2017 Hamptons International Film Festival: Awards Roundup

The winners of the 25th annual Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) were announced on Monday, October 9th at a ceremony in East Hampton.

The winning film for Best Narrative Feature was Under the Tree, directed by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson. The film, a drama/comedy set in Iceland, is about two neighboring families that disagree over the shade cast by a tree. Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle received the award for Best Documentary Feature. Gustavo Salmerón, the director, uses his family and upbringing as subjects of the documentary.

Dekalb Elementary, directed by Reed Van Dyk, won Best Narrative Short Film, and Edith + Eddie, directed by Laura Checkoway, won for Best Documentary Short Film. Commodity City, directed by Jessica Kingdon, received an honorable mention for the documentary short film category.

The Tangerine Entertainment Juice Fund Award for an outstanding female narrative filmmaker was awarded to director Margaret Betts of Novitiate. The film is a drama centered around a young woman who questions her choice to become a nun during her training in the convent.

Wanderland, directed by Josh Klausner, won the Suffolk County Next Exposure Grant, and
Hondros, directed by Greg Campbell, received the 2017 Brizzolara Family Foundation Award for a Film of Conflict and Resolution.

The Last Pig, a documentary directed by Allison Argo that follows the life of a pig farmer, won the Zelda Penzel Giving Voice to the Voiceless Award.

I Am Evidence, directed by Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir, and produced by Mariska Hargitay, received the Victor Rabinowitz & Joanne Grant Award for Social Justice. Rabinowitz was a civil rights lawyer, and Grant was an author, filmmaker, and journalist.

The festival also honored Julie Andrews, Dick Cavett, and Patrick Stewart. Andrews received the Lifetime Achievement Award, Cavett was honored with The Dick Cavett Artistic Champion Award, and Stewart received Variety’s Creative Impact in Acting award.

Additionally, Nicolas Bedos’ Mr. & Mrs. Adelman won the Audience Award for Narrative Feature, Lisa Immordino Vreeland’s Love, Cecil took home the Audience Award for Documentary Feature, and Jacob LaMendola’s Long Shot was honored with the Audience Award for Best Short Film.

For more information about the Hamptons International Film Festival, please visit http://hamptonsfilmfest.org