Hamptons Film Festival honors ‘20,000 Species of Bees,’ Audience Award goes to ‘Fresh Kills’

Bill McCuddy
·5 min read
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There were no clear Oscar signals coming out of the 31st Hamptons International Film Festival. Still, there were some admirable stats for the eastern Long Island event that’s a favorite with filmmakers and locals. This year HIFF screened a lineup of films that were 49% female-directed and represented 42 countries from around the world. The festival had a record number of submissions this year and screened 72 features and 46 shorts with eight world premieres, three North American premieres, 12 US premieres, 13 East Coast premieres, and seven New York premieres.

SEEJennifer Esposito (‘Fresh Kills’): First-time director brings feminist mob movie to 31st Hamptons Film Festival

Best Narrative Film went to “20,000 Species Of Bees,” directed by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren (watch the trailer above). “Tell Them You Love Me,” directed by Nick August-Perna, nabbed the Award for Best Documentary Feature. HIFF audiences selected narrative feature “Fresh Kills,” by first time director Jennifer Esposito, and documentary feature “Angel Applicant,” directed by Ken August Meyer, for this year’s Audience Awards.

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Esposito revealed at a Tuesday night screening that “studios wanted to give me $5 million if I cast a big name like Brad Pitt in the male lead. I told them this is a woman’s film.” The mob-wife-and-daughter drama was funded almost completely by Esposito. But is it an Oscar movie? It will need a distributor first. Even then it seems more destined to be an Independent Spirit nominee.

“This is where I see most of the Oscar contenders every year,” said PBS critic and Critics Choice Association member Neil Rosen. Juror and editor of ScreenCrush Matt Singer agreed, “It cherry-picks some of the best titles from other festivals.” He especially likes a film that played out of competition, “Past Lives.” There was a dearth of movie stars, but that didn’t stop audiences from packing into theaters around the Hamptons.

“The SAG-AFTRA strike has been pretty annoying. But hopefully that will be settled soon,” Artistic Director David Nugent told me. And Oscar or Golden Globe candidates? “Oh I don’t like to play favorites but we had 14 different countries’ Oscar submissions, so I’m psyched about that.” Julianne Moore, Liev Schreiber, Griffin Dunne and others were in the audiences but were not allowed to promote their films until the actors strike is settled. “I hope they get a good deal,” Nugent said.

SEE‘American Fiction’ wins TIFF audience award: Next stop, the Oscars?

Here is a complete list of the winners:

HIFF Award Winner for Best Narrative Feature
20,000 SPECIES OF BEES, directed by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren

HIFF Best Narrative Feature Special Mention
THE FEELING THAT THE TIME FOR DOING SOMETHING HAS PASSED, directed by Joanna Arnow

HIFF Award Winner for Best Documentary Feature
TELL THEM YOU LOVE ME, directed by Nick August-Perna

HIFF Award Winner for Best Narrative Short Film
XIAOHUI AND HIS COWS, directed by Xinying Lao

HIFF Award Winner for Best Documentary Short Film
THE WAITING, directed by Volker Schlecht

HIFF Audience Award Winner for Best Narrative Feature
FRESH KILLS, directed by Jennifer Esposito

HIFF Audience Award Winner for Best Documentary Feature
ANGEL APPLICANT, directed by Ken August Meyer

HIFF Audience Award Winner for Best Short Film
FORGOTTEN FOUNDERS: DAVID HEMPSTEAD, SENIOR, directed by Sam Hamilton and Julian Alvarez
and
MERV, directed by Sam Roebling

The Peter Macgregor-Scott Memorial Award
THE BREAKTHROUGH, directed by Daniel Sinclair

The 2023 Brizzolara Family Foundation Award to Films of Conflict and Resolution
A REVOLUTION ON CANVAS, directed by Sara Nodjoumi and Till Schauder
and
BEYOND UTOPIA, directed by Madeleine Gavin

Victor Rabinowitz and Joanne Grant Award for Social Justice
SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD, directed by Anna Hints

The Zelda Penzel Giving Voice to the Voiceless Award
WILDING, directed by David Allen

Suffolk County Next Exposure Grant
THESE DAYS, directed by Junior Gonzalez

The Sherzum Award
RUSTIN, directed by George C. Wolfe
and
SUMMER QAMP, directed by Jen Markowitz

New York Women in Film & Television Award for Excellence in Narrative Filmmaking
FANCY DANCE, directed by Erica Tremblay

New York Women in Film & Television Award for Excellence in Narrative Filmmaking Honorable Mention
FRESH KILLS, directed by Jennifer Esposito

New York Women in Film & Television Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking
BEYOND UTOPIA, directed by Madeleine Gavin

University Short Film Awards
SO THEY SAY “Así Dicen”, directed by Natalia Luque
FIRST, I DREAM “Primero, Sueño”, directed by Andrés Lira
CLASSMATES, directed by Major Dorfman
ME & AYDAROUS, directed by Sara Balghonaim
DAYDREAMING SO VIVIDLY ABOUT OUR SPANISH HOLIDAYS, directed by Christian Avilés

HIFF Narrative Feature Competition Jury
Arianna Bocco, former President of IFC Films
David Koepp, American film director & screenwriter, best known for writing JURASSIC PARK; THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK, and INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
Matt Singer, ScreenCrush.com film critic & Chair of the New York Film Critics Circle

HIFF Documentary Feature Competition Jury
Caryn Coleman, Founder of The Future of Film is Female
Marie Therese Giurgis, Head of Documentary at Play/Action Pictures
Carlos Sandoval, Emmy-nominated and Sundance award-winning filmmaker, best known for AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, CLASS APART, and FARMINGVILLE

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