Tampa Film Fan

the 15th annual hamptons international film festival

I think film festivals are fascinating.  For those of you who do too, here’s part of this week’s Without A Box weekly email I received recently: 

Hamptons International Film Festival; East Hampton, New York; October 17 to 21, 2007:  Just a couple hours’ drive - or short ride on the Long Island Rail Road - from New York City, the Hamptons are renowned for providing a relaxing yet artistically stimulating respite from the urban rush. The Hamptons International Film Festival itself exudes these qualities, and welcomes thousands of visitors each year who are looking for the best in independent entertainment.

At the heart of the Festival mission is the commitment to foster independent cinema and filmmakers’ careers at early stages of development. The visibility that comes with a Hamptons selection is invaluable to an emerging filmmaker looking to make their way in the industry, and a Hamptons win takes a filmmaker even further.

The esteemed Golden Starfish Awards are the centerpiece of the Festival. The juries, a stellar gathering of industry professionals, honor filmmakers in three categories: Feature Length Narrative, Feature Length Documentary and Short Film/Video. Documentary and Short winners take home cash and in-kind prizes, and the Fiction Narrative winner receives a generous package of essential goods and services to be used towards the making of their next feature film.

The Festival is an Academy Award qualifying event for short films, making it a “Must Submit” for quality shorts. Three of the five Live Action Short nominees at the 2006 Academy Awards premiered at the Hamptons, including the winner Six Shooter. The 2007 Oscar went to West Bank Story, which was featured in the Film of Conflict and Resolution Short film section of the festival…making 2007 the second year in a row that the Oscar has gone to a Hamptons film.

June 7 - Regular Deadline (Upgraded projects save $5 off this deadline)

MISSION AND OBJECTIVE: The Hamptons International Film Festival was founded in 1993 to celebrate independent film - long, short, fiction and documentary - and to introduce a unique and varied spectrum of international films and filmmakers to audiences.

MORE ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:  The Hamptons is an elite venue for industry veterans and rookies alike. Recent Hamptons premieres include Nowhere in Africa, Open Water, Osama, Birth, Napola, Sophie Scholl:The Final Days (Oscar Nomination, Best Foreign Language Film), Sir! No Sir! (Gotham Award Nomination, Winner of Best GSA Documentary Award), Walk the Line (4 Academy Award Nominations), Avenue Montaigne and Into Great Silence.

Awards come with prizes as well as prestige. The Golden Starfish Awards for Best Fiction Feature, Documentary, and Short are collectively worth $165,000 in cash and in-kind goods and services. Other awards include the $25,000 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Prize in Science and Technology, the Kodak Award for Best Cinematographer ($6,000 in-kind), the $5,000 Zicherman Family Foundation Award for Best Screenwriter, and the $5,000 Brizzolara Family Inspirational Film Award. Graduate and Undergraduate awards are given to eight student filmmakers who receive $1,000 each.

Visit www.hamptonsfilmfest.org to learn more.