The 34th Hamptons International Film Festival Announces Award Winners!
|
|
theater + film :: The Hamptons International Film Festival
|
Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF), presented by Artemis Rising Foundation, announced its winners for feature and short competition sections and audience awards. The 34th edition of the festival featured a lineup of more than 140 films with 205 total screenings, including 7 feature World Premieres and 8 short film World Premieres. HIFF also hosted the U.S. Premiere of BUNKER, one of 10 U.S. premieres overall at this year’s edition, and fresh off Telluride and Venice, presented 15 East Coast Premieres, including ELSINORE, WILD HORSE NINE, and THE LIBERATION. Awards were presented in the narrative and documentary categories, sponsored by Lismore Road. LA BOLA NEGRA, directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, won the Award for Best Narrative Feature. The film received a $2500 cash prize plus a camera and lens package valued at $60,000 from TCS, color correction and sound mix services valued at $5,000 from Motion Picture Exchange, $5,000 in location services from Hamptons Locations, and $2,500 in on-set teaching services from On Location Education. “This triptych of queer desire, queer memory and queer resistance weaves together an epic story using revisionist history and builds to an emotional climax that rips to the core. Not only is it full of amazing performances, anchored by the feature debut of musician-turned-actor Guitarricadelafuente, the co-directors achieve the improbable—they use disparate parts to jerry-rig an epic war movie that’s also a deeply felt love story. After years of assembling a toolbox of skills from their work in television and commercials, every tool is on full display here, with multiple musical numbers and huge group scenes showcasing directorial skills and staggering ambition well beyond their years. Los Javis continue the legacy of what Almodóvar did for queer representation in Spanish cinema: This is who we are post-Franco. We have our stories to tell and we won’t be quiet about them anymore. In a moment when fascism is knocking on our doors, having a film that showcases both the act of resistance and a love of resistance feels incredibly urgent and essential for this moment,” said Narrative Competition Jury members Cara Cusumano, Jeremy O. Harris, and David Rooney. The Narrative Competition Jury also gave a Special Mention to THE GUEST, directed by Mads Mengel. “Festivals are a place where new voices are launched and this is a particularly impactful debut. It’s very rare to see a young director not only conduct a masterful ensemble piece, but to have the amazing soloist, Trina Dyrholm, at its core perform with such virtuosity—shows us this is a director to look out for.” IF PIGEONS TURNED TO GOLD, directed by Pepa Lubojacki, received the Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film received a $2500 cash prize plus a camera and lens package valued at $20,000 from TCS, color correction and sound mix services valued at $5,000 from Motion Picture Exchange, and $5,000 in payroll services from Greenslate. “We found this film to be a bold, deeply personal story of the filmmaker’s own family struggles with addiction. It is told with provocative rawness and inventiveness,” said the Documentary Competition Jury members Carlos A. Gutiérrez, Mark Obenhaus, and Sky Sitney. “VATERLAND” OR A BULE NAMED YANTO, directed by Berthold Wahjudi, won the Award for Best Narrative Short Film, and WATER COOLER, directed by Emma V.F., won the Award for Best Documentary Short Film. Each film will take home a $1,000 cash prize and qualify for consideration for the Academy Awards® in the Best Live Action Short Film and Best Documentary Short Film categories, respectively. WATER COOLER will also receive “Hero Banner” placement, valued at $50,000 per month, across all Documentary+ platforms for 30 days. New this year, Documentary+ is awarding all five documentary shorts in competition guaranteed distribution, a dedicated showcase on the platform, and promotional support across its streaming network, social channels and newsletter. Festival audiences selected narrative feature ELSINORE, directed by Simon Stone, and documentary feature BURGUNDY, directed by Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw, as this year’s winners of the Hamptons International Film Festival Audience Awards, sponsored by Hamptons Magazine. THE GRANDFATHER PUZZLE, directed by Ora DeKornfeld received the Audience Awards for Short Film. Festival Winners for Additional AwardsMOUSE, directed by Kelly O’Sullivan & Alex Thompson won the HIFF Junior Jury Award. The inaugural HamptonsFilm Junior Jury—composed entirely of passionate storytelling students from East Hampton High School—considered a selection of films in the lineup, transitioning from casual viewers to critical evaluators. THE DRUG IN OUR POCKET, directed by Anne Sundberg, and A SONG FOR THE SNOW LION, directed by Pawo Choyning Dorji, were awarded the 2026 Artemis Rising Foundation Raise the Vibration Award for Social Impact. The Artemis Rising Foundation champions powerful stories about our most challenging social justice issues. THE DRUG IN OUR POCKET received a $10,000 cash prize, and A SONG FOR THE SNOW LION received a $5,000 cash prize. LASER-GATO, directed by Lucas Acher, was awarded the 2026 Peter Macgregor-Scott Memorial Award. The award, accompanied by a $10,000 cash prize, aims to continue the celebrated producer’s mentorship for a new generation of passionate filmmakers. Sponsored by Susan Macgregor-Scott, it recognizes narrative short filmmakers and rewards creative approaches to solving practical production challenges in the service of storytelling. WHAT WILL I BECOME?, directed by Lexie Bean and Logan Rozos, and WELCOME TO PARIS, directed by Al Karr, were awarded the 2026 Sherzum Award. Sponsored by producer and longtime LGBTQ+ activist Jayne Baron Sherman, the award acknowledges and fosters stories about LGBTQ+ people, issues and concerns. Named for Jayne and her wife Deborah Zum, the Sherzum Award encourages films that show the realities and challenges, as well as the successes, of the people and communities they represent. WHAT WILL I BECOME? received a $10,000 cash prize, and WELCOME TO PARIS received a $5,000 cash prize. THE CHOICE, directed by John David Coles, was awarded the 2026 Brizzolara Family Foundation Award for Films of Conflict & Resolution and a $5,000 cash prize. The award recognizes a film in the Films of Conflict & Resolution program, which showcases films that focus on the realities of human conflict and injustice around the world and inspire discussion about the possibilities for resolution. BARBIZON, directed by Jake Silbermann, was awarded the 2026 Suffolk County Next Exposure Grant. The $3,000 grant, sponsored by the Suffolk County Film Commission, is awarded to a film in the Views From Long Island section. It supports the completion of high-quality, original, director-driven, low-budget independent films from emerging and established filmmakers who have completed 50% of principal photography within Suffolk County. WILD INSIDE, directed by Penny Lane, was awarded the 2026 Zelda Penzel “Giving Voice to the Voiceless” Award. The award goes to a film in the Compassion, Justice and Animal Rights section that raises public awareness and provokes discussion about contemporary issues of social concern, with a focus on the rights and the moral and ethical treatment of animals. The $2,500 award is presented to a film that inspires compassion, motivates action and compels change. It is given by Zelda Penzel, a longtime educator, advocate and HIFF volunteer since the festival’s inception. NAZA, directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, was awarded the 2026 Victor Rabinowitz & Joanne Grant Award for Social Justice. The annual award, accompanied by a $2,000 cash prize presented by Mark Rabinowitz, honors a film that exemplifies the values of peace, equality, global justice and civil liberties. It is named for two people who spent their lives fighting for those values: civil rights lawyer Victor Rabinowitz and his wife Joanne Grant, an author, filmmaker and journalist. BEN’IMANA, directed by Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo, and THE DRUG IN OUR POCKET, directed by Anne Sundberg, were awarded the 2026 New York Women in Film & Television Award for Excellence in Narrative Filmmaking and the 2026 New York Women in Film & Television Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking, respectively. These awards honor outstanding female filmmakers who have demonstrated exceptional artistic vision and dedication to their craft. Both films received a $1,000 cash prize and a one-year membership to NYWIFT. The festival also announced the recipients of the University Short Film Awards, honoring emerging young talent and awarding five filmmakers cash prizes of $500 each. Awardees include RAGE, directed by Fran Moreno Blanco and Santi Pujol Amat; NOT VALID FOR TRAVEL, directed by Jiaying Lin; GENDER STUDIES, directed by Jamie Kiernan O’Brien; MEMORIES OF A WINDOW, directed by Mehraneh Salimian and Amin Pakparvar; and LASER-GATO, directed by Lucas Acher. As previously announced the festival honored Bob Balaban with the Lifetime Achievement Award, Phil Lord and Chris Miller with the Achievement in Directing Award, Jordan Firstman with the FLYTE Breakthrough Director Award, Anthony Ippolito and Rosalind Eleazar with the FLYTE Breakthrough Performer Awards, and Nina Gold with the Deadline Disruptor Achievement in Casting Award. The Narrative Jury included Tribeca Festival Director and Senior Vice President of Programming Cara Cusumano, Tony Award-nominated playwright, screenwriter, and actor Jeremy O. Harris, and The Hollywood Reporter’s Chief Film Critic David Rooney; and Cinema Tropical Co-Founding Executive Director Carlos A. Gutiérrez, director and producer Mark Obenhaus, and DC/DOX co-founder and Festival Director Sky Sitney made up this year’s Documentary Jury. This year the Festival was honored to partner with the New York Film Critics Circle for the eighteenth year. “Congratulations to this year’s award winners, whose films stayed with our audiences long after the credits rolled,” said HamptonsFilm Chief Creative Officer David Nugent. “From LA BOLA NEGRA, our jury’s pick for Best Narrative Feature, to ELSINORE, which won over our audiences, this year’s honorees brought stories from around the world and right here on Long Island to the East End. Many of these films are heading into awards season with real momentum, and we’re proud the Hamptons is once again part of that journey. We’re deeply grateful to everyone who makes the festival possible, including our filmmakers, jurors, sponsors, board, staff, volunteers and, of course, our audiences.” Festival attendees included Sindha Agha, Livia Albeck-Ripka, Josh Alexander, Waad Al-Kateab, Louis Anania, Annabelle Attanasio, Lauren Avinoam, Maiken Baird, Bob Balaban, Alec Baldwin, Anna Barnes, Elizabeth Baudouin, Lexie Bean, Beau Bedford, Ed Begley Jr., Dori Berinstein, Ryan Biegel, Ada Bland, Carl Bernstein, Thai Bonapart, Nanette Burstein, Carter Burwell, Philip Byron, Colin Cadarette, Lindsay Calleran, Sofia Camargo, Sophie Chahinian, Neil Chatterjee, Alison Chernick, Julie Cohen, John David Coles, Katie Colwell, Dominic Cooper, Bryan Cranston, Akanksha Cruczynski, Michael Cuomo, Victor Cunha, Grant Cutler, Rick Cutter, Leslye Davis, Zella Day, Blythe Danner, Anne de Mare, Lauren DeFilippo, Michael DeGrandpre, Ora DeKornfeld, Nina Dobrev, Pawo Choyning Dorji, Owen Dubeck, Michael Dweck, Jesse Eisenberg, Rosalind Eleazar, Tovah Feldshuh, Nicholas Ferrall, Jordan Firstman, Alex Huston Fischer, Luther Ford, Bastien Garcia, Hunter Gause, Karma Gelek, Richard Gelfond, Alex Gibney, John Gilroy, Tony Gilroy, Griffin Gluck, Nina Gold, Jillian Goldstein, Carolina Gonzalez Valencia, Eli Goss, Bella Graves, Ryan Harrington, Cassidy Hartmann, Jack Heller, Mye Hoang, Sarah Catherine Hook, Ron Howard, Rhys Ifans, Anthony Ippolito, Josh Izenberg, Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, Tamar Joffe, Jake Junkins, David Kaplan, Al Karr, Alexandra Kern, Henry Kinder, Greg Kohs, Beth Kojima, Gary Krieg, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Penny Lane, Iazua Larios, Hope Lennox, Viridiana Lieberman, Jiaying Lin, Vicky Liu, Phil Lord, Pepa Lubojacki, Tara Mallen, Fern Mallis, Frank Marshall, Brett Marty, Scott McGehee, Katy McHugh, Scoot McNairy, Mads Mengel, Célia Millat, Chris Miller, Eliza Mitnick, Mary Elizabeth Monda, Andrew Morgan, Zach Morgan, Sarah Mowaswes, Pete Muller, Wafa Mustafa, Dana Nachman, Tim Blake Nelson, Brian Nugent, Jamie Kiernan O’Brien, Kelly O’Sullivan, Janet Hyojo Oh, Anette Ostrø, Amin Pakparvar, Erica Pappas, Kirsten Pasewaldt, Andrew Penn, Melinda Pinecone, Alex Pritz, Lily Rabe, Paul Raci, Jeff Ragovin, Marion Roaman, Yamil Rodriguez, Logan Rozos, Lindsey Ryan, Ellie Sachs, Ira Sachs, Ilyas Sakrouhi, Meriem Sakrouhi, Mehraneh Salimian, Magnus Sandnes, Matteo Sangalli, Vic Sarin, Samantha Scolarici, Gabriel Sedgwick, Sophie Seyd, Amanda Seyfried, Ellie Shanahan, Cindy Sherman, Natalie Shirinian, Dallin Shovlin, David Siegel, Holly Siegel, Jake Silbermann, Nigel Sinclair, John Slattery, Kaily Morgan Smith, Roberta Smith, Jason Spingarn-Koff, Mike Spreter, Joan Stein, Trudie Styler, Victor Tadashi Suarez, Anne Sundberg, Lillian Thakuria, Alex Thompson, Barnaby Thompson, Josh Thompson, Ellen Toland, YuHan Tsai, John Turturro, Emma V.F., Beatriz Valencia, Jordan Walker-Pearlman, Eric Weber, Nick Weber, Betsy West, Emmy Wheeler, Sighle Williams, Eleanor Wilson, Quinn Whitney Wilson, Fletcher Wolfe, Jesse Woods, Jeremy Workman, Helen Yum, Erika Zorzi, Ruth Zukerman, and more. HIFF thanks this year’s festival sponsors: Presenting Sponsor Artemis Rising Foundation; Premier Sponsor Audi (official vehicle); Lead sponsor Flyte (official air travel partner); Signature Sponsors Luminara Napa Valley, Medallion Financial, Once Upon A Time Productions, and Hamptons Magazine; Premium Contributing Sponsors Netflix, Shadowbox Studios, Assemble Media, Lismore Road, Almatcha, UBS, Twomey Latham, Sotheby’s International realty, Withum, IL Buco, Fox Rothschild, and Hampton Jitney; Official Media Partners WNBC, The Express News Group, The Atlantic, Long Island Broadcasting (WEHM, WBAZ & WBEA), Dan’s Papers, Now Voyager, and The Gotham/Filmmaker Magazine; Contributing Sponsors Discover Long Island, The Hedges Inn, The Maidstone, Faraway Sag Harbor, Regal Cinemas, Southampton Playhouse, Wolffer Estate, Silvercup Studios, Dos Hombres Tequila, Second Sip Gin, 91 East, Guild Hall, Moby’s, Lion’s Nook, Nick & Toni’s, NYWIFT, Primo Aperitivo, Serafina, Stony Brook Southampton hospital, The White Room Gallery, and Shou Sugi Ban House. Foundation supporters include New York State Council on the Arts and Suffolk County. Hamptons International Film Festival Congratulates The 2026 Winners!HIFF Award Winner for Best Narrative Feature HIFF Award Winner for Best Documentary Feature HIFF Award Winner for Best Narrative Short Film HIFF Award Winner for Best Documentary Short Film HIFF Audience Award Winner for Best Narrative Feature HIFF Audience Award Winner for Best Documentary Feature HIFF Audience Award Winner for Best Short Film The Artemis Rising Foundation Raise the Vibration Award for Social Impact The Peter Macgregor-Scott Memorial Award The Brizzolara Family Foundation Award for Films of Conflict & Resolution The Victor Rabinowitz & Joanne Grant Award for Social Justice The Zelda Penzel “Giving Voice to the Voiceless” Award The Suffolk County Next Exposure Grant The Sherzum Award New York Women in Film & Television Award for Excellence in Narrative Filmmaking New York Women in Film & Television Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking University Short Film Awards Previously Announced Awards: Lifetime Achievement Award Achievement in Directing Award FLYTE Breakthrough Director Award FLYTE Breakthrough Performer Award Deadline Disruptor Achievement in Casting Award HIFF Narrative Feature Competition Jury HIFF Documentary Feature Competition Jury About The Hamptons International Film Festival
 |
