The Hamptons International Film Festival has revealed a brand new annual award, The Dick Cavett Artistic Champion Award. The inaugural award will be given to Emmy Award winning television personality and former talk show host Dick Cavett by HIFF Co-Chairman Alec Baldwin at the opening night of the 25th Festival on Thursday, October 5th. The award will honor a person who throughout their career has continued to support the arts and has made a significant impact and contribution within the industry.
The 2017 festival will take place October 5 to 9, Columbus Day Weekend, with over 65 features and 50 shorts representing a total of 40 countries across the globe.
Dick Cavett is one of the most well respected television personalities and interviewers in the industry. He has been on television for over five decades and has been nominated for ten Emmy Awards, winning three awards. Cavett started his career as a writer on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson and hosted his own late night TV show, The Dick Cavett Show. Cavett has published four books: “Cavett,” “Eye on Cavett,” “Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets,” and “Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, and Assorted Hijinks.” He has also written for publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, TV Guide, Vanity Fair, and elsewhere.
Four-time Academy Award-nominee, two-time Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award winner renowned actress Annette Bening will participate in one of the festival’s signature programs, “A Conversation With…” The event will take place on Sunday, October 8th at 7:30PM at East Hampton Middle School, moderated by HIFF Board Member and actor Bob Balaban. Bening also stars in one of the festival’s Spotlight films, Paul McGuigan’s FILMS STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL, opposite Jamie Bell, which will screen during the festival on Sunday, October 8th and Monday, October 9th at Guild Hall. Sony Pictures Classics will release the film on December 15th.
Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony-nominated actor Patrick Stewart will be the recipient of the Variety Creative Impact in ACTING Award at the Festival. Stewart will also participate in “A Conversation With…,” one of HIFF’s signature programs, on Saturday, October 7th at East Hampton Middle School at 1:00pm. Stewart will be presented with the award at the conversation by Steven Gaydos, Vice President and Executive Editor of Variety.
HIFF also announced the jury members for the 2017 festival. The Narrative Jury will include Eric Kohn, chief film critic and a deputy editor for Indiewire and chairman of the New York Film Critics Circle; actor Harris Yulin, who has starred in films including WANDERLAND (HIFF25), TRAINING DAY, SCARFACE, and television series Ozark and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt; and producer Daniela Taplin Lundberg, who recently launched Stay Gold Features and has produced over 25 features, including PATTI CAKE$, BEASTS OF NO NATION, HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS and THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT. The Documentary Jury will include Oscar-nominated and Emmy- winning producer Julie Goldman, founder of Motto Pictures, who has produced films including LIFE, ANIMATED and THE MUSIC OF STRANGERS, and executive produced WEINER and BEST OF ENEMIES; artist and ceramist Toni Ross, the founder of HIFF and the Founding Chair for five years; and director Roger Ross Williams, who is the first African American director to win an Oscar, and who directed films including LIFE, ANIMATED and MUSIC BY PRUDENCE.