Action), MARY POPPINS RETURNS, THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, INTO THE WOODS, and the upcoming MOANA (Live Action), OH WHAT FUN, THE MAN WITH THE BAG, VERITY, BEST OF THE BEST, and BEING HEUMANN. Some recent television credits include The Gilded Age, Only Murders in the Building, And Just Like That, Paradise, and This is Us.
Broadway shows include Maybe Happy Ending, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Sweeney Todd, Kimberly Akimbo, Parade, Some Like It Hot, Into the Woods, MJ: The Musical, Hamilton, Wicked, Kinky Boots, Hairspray, In the Heights, and Rent, and the upcoming shows Ragtime and The Lost Boys. Bernard is one of the co-Artistic Directors of MCC Theater and he was the 2016 recipient of the Casting Society of America’s Hoyt Bowers Award for his contributions to the profession. He is a member of AMPAS, BAFTA, and CSA, and served on the Academy Board of Governors, representing the Casting Branch.
Sydney Sweeney will receive the Achievement in Acting award at the October 4 screening of CHRISTY.
Sydney Sweeney is a critically acclaimed actress and producer who has swiftly become one of Hollywood’s most compelling voices of her generation. She earned widespread recognition for her layered performances as ‘Cassie Howard’ in HBO’s groundbreaking series Euphoria and as ‘Olivia Mossbacher’ in The White Lotus, garnering Emmy Award® nominations for both and establishing herself as a dramatic force with rare emotional range.
Equally at home across genres, Sweeney has brought her talent to the big screen with fearless versatility. She starred in and executive produced the bold horror feature IMMACULATE, a project she shepherded creatively by refining the script and pushing its boundaries on screen. She also led Sony Pictures’ romantic comedy ANYONE BUT YOU, which defied expectations to become a global box office hit. Most recently, her transformative turn in Black Bear’s CHRISTY, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2025, has already sparked early awards buzz.
Through her production company, Fifty-Fifty Films, Sweeney is championing bold, original storytelling and building projects that spotlight fresh voices and dynamic perspectives. Her work as a producer underscores her commitment to shaping meaningful narratives while broadening the scope of what audiences can expect from her both on and off screen. In 2022, she was named to TIME’s prestigious 100 Next list, cementing her reputation as both an artistic powerhouse and a cultural trailblazer—an actress-producer whose career continues to shape the future of film and television.
UBS Breakthrough Performer Tonatiuh will be honored at KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN on October 4.
Tonatiuh is an actor and screenwriter currently who stars as Molina in Bill Condon’s KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN. Most recently, Tonatiuh starred in the Netflix thriller CARRY-ON (2024), alongside Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman. His passion for the stage has led him to collaborate with prominent Los Angeles theatre companies, including IAMA Theatre Company, where he starred in Species Native to California and The House That Jake Built, and ECHO Theatre Company, where he delivered a standout performance in Fixed. On television, Tonatiuh starred as a series regular in ABC’s Promised Land, and appeared in Peacock’s Angelyne. He also lends his voice as a recurring character in Nickelodeon’s The Loud House.
UBS Breakthrough Director Eva Victor will be honored at SORRY, BABY on October 10.
Eva Victor (they/she) is a writer-director and actor whose fearless character-forward comedic sensibility has cemented them as an undeniable triple threat to watch. Victor has boldly established themself as a singular emerging cinematic voice with their feature directorial debut SORRY, BABY, which world premiered to massive acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival. The film, which Victor also wrote and stars in alongside Naomi Ackie and Lucas Hedges, was produced by Barry Jenkins’ PASTEL. Following its premiere, SORRY, BABY quickly became the breakout film of this year’s festival, winning the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, with the jury praising its “stunning honesty [and] moving sense of humor.” A24 acquired the rights to the film shortly after its premiere for a 2025 release.
Passes and packages for the HIFF33 are on sale now. A HamptonsFilm Members pre-sale for individual tickets begins September 20, with individual tickets to the general public on sale September 22. Become a HamptonsFilm Member today for early ticket access.
The 33rd annual Hamptons International Film Festival will run October 3-13, 2025, with in-person screenings and events taking place across the Hamptons. HIFF thanks this year’s festival sponsors: Presenting Sponsor Artemis Rising Foundation; Premier Sponsor Audi; Signature Sponsors UBS and IL Buco; official Media Partners WNBC, The Atlantic, Hamptons Magazine, The East Hampton Star and Variety; Premium Contributing Sponsors Netflix, Luminara Napa Valley, Assemble Media, Fox Rothschild, King & Spalding, Twomey Latham, Sotheby’s International realty, Wolffer Estate; and foundation supporters New York State Council on the Arts and Suffolk County Film Commission.
