15 YEARS 15 STORIES
15 Years 15 Stories 2007 marks the 15th anniversary of the first Hamptons International Film Festival. In celebration of the festival’s long and rich history in the East End, we asked 15 individuals who have been involved with the festival during its history to talk about their favorite Hamptons memories. The following stories represent the diverse pool of personalities, breadth of talent and generosity of spirit that make the Hamptons International Film Festival so unique.

BOB BALABAN
Director, Actor, Producer, HIFF Board Member

I first heard of the festival soon after it began. I got involved when I was asked to serve on the board a few years later and have been involved ever since. My fondest memory would have to be winning Best Film for my movie, "The Last Good Time," about 10 years ago. I love attending the festival, and rushing around seeing as many movies and documentaries as I can squeeze in. It's such a well programmed event, and super-easy to navigate. It’s small enough not to get overwhelmed, yet big enough to see an enormous variety of international, cutting-edge cinema.

ALEC BALDWIN
Member of the HIFF Honorary Board, Actor, Director, Writer and Producer

I was contacted by the organizers of the festival a few years ago. I had always been aware of HIFF, as most people are who live here year round–it’s a major fall event. I wasn't anti festival but I wasn't pro festival either. I thought “why would they want to bring Hollywood marketing and that kind of culture out here?” We try to keep that out. I questioned whether HIFF organizers were trying to sell something or celebrate cinematic achievement. When I took a closer look and saw what they were actually doing—it was more the latter.

HIFF programs are great. I've done a “Conversation with…” interviewing the critic Elvis Mitchell, been on the Rising Stars panel with Miranda Richardson, and last year I interviewed Ron Livingston, who starred in a wonderful film called HOLLY. There really are fantastic films at this festival—including many quality documentaries--and I think the festival is something I'd like to see grow. I'd like to see more people invest more time and more money. Festivals bring together people from different generations of filmmaking—not just in acting, but in directing, producing and writing. What has helped HIFF last for 15 years is hard work, a dedicated staff and the movies themselves.

Some of those movies make up my fondest festival memories. Two documentaries specifically come to mind: Be Fruitful and Multiply by Shosh Shlam, and The Fall of Fujimori by Ellen Perry. Another fun memory: bumping into Debra Winger and Arliss Howard at Gurney's Inn one year...

RYAN ESLINGER
Director of WHEN A MAN FALLS IN THE FOREST and MADNESS AND GENIUS

I applied for an internship with HIFF during the summer of 2003. I was interviewed by Raj Roy, and, at the end of the meeting, I gave him a copy of a film I had written and directed, titled “Madness and Genius.” Although I was not hired for the internship, Raj ended up programming my film in the festival that fall where it had its U.S. Premiere and won the Sloan Foundation Award. The audiences at HIFF are intelligent and take film seriously, as do the programmers and festival staff. That is the first thing that always comes to mind whenever anybody mentions HIFF: intelligence. My fondest memory of the festival is meeting Raj Roy and Doron Weber (of the Sloan Foundation). One can only understand if he/she has met them.

PAT KAUFMAN
Executive Director, Governor’s Office for Motion Picture and Television Development

I discovered the Hamptons International Film Festival, or better yet, it discovered me around 10 or 12 years ago. Stuart Suna, HIFF chair for the last 10 years, swept me into the arms of the festival by making sure that I saw provocative films, spoke with talented filmmakers and met wonderful patrons.  In fact, the word “swept” - as in “windswept” - is more appropriate than you might think, for that year was the year of the almost tropical storm force winds that practically flattened a beautiful tent in which many of us were mixing, meeting, and greeting. Soon thereafter, I joined the board. I currently serve as its secretary.

HIFF programming is cutting-edge. The festival is the original home of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s two programs celebrating science in films.  HIFF also hosts the highly regarded Conflict and Resolution series.  Films seen first at the Hamptons have been known to go on to the Oscars.  The weather and fall leaves are spectacular, so the view is always exhilarating whether you are in a theater or out.  And the dialogue is always scintillating—whether it’s on the screen, at a party, or even on Main Street.

LAURA LAU AND CHRIS KENTIS
Producer & Writer/Director of OPEN WATER

We applied to the festival in 2003. We saw the HIFF as an up-and-coming, yet sophisticated and discerning festival and we thought it would be a great place to screen our film.

The HIFF has an intimate, elegant feeling to it, and because it is smaller, quality films that may be overlooked at larger festivals have a greater opportunity to be seen. It’s also very laid back, so we were able to enjoy our time there with our friends and family without the pressure present at larger festivals. We rented a beautiful house where our cast and families stayed.

It was the first time we screened the film with an audience, so that was exciting.  Because the film wasn’t finished, we were very low-key about screening it (not sending invitations to buyers, etc.). But apparently there were representatives from several major distributors there anyway.  In fact, our film was later acquired by Lion’s Gate, who first saw it at HIFF. We were also fortunate that a critic from Variety attended our screening and reviewed our film very positively. HIFF gave “Open Water” its first chance and a fantastic start!

STEVE LEVY
Suffolk County Executive

My involvement with the Hamptons International Film Festival began when I became Suffolk County Executive in 2004. I remember when I first attended HIFF. I loved the Hollywood red carpet atmosphere and was thrilled that it was right here in our own backyard.

I am proud to say that my administration has revived the Suffolk County Film Commission, encouraging more local involvement in filmmaking. We have been quite successful in directing funding to various film festivals, especially the HIFF.  Since 2004, Suffolk County has provided $77,500 in grants to the HIFF to help advance cultural tourism and to give international filmmakers and producers the opportunity to discover the many benefits of filmmaking in Suffolk County.

The HIFF is held during a fantastic part of the year in Suffolk County – harvest time.  Most people associate the Hamptons with summer, but fall is a great time to be on the East End of Long Island. Visitors can still enjoy the internationally renowned beaches, wineries, and farm stands without the heavy summertime traffic.

MICHAEL LYNNE
Co-chairman and Co-CEO, New Line Cinema

I have been on the Board of the film festival for about 10 years. Toni Ross originally asked me to join the Board and I have seen HIFF grow from a locally focused event to a quality stop on the film festival circuit.

HIFF has become an exciting combination of an industry-respected launching pad for films with distribution and a vital market for the acquisition of independently produced products. One of the unique qualities of the festival is the support it receives  from the local community, which represents a large portion of the audiences. This provides a film buff component to the atmosphere that is very appealing to producers and distributors.

I have many fond memories of the festival, but among the most vivid was Robert Altman's presence for the screening of his wonderful film Prairie Home Companion last year. Obviously, no one knew that it would be among the last he would make before he passed away. I expressly remember his amazing talk at Guild Hall as the guest speaker in the "Conversation with..." series. He was typically incisive, funny and candid. It was a bittersweet memory for everyone who was there.

OLIVER MAHRDT
Senior Agent / President, Hanns Wolters International Inc. , U.S.
Representative of German Films / East Coast & Canada

I began my role as representative for the German Film (www.german-films.de) Industry in 2002. The first project I worked on was the now classic Nowhere in Africa directed by Caroline Link.  I felt an instant rapport in my first meetings with Rajendra Roy, Denise Kassell, Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo.  We collectively thought it would be a great idea to launch the film on the tenth anniversary of the festival. After HIFF it was all gravy: German Academy Award Contender… Audience Award at the Hamptons… Nomination for Academy Award… Academy Award for Best Foreign Film 2003. I will never forget where it all began and my gratitude goes out to all Hamptonites: You helped to deliver Germany’s second Academy Award after a 25 year dry spell!

After Nowhere in Africa I went on to develop another campaign that brought yet another Academy Award nomination: Sophie Scholl. And of course we had our North American premiere at HIFF.

My fondest memory of the festival was when I had to pick up a slew of awards for ByambasurenDavaa’s film, Cave of the Yellow Dog. She was in childbirth so I had to learn on my feet how to deliver an impromptu acceptance speech in my third language!

ZELDA PENZEL
HIFF Volunteer

In 1992, when I heard the exciting news that a new film festival in East Hampton was looking for volunteers, I showed up immediately. For a movie junkie, this was seventh heaven! As a retired teacher and former head of a high school foreign language department, I knew I would have lots of skills to offer, and over the past 15 years, I have used them all. I’ve worked in administration, ticketing, editorial, merchandising, and reception, and have also been responsible for various deeds like laminating thousands of passes and plastering posters all over town. But perhaps the one personal contribution to the festival of which I am especially proud was setting up the original WILL CALL system.  

The days of quaint, locally owned shops like the Barefoot Contessa, the File Box, and the Windmill Deli are long gone...as are the festival’s early growing pains; but one of the fondest memories I have is of Jeff Salaway’s late night visits to HIFF headquarters. Jeff was always concerned that we might not have had a chance to eat dinner, so he frequently visited us with snacks, sandwiches, and desserts, all prepared by the chefs at Nick and Toni's.

HIFF taps into the local resources and talent and lifts the spirits of everyone involved. The staff, the volunteers and all those involved are among the kindest, most talented and hardest working people I have ever met.

DAVID SCHWARTZ
Chief Curator, Museum of the Moving Image, New York

For cinephiles bleary-eyed from the grind of the Toronto and New York Film Festivals, the Hamptons is invigorating, with its crisp autumn air and the chance to escape for bike rides, beach walks, and cocktails. The 1998 festival—the year I was head of programming--brought together two of my favorite directors, Richard Lester and Blake Edwards. I spent time with them both onstage at Guild Hall and over a hamburger at Rowdy Hall. This was among many memorable encounters. On the Saturday morning of the festival, a talk with Spalding Gray and Julia Sweeney was moved from its scheduled location because somebody forgot to open the high school gymnasium. Fittingly, we improvised a new location, and Spalding and Julia stood with no chairs or microphones, and talked beautifully about their lives as performers. There are many other great memories; I was asked to name my fondest. That one is easy—the beaming face of Jeff Salaway, the unofficial host of the Festival, greeting the audience at the UA, tirelessly solving problems with a smile. The loss of Jeff in 2001 was wrenching, but for me, Jeff Salaway and Toni Ross will always represent the spirit of the Festival—generous, serious, intimate, ambitious, and relaxed.

ALI SELIM
Director of SWEETLAND

Sweet Land, my first film, premiered at HIFF in 2005. This was my first film festival experience.

Memories of the weekend are not the exciting anecdotes of rare films and celebrity sightings but rather rainy days, traffic, and way too many actors at way too many geographically separated hotels who all needed to be at the same place at the same time. I was wound up like a rubber band engine on a balsa wood toy plane.

But, in hindsight, after attending another 30 film festivals prior to distribution, I will say the audiences at HIFF were the best. The town is filled with people carrying dog-eared and notated programs, intelligently talking about film on the street. I learned more about being a filmmaker from HIFF audiences than I did from any film school or seminar.

Sweet Land shared the Audience Award for Best Narrative but I don’t remember the moment of the announcement. That was when my metaphorical rubber band snapped. All I could muster up was something like
“tanks” or maybe even just “-anks.”

And so it is nice to have this opportunity to say a proper “thanks” to Raj and everyone at HIFF, and to the very tasteful and bright audiences – you put our film on the road to success. Without you…

JEFFREY SHARP
Producer

I first read about the festival in The New York Times in 1993. Having been to Sundance a couple of times, I was very excited about the prospect of a film festival in my hometown. I interviewed with Joyce Robinson and Naomi
Lazard in Joyce’s basement, where I started work for the festival that summer while I was in graduate school. Over the course of that very hot and dark basement summer, we managed to attract a very distinguished board of directors, Seattle Int’l Film Festival director Daryl Macdonald, and corporate sponsorship from Time Warner and Arrow Shirts. I became Corporate Sponsorship Director and in many ways, started my career as a producer. It was here that I met Jill Footlick, who has worked with me on many films, including Boys Don’t Cry, You Can Count on Me, The Night Listener, and most
recently, Evening. The hospitality of HIFF is unmatched. Filmmakers
and sponsors are literally invited into the homes of festival patrons where they can hang out with colleagues in such a relaxed environment. I’ve seen so many amazing conversations take place in settings like these where actors,
directors, producers and sponsors are literally making deals and sometimes, making lifelong friendships over white wine and pumpkin pie. My fondest memory of the Hamptons was the first time that I screened a movie at the festival as a producer (Dark Harbor, 1998). My mother sat next to the Variety reporter that evening—she got a real earful I’m sure. And then we went back to my place on the beach and had lobster and wine and celebrated with everyone from the festival. It was really wonderful - one of those full circle experiences that most people never get to experience.

STUART MATCH SUNA
Board Chairman, Hamptons International Film Festival

As one of the founding Board members and as the Chairman of the festival for the past decade, I have many wonderful memories of our formative years.

When HIFF was founded, the original Board of Directors was literally cast together by a transplanted Los Angeles casting director, Joyce Robinson, who created a temporary home in East Hampton. She moved away before the first season, but she left behind a dedicated group of newfound friends that put their hearts and souls into building this event. We all bonded very quickly and many became close friends.

If I were to select one element that makes HIFF unique, it would be its sense of intimacy. Although the Festival draws many power brokers from both the New York and Los Angeles film industries and hundreds of filmmakers from around the world, it still provides a comfortable, casual environment for meeting and talking.

My fondest memories of HIFF are the times spent with my dear friend Jeff Salaway. We all miss him immeasurably, but you can sense his spirit throughout. I can still hear his voice, and I always expect to see him around the next corner. Jeff’s legacy will always be with us to keep us smiling.

GARY WINICK
Producer of TADPOLE and PIECES OF APRIL

The first year of the festival, I had the privilege of showing my film Sweet Nothing starring Michael Imperioli and Mira Sorvino. In 1998, my next film The Tic Code starring the late Gregory Hines won the Audience Award.

And in 2000, I showed one of the first DV feature films every made, Sam the Man, with Fisher Stevens and Annabella Sciorra. That film was the impetus for the creation of my film production company, Indigent. This was the most important turning point of my career  and the HIFF was part of it.

What stands out most fondly in my memory of the HIFF was back in the early years, when Jeff Salaway would stand in front of the UA Theater all day, taking tickets.

Talking to Jeff was always the best part of the day. He was a one-of-a-kind personality. If you were the filmmaker, Jeff was always able to make sure that your film was the buzz of the festival.

Jeff Salaway and Toni Ross created the HIFF out of their love for the movies, the people who make them, and the people who watch them. They knew how much this festival would enrich their community.