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Anne Chaisson, executive director of Hamptons Film Festival presenting organization HamptonsFilm, will step down from her post after this fall’s edition of the fest.

After initially connecting with HamptonsFilm as a producer of films screened during the festival, Chaisson co-founded and co-chaired the organization’s advisory board in 2002. She became executive director in 2012.

Randy Mastro, Chairman of the Board for HamptonsFilm, plans to appoint a subcommittee of the board to conduct a national search for Chaisson’s replacement, who will be chosen after this year’s October festival.

The festival, held at multiple venues about 100 miles east of New York City on the east end of Long Island, has become a notable stop on the fall circuit since its launch in 1992. It has gained traction in large part due to the number of influential figures in the industry and adjacent sectors who spend their summers in the Hamptons. The...

Anne Chaisson will step down as the executive director of HamptonsFilm, the non-profit behind the annual Hamptons International Film Festival.

Chaisson has served as the executive director of the nonprofit since 2012. During her tenure, the fest expanded from five to 11 days, adding several new awards and honors and became a stop for awards season hopefuls.

Randy Mastro, HamptonsFilm board chairman, will appoint a subcommittee to find a new executive director. The selection will come after this year’s Hamptons International Film Festival, running Oct. 4 to 14.

Artistic director David Nugent and the rest of the programming team will remain in place.

“I’m so proud of the work we’ve done together, transforming HamptonsFilm from a single annual event into a vibrant year-round non-profit organization,” said Chaisson. “My tenure at HamptonsFilm has been one of the most fulfilling of my career, and the challenge to grow a non-profit in such extraordinary...

The 2024 edition of the Hamptons International Film Festival (Hiff) has finally unveiled its Opening Night selection — and a partial lineup.

The beloved local festival, hosted by HamptonsFilm, is celebrating its 32nd annual program. The festival will take place from October 4-14.

Hiff opens with the east coast premiere of R.J. Cutler’s “Martha” documentary about the life and legacy of Martha Stewart. Academy Award-nominated and Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning director Cutler captures mogul Stewart through a series of candid interviews that chart her early start on Wall Street to becoming a housewares icon. Cutler previously directed the definitive Anna Wintour and Vogue documentary “The September Issue.”

“It feels only fitting that we open this year’s event with R.J. Cutler’s portrait of Martha Stewart,” HamptonsFilm Executive Director Anne Chaisson said. “We are delighted to welcome Martha — a truly trailblazing cultural figure and an East End resident of more...

The 2024 Hamptons Film Festival will open with the East Coast premiere of R.J. Cutler’s Martha Stewart documentary, Martha, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Martha, from the Oscar-nominated and Emmy- and Peabody-winning Cutler, is being characterized as the definitive documentary on Stewart and includes a number of candid interviews with the businesswoman and lifestyle personality. The film is expected to be released by Netflix later this year.

“It feels only fitting that we open this year’s event with R.J. Cutler’s portrait of Martha Stewart,” said HamptonsFilm executive director Anne Chaisson. “We are delighted to welcome Martha — a truly trailblazing cultural figure and an East End resident of more than three decades — back to the Hamptons community with open arms and give her space to graciously share her inspiring story with us all.”

The festival will also host the world premieres of the Kenneth Cole documentary A Man With Sole,...

HamptonsFilm’s 16th annual SummerDocs series will feature three Sundance favorites: “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” “War Game,” and “Super/Man:The Christopher Reeve Story.” HamptonsFilm and Hamptons Intl. Film Festival artistic director David Nugent and chairman emeritus Alec Baldwin will lead conversations with attending filmmakers and guests.

The series will kick-off on July 5 with Jeff Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina’s “Skywalkers: A Love Story.” Following a successful Sundance debut, Netflix acquired the worldwide rights to the docu about daredevil couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus from Moscow, as they take their relationship to terrifying new heights in a wild scheme to climb the world’s last great skyscraper and perform a death-defying stunt on its spire. Following the screening, Bukhonina will take part in a Q&a.

Tony Gerber and Jesse Moss’s “War Game” will screen on July 20 followed by Q&a with both filmmakers. The docu, which debuted at Sundance 2024, imagines a nation-wide insurrection,...

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has unveiled its slate of public programming for the 2024 spring season, which will include a tribute and retrospective of the work of Marlon Brando, a May the 4th “Star Wars” celebration and a world premiere 4K restoration of “Amadeus,” among others.

The Academy Museum will screen John Waters’ short films “Roman Candles” and “Hag in a Black Leather Jacket” with live commentary by Waters. Exhibitions include a celebration of Oscar-winning music in Indian cinema, a film series focused on queer female lensers in early Hollywood, a retrospective on actor Youn Yuh-Jung, a behind-the-scenes presentation of Dykstraflex, used to film the original “Star Wars” trilogy.

Special guests will include Ed Begley Jr., Cary Elwes, Jane Fonda, Yunte Huang, Nyla Innuksuk, Dr. Naomi Oreskes, Patricia Rozema, Bird Runningwater, Mink Stole, John Waters, Youn Yuh-jung and more.

“This spring, we’re delighted to present an array of one-of-a-kind programming,...

Exclusive: The Jackson Hole International Film Festival will debut December 8 to 10 in Jackson, Wy, via a new partnership with the Hamptons International Film Festival.

The mountain town is a longtime destination for vacationers and outdoor sports enthusiasts and also home, at least seasonally, to a number of film industry figures. Among the latter is local resident Stuart Suna, former owner of New York production mainstay Silvercup Studios, co-founder of the Hamptons fest and founder of the new event in Jackson.

The inaugural outing will feature eight narrative and documentary features, all selected by

Hamptons Artistic Director David Nugent. The opening film is I‘ll Be Right There, a comedy starring Edie Falco, Jeannie Berlin, Kayli Carter, Charlie Tahan and Bradley Whitford and exec produced by Falco and Jessie Eisenberg. It world premiered last month in the Hamptons.

“A film festival is a great way to stimulate artistic imagination and contribute to the culture of the community,...

Talk about ending with a flourish.

Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” a critically acclaimed look at the dramatic life and career of composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, will close the 2023 edition of the Hamptons International Festival. “Maestro,” which co-stars Carey Mulligan, will screen on Oct. 12. It is set to be released by Netflix on Dec. 20.

“’Maestro’ is a beautifully crafted, raw and heartfelt film. We look forward to sharing this glimpse into the love story between Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein,” said HamptonsFilm Executive Director Anne Chaisson.

The annual celebration of movies also announced its full lineup of programming, which includes additional signature programming including “A Conversation with…” Series with Paul Simon, who will be on hand to talk up a new, sprawling look at his six decades of making cultural-defining hits. Simon, a rock icon who has written everything from “The Sound of Silence” to “Graceland,” is attending...

The 2023 Hamptons International Film Festival has officially unveiled its Centerpiece screening and special events lineup.

Alex Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon” will be this year’s Centerpiece presentation, screening October 6. Prolific documentarian Gibney previously helmed Theranos doc “The Inventor” and “Restless Dreams” will be making its New York premiere at the East End festival.

Gibney spent three years on “In Restless Dreams” following musician Simon’s creation of new album “Seven Psalms.”

“In early 2021 amid the pandemic, Paul invited me to film him while he was making his most recent album, ‘Seven Psalms.’ Paul was losing his hearing in one ear, and it was a devastating time,” Gibney said in a press statement (via Deadline). “His tribulations in making that album about faith and mortality are the emotional heart of this story. Creating a visual dreamscape to meet Paul’s life as an artist has been painstaking,...

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including red carpets for Blue Beetle, Strays and Ahsoka.

Oceana’s Rock Under the Stars

Oceana hosted its fifth annual Rock Under the Stars event on Saturday with a special performance from Gladys Knight and featuring celebrity guests Ted Danson, Woody Harrelson, Mary Steenburgen, Sam Waterston, Sally Pressman, Ed Begley Jr. and Tommy Chong.

Keri Selig, Oceana CEO Andrew Sharpless, Mary Steenburgen, Gladys Knight, Ted Danson and Oceana board president Keith Addis Woody Harrelson and Ted Danson

LA Regional Food Bank’s A Million Reasons Celebration

Ted Danson, Jeff Goldblum, Dylan McDermott, Mary Steenburgen and Sam Waterston supported the LA Regional Food Bank at an event on Sunday.

Sam Waterston, Emilie Livingston, Jeff Goldblum, Mary Steenburgen, Ted Danson, Keith Addis, Dylan McDermott and Keri Selig

HamptonsFilm SummerDocs Joan Baez I Am...

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “Nyad” will be the opening night film of the Hamptons International Film Festival. The event will take place on Oct. 5, according to HamptonsFilm, which runs the festival.

It is the East Coast premiere of the Netflix release, which is shaping up to be one of the streaming service’s major awards season hopefuls. It has a cast of heavyweights, including Oscar-nominee Annette Bening, Oscar-winner Jodie Foster and Rhys Ifans. Julia Cox wrote the script.

The film details the quest by American marathon swimmer Diana Nyad (Bening) to complete a 53-hour, 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida, through open ocean, without a shark cage. Vasarhelyi is scheduled to attend the festival and will participate in a post-screening conversation on the film. The premiere is sponsored by Audi.

“Nyad” is the narrative feature directorial debut for Vasarhelyi and Chin, who have won an Academy Award,...

Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Benson in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Pic credit: NBC

Mariska Hargitay is about to get a significant honor.

The Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star will receive the Dick Cavett Artistic Champion Award at the 30th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival.

This is a great honor for the actress, who has striven to be an advocate for various women’s rights groups and uses her role as Olivia Benson to bring attention to important issues.

It comes as the actress prepares for Season 24 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, with the first episode seemingly doing a story based on a recent (and huge) celebrity trial.

That will highlight another strong year for Hargitay as she continues her work on the iconic NBC series.

Aside from being the only member of the original Law & Order: Special Victims Unit cast from when the...

The 2022 Hamptons International Film Festival has unveiled its lineup of films.

The 30th anniversary of Hiff kicks off October 7 with five world-premiere screenings including locally shot “Who Invited Charlie?” directed by Xavier Manrique, screening as both a Spotlight selection and as part of the Signature Program Views from Long Island section, supported by Suffolk County Film Commission. Jordana Brewster, Adam Pally, and Reid Scott lead the film about a Hamptons-based family who are forced to come to terms with their past after a mysterious Charlie unexpectedly shows up. The festival runs October 7 through 16.

Discovery+’s “January 6th” documentary, directed by Jules and Gédéon Naudet, also makes its world premiere as part of the World Cinema Documentary section. The film examines the January 6 insurrection from the unique perspective of the heroes, first responders, and survivors of the attack as they reveal their first-hand experience of the stand. “Pinball – The Man Who Saved the Game,...

HamptonsFilm has unveiled the lineup for its 14th annual SummerDocs series and it includes Sara Dosa’s “Fire of Love,” Daniel Roher’s “Navalny” and Jason Kohn’s “Nothing Lasts Forever.” Presented by Alec Baldwin with co-curation from David Nugent, artistic director of the affiliated Hamptons Intl. Film Festival, each screening will be followed by a conversation with that documentary’s director.

The series will kick-off on June 25 with “Fire of Love.” Following a successful Sundance debut, National Geographic Documentary Films acquired the worldwide rights to the docu. Neon subsequently partnered with Nat Geo to release the film about married volcanologists on July 6.

Roher’s “Navalny” will screen on July 23 followed by a Q&a led by Baldwin. About Alexei Navalny, the leader of the Russian opposition who survived an assassination attempt by poisoning with a lethal nerve agent in August 2020, “Navalny” premiered at Sundance to rave reviews and received...

Murina, the Croatian drama directed by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović that world premiered earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival, was named the Best Narrative Feature at the Hamptons Film Festival, which handed out awards Monday for its 2021 edition.

Other winners include Jessica Kingdon’s Ascension, which took the Best Documentary Feature honor after doing the same at the Tribeca Film Festival this year. Egungun (Masquerade), directed by Olive Nwosu, and In Flow of Words, directed by Eliane Esther Bots, won for Best Narrative Short Film and Best Documentary Short Film, respectively. Both now qualify for Oscar consideration.

This year’s fest screened 61 films from 34 countries, with 53% of its lineup directed by women and 36% by filmmakers of color.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring everyone safely back together this year,” said Anne Chaisson, HamptonsFilm executive director. “It so clearly remains that our community out East loves cinema...

Last spring, as Covid-19 vaccines began rolling out and movie theaters and other venues reopened, organizers of the New York Film Festival were pretty sure they wouldn’t be forced back to the drive-in.

They soon would decide to require vaccination of all staff, filmmakers, audience members and other participants (a call then validated by New York City’s enactment of its own vaccine mandate). Despite feeling a surge of relief and energy at the prospect of returning to in-person activity at Lincoln Center after a 2020 festival of drive-in and virtual screenings, they also had a few questions. Or, actually, a lot of questions.

“Our ambitions are always very big,” fest director Eugene Hernandez told Deadline in an interview. “Now, though, we had to ask, ‘How do we scale this?’ How do we go all in on the cinematic experience? How do we do it safely?”

The ensuing months leading...

“Mothering Sunday,” a steamy British drama starring Odessa Young, Josh O’Connor and Olivia Colman, will have its U.S. premiere as the centerpiece film at the Hamptons International Film Festival.

The annual event, running from Oct. 7 through Oct. 13, will also screen Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” Clint Bentley’s “Jockey,” Penny Lane’s “Listening to Kenny G” and Rachel Fleit’s “Introducing, Selma Blair.”

“Every year we work to bring our audiences out east a diverse and thoughtful selection of films that excite and expand perspectives. We look forward to welcoming this year’s films and filmmakers to the 29th edition,” said Anne Chaisson, executive director of HamptonsFilm. “We are overjoyed to once again be bringing our community together in celebration of some of the year’s most incredible films.”

As previously announced, The Hamptons International Film Festival will host Celine Sciamma’s “Petite Maman,” Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s documentary “Julia,...

The 28th Hamptons International Film Festival has honored director Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection as its Best Narrative Feature.

The event, running Oct. 8-14, announced its award winners at a virtual ceremony, handing out more than $29,500 in cash awards and $130,000 in goods and services. This year’s festival is running October 8 – 14 with virtual screenings and drive-ins.

Other winners announced today include Collective (Colectiv), directed by Alexander Nanau, as the Best Documentary Feature. The film will be released by Magnolia Pictures and Participant on November 20th.

Entre Tu Y Milagros, directed by Mariana Saffon, received Best Narrative Short Film award, and The Game (Das Spiel), directed by Roman Hodel, won for Best Documentary Short Film. Both Short Films will qualify for Academy Awards consideration.

This year’s narrative and documentary jury was comprised of Todd Lieberman, coowner of Mandeville Films and Television and producer on The Aeronauts,...

The Hamptons International Festival has added awards contenders “Ammonite,” “Wander Darkly” and “Minari” to its screening schedule for the 28th edition.

Hiff previously announced the festival would open with the world premiere the documentary “With Drawn Arms” on Oct. 8. Regina King’s “One Night in Miami” will be the closing night film. The festival is taking place virtually and with drive-in screens due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Ammonite” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. It stars Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan in a 19th Century romance based on the life of British paleontologist Mary Anning. “Minari” features Steven Yeun as the father of a Korean American family that moves to Arkansas in search for their own American Dream. Winslet and Yeun will participate in the festival’s “A Conversation With…” series.

“Wander Darkly” stars Siena Miller and Diego Luna as a couple who endure a tragic accident. Variety reported...

The Hamptons Film Festival will open its virtual and drive-in edition with the world premiere of With Drawn Arms, the documentary about the legacy of Olympian Tommie Smith’s fist-raising moment at the 1968 Olympics.

The film will also be awarded Hiff’s Film of Conflict & Resolution Award, given to a project that deals with the complex issues and societal effects of war and violence, and the attendant human dramas, in creative ways. It comes with a $5,000 cash prize from the Brizzolara Family Foundation.

The pared down festival will run October 8-14 and also world premiere Rick Korn’s Harry Chapin: When In Doubt, Do Something, about the award-winning songwriter.

Highlighting the Spotlight section is Florian Zeller’s The Father, starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, while other notable pics in the lineup include Edson Oda’s Nine Days starring Winston Duke and Zazie Beetz, and Elizabeth Lo’s documentary Stray,...

The Hamptons Intl. Film Festival continues its 27-year run as a premier showcase for both contemporary global cinema and the most eagerly awaited awards season prestige movies.

Unspooling among the tony beach towns of New York’s Long Island, it’s earned a reputation as a kind of East Coast Telluride.

“It’s pretty busy,” says executive director Anne Chaisson. “Twenty-five thousand people descending on the area to come see movies is significant.”

Running Oct. 10-14, Hiff is less focused on splashy world premieres than in serving as a comfortable, slightly glamorous waystation for the most acclaimed titles on the international festival circuit. If there’s a movie you’ve heard about from Cannes, Venice or Berlin, you’re likely to find it in East Hampton.

Artistic director David Nugent, a Hamptons local, takes a curatorial approach to programming.

“We’re trying to bring a mixture of what we think...

The Hamptons Film Festival said Wednesday that it his launched a parent company, HamptonsFilm, which will be tasked with overseeing the Long Island, NY-based fest’s year-round programming that has expanded since the founding of the nonprofit in 1992. A website, hamptonsfilm.org, launches today ahead of the 2019 festival, which is set to run October 10-14.

The organization said under the new banner it will continue to present the festival each October, as well as support programs including weekly “Now Showing” screenings, April’s annual Screenwriters Lab, the SummerDocs series and free outdoor screenings, and year-round Hiff Jr. education initiatives.

“I’ve been thrilled to watch the Hamptons International Film Festival evolve over nearly three decades from a five-day film festival to an organization providing year-round film programming and education to nearly a million film enthusiasts throughout the region,” said Randy Mastro, board co-chair.”The arts — and, in particular, film — bring...

The Hamptons Film Festival will open with Just Mercy, a legal drama that Warner Bros. plans to release commercially this Christmas, and will also screen Disney’s Ford v Ferrari as its Centerpiece selection.

The 27th annual edition of the fest will be held over Columbus Day weekend, October 10-14.

Along with the two tentpole titles, the festival will feature Sundance prize-winner Clemency, along with a conversation with star Alfre Woodard, who plays a prison warden troubled by presiding over inmates’ executions. Marking her well-received performance in director Chinonye Chukwu’s film, the festival will feature Woodard in a conversation reflecting on her career, which has yielded Emmy and Golden Globe wins plus an Oscar nomination.

Four world premieres of documentaries were also announced by fest organizers. They are: Conscience Point, about the Shinnecock Nation’s fight for ancestral rights in Southampton; National Enquirer portrait Scandalous; mass-shooting exploration In Memoriam; and water-crisis examination Flint.

Having celebrated its 25th anniversary last fall, the Hamptons Intl. Film Festival is well- established as a star-studded, resort-style showcase for the buzziest films of awards season.

For Hiff artistic director David Nugent, the numbers speak for themselves. “In each of the last eight years, one of the films in our festival has gone on to win best picture, and there were 47 Oscar nominations [for films] in the festival last year. I think for a lot of audiences, particularly on the East Coast, it’s the first place they’ll see a lot of the films that go on to do well in the awards race.”

Despite the impressive track record, he insists that Oscar prognostication is not at the heart of the festival’s mission. “We’re a year-round organization, devoted to bringing important and worthwhile films to our audiences,” he says.

And anyway, it’s not always obvious which films are Oscar-bound.

Film Festival Alliance (Ffa) announced today it has named Lela Meadow-Conner as the organization’s Executive Director; She has served as Acting Executive Director since April 2017.Ffa and the film festival industry have grown rapidly over the past several years. We’re thrilled to have Lela fill this important role at a critical time for the Alliance as we evolve from a grassroots movement into an institution that can support festival professionals and shape the future of our industry. Lela has the right mix of vision and experience to lead the organization into the new phase and I’m excited to work with her as we build, grow, and adapt

said Ffa Board President Dan Brawley, Chief Instigating Officer of Cucalorus Festival.

Meadow-Conner comes to Film Festival Alliance with over 15 years of experience in the film festival industry. A founder of the Tallgrass Film Festival, she filled several roles within...

At the first edition of the Hamptons International Film Festival in 1993, the programmers landed an event that instantly made it stand out: a conversation between Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. “That helped show the community we were for real,” artistic director David Nugent said in an interview. Twenty-five years later, nobody’s doubting Hiff’s bonafides.

Over the decades, the festival has settled into its early October weekend slot, traditionally overlapping with the New York Film Festival. That gives the exclusive Suffolk County gathering an edge during the awards season, which launches in the cozy mountains of Telluride and takes flight in Toronto. But Hiff provides the first opportunity for many Oscar hopefuls to reach Academy members and other influencers away from the mayhem of a crowded, industry-oriented festival scene.

“A lot of studios have seen the opportunity here,” said Hiff executive director Anne Chaisson, but it certainly hasn’t...

Keep up with the always-hopping film festival world with our weekly Film Festival Roundup column. Check out last week’s Roundup right here.

New Initiatives

– Exclusive: For its 2017 edition, the True/False Film Fest is partnering with Kickstarter to expand its staff childcare initiative to include visiting filmmakers, artists, and musicians. True/False will provide free, professional daycare during the four-day weekend of the Fest in order to make the festival more accessible to artists with young children.

Through this initiative, True/False and Kickstarter seek to support the real, current needs of low-income and single parents, as well as model possibilities for other festivals on how to be more feminist and equitable. With the support of Kickstarter, True/False hopes to offset the cost of expensive child care and help parents give birth to their films, build essential industry relationships and remember why documentary filmmaking is an urgent art.

Keep up with the always-hopping film festival world with our weekly Film Festival Roundup column. Check out last week’s Roundup right here.

Full Lineup Announcements

– The Chicago International Film Festival today announces the complete film and event lineup, including the International Feature Competition, Documentary Competition and Special Presentations. The festival will include Special Presentations of “Lion,” “Paterson” and the re-release of “Daughters of the Dust.” Other highlights include “After the Storm,” “Neruda” and “The Salesman.” The festival’s documentary lineup is also a typically robust one, including titles like “Among Wolves,” “Karl Marx City” and “A Mere Breath.”

Tickets go on sale Wednesday, September 21 for Cinema/Chicago members and September 23 for the general public.

– The Hamptons International Film Festival (Hiff) has announced its Spotlight Films, World Cinema, Shorts programs, Views from Long Island, and Special Screenings, as part of the 2016 festival lineup. The 24th edition will take place October 6 – 10, Columbus Day Weekend,...

Top brass at the 2015 trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) announced on Tuesday that the Oscar-nominated short film writer will serve as facilitator for this year’s Rbc Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion in September.

The fifth Rbc Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion will champion ten emerging filmmakers from the Caribbean and its diaspora and their feature film concepts.

Participants will be expected to develop a detailed treatment during the course and will pitch to a jury. The person adjudged to have presented the best project and pitch will win a cash prize of Tt$20,000, roughly equivalent to Usd $3,055.

Festival top brass will soon unveil the filmmakers selected for the Rbc Focus, which takes place from September 22-25.

Lazaridi was nominated for an Academy Award for her work on the 2001 WWII short drama One Day Crossing. Her 2011 feature Coming Up Roses starred Bernadette Peters and Peter Friedman and was directed by Lisa Albright.

She has consulted on projects for New Line and...

We have added a set pictures from the event Hamptons International Film Festival 2014. Guests included Hilary Swank, Angelica Morrow, Paul Wesley, Anne Chaisson, Joe Neumaier, Richard Gere, Kaitlyn Dever, Stuart Match Suna, David Nugent, Oren Moverman, Lola Kirke, Steven Gaydos, Bruce Weber and Lola KIrke. Photos are copyright by Jakes Van Der Watt / PR Photos. Hilary Swank attends the Hamptons International Film Festival 2014 at the Guild Hall and The Maidstone in East Hampton, NY, USA. Photo is copyright by Jakes Van Der Watt / PR Photos.

Tommy Lee Jones’ feature will screen at the 22nd Annual Hamptons International Film Festival when star Hilary Swank will take part in an on-stage conversation.

The Homesman premiered in Cannes and will open in the Us through Roadside Attractions and Saban Films on November 14.

“Beginning our 22nd annual film festival announcement with the highly acclaimed film from Tommy Lee Jones as our Centerpiece and having Hilary Swank be a part of our Signature programme Conversation with… is the tip of what Hiff will showcase this year,” said executive director Anne Chaisson.

The festival will run from October 9-13.

Tommy Lee Jones’ feature will screen at the 22nd Annual Hamptons International Film Festival when the director-actor will take part in an on-stage conversation.

Hilary Swank stars in The Homesman, which premiered in Cannes and will open in the Us through Roadside Attractions and Saban Films on November 14.

“Beginning our 22nd annual film festival announcement with the highly acclaimed film from Tommy Lee Jones as our Centerpiece and having Hilary Swank be a part of our Signature programme Conversation with… is the tip of what Hiff will showcase this year,” said executive director Anne Chaisson.

The festival will run from October 9-13.

The 21st annual Hamptons International Film Festival (October 10-14) has announced this year's lineup of signature programs set to include Helena Bonham Carter and Bruce Dern in its featured "A Conversation With..." section.   Hiff has awarded the Alfred P. Sloan film prize to Steven Bernstein for "Decoding Annie Parker" about a young woman's struggle to overcome the familial and hereditary tragedies imposed on her by breast cancer. The festival has also awarded the Conflict & Resolution Award to Carlos Agullo and Mandy Jacobson's Nelson Mandela-based documentary "Plot for Peace."  The festival, which has long celebrated and emphasized uniquely thought-provoking international films and filmmakers, has included in its program a variety of films from Egypt, Lebanon, Israel and South Africa, among others. Executive Director Anne Chaisson praised the festival's commitment to elevating globalized storytelling by remarking, "Fourteen years ago, Hiff created signature...

Working Title Films co-chairs Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner will receive the Hamptons International Film Festival’s (Hiff) Golden Starfish Award for Lifetime Achievement on October 12.

The event will be the centrepiece Hiff and BAFTA New York’s second Focus On UK Film series highlighting new UK productions featuring notable British talent.

As part of the tribute, Focus On UK Film will host a screening of Working Title’s new Richard Curtis rom-com About Time starring Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams and Bill Nighy.

Renée Zellweger, who starred in Working Title’s Bridget Jones’s Diary movies, will introduce the tribute and will be joined on stage by Curtis, Edgar Wright and Joe Wright.

Working Title’s credits include Les Misérables, Elizabeth, Four Weddings And A Funeral, Atonement and Billy Elliott.

“The Hamptons International Film Festival is pleased to recognise Working Title Films and its incredible body of work,” said Anne Chaisson, Hiff executive...

The Hamptons International Film Festival has appointed Anne Chaisson as its new executive director and promoted director of programming David Nugent to artistic director. “Having Anne onboard seems like a natural progression of events,” said festival chairman Stuart Match Suna. “She has been such an integral part of the Festival for the past ten years and we are thrilled to have her here full time. Anne’s broad background in production, business and film education make her an incredible asset the Festival and I look forward to watching it flourish under her direction.” Read More: Karen Arikian Steps Down As Executive Director of the Hamptons Film Festival A longtime producer (“Roger Dodger,” “P.S.”) and fundraiser, Chaisson has served as advisory co-chair of the Hamptons fest since 2003. She is a member of both the Ifp Producers Group and the New York Women in Film and Television. Nugent, who also teaches...

East Hampton, NY (November 28th, 2012) – The Hamptons International Film Festival announced today the appointment of Anne Chaisson as the new executive director. Chaisson, who has long been associated with the Festival, serving as Advisory Co-Chair since 2003, will begin her new post at the end of November. The festival has also promoted David Nugent to artistic director. Nugent has served as director of programming at the festival since 2008. He has also been teaching Documentary film history, and American Independent film history at The New School since 2004. Over the past decade, Chaisson has spearheaded the corporate fundraising efforts for such organizations as The Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Nantucket Film Festival, as well as the Hamptons International Film Festival. She has worked with a multitude of Fortune 500 companies including Salomon Smith Barney, MasterCard International, American Airlines, Bentley, HBO, Royal Bank of Canada, BMW, Stella Artois, Elie Tahari, Tissot, and Nestle. She...

The Film Society of Lincoln Center has named Lesli Klainberg as its new managing director and Anne Chaisson as its new associate director of corporate sponsorships. Klainberg, who is joining Fslc to manage operations on behalf of the Film Society, its programs, film festivals, theaters and educational outreach, previously served as the producer of the 49th New York Film Festival and executive director of NewFest, New York’s Lgbt film festival. In her new role, she will continue producing the annual New York Film Festival. Story: Catherine Deneuve to Receive Film Society of Lincoln Center's Chaplin Award Through her company Orchard

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The Film Society of Lincoln Center has announced two additions to their team this morning: Lesli Klainberg and Anne Chaisson. Klainberg has been brought on as Managing Director, while Chaisson will assume the role of Associate Director of Corporate Sponsorships. Prior to her new post, Klainberg served as the Producer of the 49th New York Film Festival and Executive Director of NewFest (New York's Lgbt Film Festival). As Managing Director, Klainberg will continue producing Nyff. For the past three years, she has also served as one of the Lab Leaders of the Ifp Documentary Film Lab. Chaisson comes to the Film Society with over 12 years experience developing and producing independent feature films with her company, Dirty Rice Films. Full release below: Lesli Klainberg And Anne Chaisson Join The Film Society Of Lincoln Center New York –January 19, 2011– The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today that Lesli Klainberg...

The Ifp's Independent Film Week (September 19-23rd) perfectly fits into the fall schedule of busy film activity sliding in after the Toronto Int. Film Festival and a focal point of the week is of course, the Project Forum. This year, Ifp has named a whopping 150 feature film and documentary film projects in all stages of development. I'd pay close attention to the crazy list below - I see a lot of future Sundancers and SXSWers. Here are a few that grabbed my attention: Among the feature scripts in development, we have Joan Stein's Beauty on the Vine - the project to be produced by Anne Chaisson has Olivia Wilde and David Straithairn attached. Lance Edmands' Bluebird and his producer Kyle Martin were both feature in our American New Wave 25 profiles - as is the case for Dash Shaw who is working on The Ruined Cast. Actor Ryan...

Negin Farsad of New York has taken top honors in the 2008 Every Woman's Filmmaker Competition, sponsored by Lifetime Movie Network, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Women in Film and Television, the Paley Center for Media, Wma and Women in Film Los Angeles.

Farsad's three-minute short centers on a nonprofit company headed by Jessamyn Waldman, who hired immigrant women to bake bread from their native recipes to sell on the competitive market.

Melissa Kosar of Orange County, Calif., was awarded second place. Honorable mentions went to Nicole Nietz, Elizabeth Thompson and Kiara Jones.

The winning short films are available to view online and also will air on Lmn. Farsad and Kosar will receive $5,000 and $2,500, respectively, and their films will premiere Saturday at the Hamptons International Film Festival. The winners also will receive a trip to the The Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment Breakfast on Dec. 5.

The judges included Karen Arikian, Anne Chaisson,...

You can smell the brine in "Diggers", a thoughtful, detailed, Polaroid snapshot circa 1976 of a tightly knit village of clam-diggers on Long Island's South Shore that's rich in evocative period touches.

Directed by Katherine Dieckmann from a script by actor Ken Marino, the bittersweet film does a good job in capturing a society on the cusp of change, though you wish they might have dug a little deeper in the storytelling department.

At the end of the day, this Magnolia Pictures release, which premieres on HDNet this Saturday ahead of its April 27 theatrical bow, feels more like an expertly drawn character sketch than a true moviegoing proposition.

Effectively anchoring the enterprise is Paul Rudd's performance as Hunt, a digger like his just-deceased father and grandfather before him, though one who has been noticing the telltale signs of a community beginning to crumble under the weight of corporate America.

A restless spirit to begin with, Hunt has been considering his options after laying his dad to rest, but it's going to be difficult leaving such a colorful group of family and friends behind, especially his divorced, plain-speaking (and "Hite Report"-reading) big sister, Gina (Maura Tierney).

Then there's his buddy Frankie Lozo (Marino), a bit of a Neanderthal father of five kids, and Frankie's long-suffering wife, Julie (Sarah Paulson); womanizing Jack (Ron Eldard); and Zen-embracing pot dealer Cons (Josh Hamilton).

But Hunt's eyes are also open to outside possibilities by the arrival of Zoe (Lauren Ambrose), a Manhattanite who thinks Hunt has real potential as a photographer.

There's nice work by all concerned, but after laying down the dramatic turf, Dieckmann and Marino seem to be affected by the same malaise that surrounds the entire town. There's a repetitiveness that ultimately strands the picture in that sea of good intentions.

Certainly much consideration has gone into nailing a very specific place and bicentennial time with smartly chosen TV clips, including Ford-Carter debate footage and memorable commercials of the day, while cinematographer Michael McDonough successfully evokes that unmistakable, somewhat brown around the edges, trademark '70s patina.

DIGGERS

Magnolia Pictures

An HDNet Films presentation in association with Dirty Rice Pictures

Credits:

Director: Katherine Dieckmann

Screenwriter: Ken Marino

Producers: Anne Chaisson, Jason Kliot, Joana Vicente, Ken Marino

Executive producers: Mark Cuban, Todd Wagner, David Wain

Director of photography: Michael McDonough

Production designer: Roshelle Berliner

Editors: Malcolm Jamieson, Sabine Hoffman

Costume designer: Catherine George

Music: David Mansfield

Cast:

Hunt: Paul Rudd

Zoey: Lauren Ambrose

Jack: Ron Eldard

Cons: Josh Hamilton

Julie: Sarah Paulson

Frankie Lozo: Ken Marino

Gina: Maura Tierney

Running time -- 89 minutes

MPAA rating: R...

This review was written for the theatrical release of "Diggers".You can smell the brine in "Diggers", a thoughtful, detailed, Polaroid snapshot circa 1976 of a tightly knit village of clam-diggers on Long Island's South Shore that's rich in evocative period touches.

Directed by Katherine Dieckmann from a script by actor Ken Marino, the bittersweet film does a good job in capturing a society on the cusp of change, though you wish they might have dug a little deeper in the storytelling department.

At the end of the day, this Magnolia Pictures release, which premieres on HDNet this Saturday ahead of its April 27 theatrical bow, feels more like an expertly drawn character sketch than a true moviegoing proposition.

Effectively anchoring the enterprise is Paul Rudd's performance as Hunt, a digger like his just-deceased father and grandfather before him, though one who has been noticing the telltale signs of a community beginning to crumble under the weight of corporate America.

A restless spirit to begin with, Hunt has been considering his options after laying his dad to rest, but it's going to be difficult leaving such a colorful group of family and friends behind, especially his divorced, plain-speaking (and "Hite Report"-reading) big sister, Gina (Maura Tierney).

Then there's his buddy Frankie Lozo (Marino), a bit of a Neanderthal father of five kids, and Frankie's long-suffering wife, Julie (Sarah Paulson); womanizing Jack (Ron Eldard); and Zen-embracing pot dealer Cons (Josh Hamilton).

But Hunt's eyes are also open to outside possibilities by the arrival of Zoe (Lauren Ambrose), a Manhattanite who thinks Hunt has real potential as a photographer.

There's nice work by all concerned, but after laying down the dramatic turf, Dieckmann and Marino seem to be affected by the same malaise that surrounds the entire town. There's a repetitiveness that ultimately strands the picture in that sea of good intentions.

Certainly much consideration has gone into nailing a very specific place and bicentennial time with smartly chosen TV clips, including Ford-Carter debate footage and memorable commercials of the day, while cinematographer Michael McDonough successfully evokes that unmistakable, somewhat brown around the edges, trademark '70s patina.

DIGGERS

Magnolia Pictures

An HDNet Films presentation in association with Dirty Rice Pictures

Credits:

Director: Katherine Dieckmann

Screenwriter: Ken Marino

Producers: Anne Chaisson, Jason Kliot, Joana Vicente, Ken Marino

Executive producers: Mark Cuban, Todd Wagner, David Wain

Director of photography: Michael McDonough

Production designer: Roshelle Berliner

Editors: Malcolm Jamieson, Sabine Hoffman

Costume designer: Catherine George

Music: David Mansfield

Cast:

Hunt: Paul Rudd

Zoey: Lauren Ambrose

Jack: Ron Eldard

Cons: Josh Hamilton

Julie: Sarah Paulson

Frankie Lozo: Ken Marino

Gina: Maura Tierney

Running time -- 89 minutes

MPAA rating: R...

NEW YORK -- Paul Rudd, Ken Marino, Ron Eldard, Josh Hamilton, Maura Tierney, Lauren Ambrose and Sarah Paulson have come aboard HDNet Films' Diggers, which is filming in New York under Katherine Dieckmann's direction. Magnolia Pictures -- which, like HDNet Films, is held by Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment -- will distribute the film, which will have a day-and-date TV premiere on the HDNet Movies Network. Marino wrote the film, which focuses on two generations of clam diggers and is being produced by HDNet Films' Jason Kliot and Joana Vicente, Dirty Rice's Anne Chaisson and Marino, with Wagner and Cuban as exec producers.