And The Winners Are . . .
The Hamptons International Film Festival's biggest prize, the Golden Starfish Award for a feature film, went this year to Dani Minnick's "Falling Like This," a drama about a charismatic teenage delinquent in the 1980s and the tomboy who falls for him. The Starfish Award includes $180,000 worth of production services.
"Falling Like This" also won the $5,000 Zicherman Family Foundation Award for cinematography.
In addition, the Golden Starfish jury gave special recognition to Robert Forster, for his performance in a competing film, Dan Cohen's "Diamond Men."
Best Document
The Starfish Award for best documentary, a $10,000 prize sponsored by Court TV, went to "Keep the River On Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale" by the brother-sister filmmaking team David Shapiro and Laurie Gwen Shapiro. The film's subject, Tobia Schneebaum, lived with a cannibalistic tribe in the Peruvian Amazon in the 1950s and later with the primitive Asmat in New Guinea. The film follows his return to both places with the filmmakers.
The 80-year-old Mr. Schneebaum was in town for the festival and participated in question and answer sessions, but wasn't at Saturday's awards gala. "Tobias would have been here tonight, but he's taking a power nap," Mr. Shapiro told those gathered under the tent at Nick and Toni's. "He told us to call him if we win, so we're going to do that right now."
Springs Filmmaker
Kim Snyder's documentary "I Remember Me," about chronic fatigue syndrome, received honorable mention. Described by the filmmaker as a "medical mystery and personal journal," the film explores the widely misunderstood illness and attempts to answer some of the many unanswered questions about it. Ms. Snyder lives in Springs.
"Dog Days," a short film by Ellie Lee in which a stray man attempts to become a family pet after a global war, won the Starfish Award for best short film. "The Silent Love of the Fish," Vivian Sorenson's surrealist meditation on first love and heartbreak, was given honorable mention.
The $25,000 award for the films that "best depict the humanity and issues" of the Middle East region in the new Films of Conflict and Resolution program was divided between the Palestinian film "Naim and Wadee'a" by Najwa Najjar and the Israeli film "Happy Birthday Mr. Mograbi" by Avi Mograbi.
The Middle East
The award was made possible by Dan, Ewa, and Tammy Abraham. Alan B. Slifka of East Hampton, whose work with the coincidentally named Abraham Fund, which is sponsoring 600 programs to promote coexistence in the Middle East, was a member of a panel on Sunday about the Conflict and Resolution program, which will continue at the festival for nine more years focusing on other parts of the world.
This year's Conflict and Resolution program was not without controversy. Scattered complaints were heard that the films favored Palestinians and left-wing Israelis and the festival was reported by The New York Times to be beefing up security for participants given the volatile situation in the Middle East.
Not The Same
None of the audience awards duplicated the official ones. The audience vote for best feature film Hans Petter Moland's "Aberdeen," an intense drama about an alcoholic father and his estranged daughter who travel from Norway to Scotland to see her dying mother. The film stars Stellan Skarsgard, Lena Headey, Ian Hart, and Charlotte Rampling.
"Fresh Cut Grass," a film written, produced, and directed by a part-time Montauker, Matthew Coppola, got honorable mention from the audience. Mr. Coppola's film follows a recent college graduate through a summer of purposeful drifting, new love, and mowing lawns.
Mr. Coppola was pleased by the audiences reaction to his film, but disappointed that it wasn't in competition for the Golden Starfish Award and therefore might not have gotten the same industry attention as the films that were.
Other Awards
"They should have everyone in competition," he said. "I would have liked to have competed against everyone so every film gets seen equally."
The audiences vote for best documentary went to Amir Bar-Lev's "Fighter," which tells two stories about the survival of two Czechoslovakian Jews during World War II wrapped up in a third story about the friendship between the men, the former pilot Jan Weiner, for whom the film is named, and the author Arnost Lustig.
For best short film, the audience award went to Sheri Hellard's "Jack and Jill." Jeff Dell's short "On the Bench," a spoof that captures East Hampton's Newtown Lane and a number of local characters, got honorable mention in the audience award category.