THE 15TH ANNUAL HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

OCTOBER 17-21, 2007

Lauren Ambrose ~ Bob Balaban ~ John Cusack ~ Phil Donahue ~ Alison Eastwood

Chris Eigeman ~ Ralph Fiennes ~ Alex Gibney ~ Marcia Gay Harden ~ Hannah Herzsprung Famke Jansen ~ Harvey Keitel ~ Yun Jin Kim ~ Lisa Kudrow ~ Frank Langella ~ Blake Lively Sidney Lumet ~ Sirio Maccione ~ Al Maysles ~ Gretchen Mol ~ Jeff Nichols ~ Amanda Peet Scott Prendergast ~ Vanessa Redgrave ~ Keri Russell ~ Susan Sarandon ~ Sean William Scott Lili Taylor ~ Egbert Jan Weeber ~ Jess Weixler ~ Gahan Wilson ~ Alec Baldwin ~ Lauren Bacall are among those expected to attend

The 2007 HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL celebrates its 15^th anniversary – a decade and a half of premieres, screenings, programs & events, tucked away amongst the changing leaves and quiet beaches of fall in the East End. The Hamptons is where talent, industry and audiences come together exchanging ideas, experiences and cinema in what has now become one of leading international film festivals of the world. This year’s Hamptons fest runs October 17^th through 21^st, 2007, in East Hampton, New York with additional venues in Southampton, Sag Harbor and Montauk.

The Hamptons International Film Festival was founded to celebrate independent film and to introduce a unique and varied spectrum of international films and filmmakers to our audiences.  The festival is committed to exhibiting films that express fresh voices and differing global perspectives, with the hope that these programs will enlighten audiences, provide invaluable exposure for filmmakers and present inspired entertainment for all. 

Josh Koury has returned for his fifth year of programming with the Festival, joined by David Nugent, who comes to us as a special consultant from the Newport International Film Festival. "It is a great privilege to be entering my 5th year as part of the Programming Department at The Hamptons International Film Festival," says Josh Koury. "I am very proud to carry on the tradition of celebrating the best in both American and International films.

Along with their screening committee, Koury and Nugent have opened the festival arena to some of the most innovative films from around the world - maintaining the international perspective of the Hamptons’ while turning an eye to the world of American independent film. This year’s event features 103 films including - 17 World Premieres, 11 US Premieres, 17 East Coast Premieres and 13 New York Premieres."I've been an admirer of the festival for years, and am honored to work on the programming of this year's festival," states David Nugent. "While we have continued to keep the level of quality of our foreign films very high, we feel that we've matched that caliber of talent in the work of our American filmmakers. From the best of international cinema, to fresh new American voices, we're proud to offer our audiences a wide range of choices this year"   

Board Chairman, Stuart Match Suna and Festival Director Gianna Chachere have focused this year on the continued growth of the Hamptons International Film Festival, while paying special attention to the names, faces and films that have created and nurtured this international event.

"As we continue to grow and transform the Festival to accommodate the needs of both our audiences and filmmakers, we happily welcome the return of many of our signature programs that underscore the originality and the importance of the Hamptons International Film Festival," says Stuart Suna.

The heart of the Hamptons International Film Festival has always been its Golden Starfish Award and the films in the competitions for Best Narrative Feature (over $185,000 in goods and in-kind services), Best Documentary Award ($5,000 in cash) and Short Film Award ($5,000 in cash). The Hamptons International Film Festival also awards the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Prize in Science and Technology ($25,000 in cash); the Kodak Award for Cinematography ($6,000 of goods and in-kind services); the Brizzolara Family Award for Films of Conflict and Resolution ($5,000 in cash); the Zicherman Family Foundation Award for Screenwriting ($5,000 in cash); Best Undergraduate and Graduate Student Films (eight $1,000 cash awards); and new this year, the Lifetime Movie Network Award for Best Female Student Filmmaker ($5,000 in cash).

On Wednesday, October 17^th, the Hamptons International Film Festival is proud to open its 15^th Anniversary season with the World Premiere of Bob Balaban’s Bernard and Doris (US), written by Hugh Costello and starring Susan Sarandon and Ralph Fiennes, which focuses on the twilight years of tobacco billionairess Doris Duke and her relationship with her gay butler, to whom she left her fortune.

And to close this momentous year, on Sunday the 21^st we are honored to screen the music-driven drama August Rush (US), starring Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard and Robin Williams.  Written by Nick Castle and James V. Hart, directed by Kirsten Sheridan, the film follows a guitarist (Meyers) and cellist (Russell) who fall in love and have a child, yet circumstances tear them apart before their son is born. Years later, the child (Highmore) uses his musical talent to seek the parents from whom he was separated at birth. August Rush opens nationally November 21.

Film festivals wouldn’t exist without filmmakers and film people. Among the highlights of the Hamptons experience each year is the amazing amount of talent that participates – as filmmakers, jurors, mentors, educators and honorees – in our programs and special events. (sponsored by New Line Cinema/Picturehouse) Past guests have included Robert Altman, Ellen Burstyn, Gena Rowlands, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones, Isabella Rossellini, Anjelica Huston, Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider, Barry Sonnenfeld, Danny Aiello, Julian Schnabel, Harvey Keitel, Betty Comden, Fay Wray and Patricia Neal. This year the Hamptons International Film Festival is thrilled to announce that we are having two exciting chats, "A Conversation with…" legendary actress Vanessa Redgrave, moderated by Alec Baldwin and celebrated director and East End regular, Sidney Lumet, moderated by journalist Adam Green.

The Hamptons/Sloan feature Film Prize comes from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s program in public understanding of science and forms part of a broader effort to stimulate leading artists in film, television, and theater to create more credible works about science and technology. The program aims to enhance people’s lives by providing a better understanding of the increasingly scientific and technological environment in which we live. It also strives to convey some of the challenges and rewards of the scientific and technological enterprise, and of the lives of the men and women who undertake it.

The Festival is going Green this year! Events, panels and exhibitions put together by one of Al Gore’s Climate Ambassadors, Sara Gordon (Greener Days), will take place in the Main Street tent - showcasing sustainable living opportunities and offering education on how to participate in a greener lifestyle. Highlights will include Vice President Gore’s presentation as well as a presentation on China from Tom Rousch of the NRDC.

Ticket Information: Passes and tickets can be ordered on-line through the festival website, www.hamptonsfilmfest.org or through the new East Hampton Box Office location at Design Within Reach - 30 Park Place, East Hampton. Tickets by phone – 631-747-7978. Founders Pass- $1000; Spotlight Package $350, Southampton Package $150, Film Discovery Package $100, Opening Night Package $100, Starfish Screening Member $100, Opening Night party - $75; Saturday Night Heineken Filmmakers’ Reception $75, A Conversation With - $25; Spotlight Films - $20 - $35; Panel Discussions- $10; Films- $12; Early Bird Screenings - $9, Children 12 and under –$8.

Festival Venues: United Artists Theatres - 30 Main Street, East Hampton; The Ross School, 18 Goodfriend Drive, East Hampton; Hospitality Suite & Press Office at The Huntting Inn - 94 Main Street, East Hampton; Southampton Regal Cinema - 43 Hill Street Southampton; Montauk Movie - 3 Edgemere Road Montauk; Panel Discussions - Bay Street Theatre Long Wharf (at the foot of Main Street) Sag Harbor; Daily Festival Lounge: HIFF “Green” Tent, Lawn of the Ladies Village Improvement Society, 95 Main Street; Filmmaker & Industry Lounge, Turtle Crossing 221 Pantigo Road

Presenting Sponsors: American Airlines and Altour International. Host Sponsors: Fox 5 New York. Patron Sponsors: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, New Line Cinema, Prudential Douglas Elliman, Regal Entertainment Group; Silvercup Studios, Newsday, 91 East Productions, The Hallmark Channel, OK! Magazine, Heineken, Time Warner Cable Media Sales, VOX Magazine, Woozyfly.com, WVVH Hamptons Television

For further information on the 2007 Hamptons International Film Festival visit www.hamptonsfilmfest.org.

Sex Pistols Reunite for a Single Gig

The Sex Pistols are scheduled to celebrate the 30th anniversary of "Never Mind the Bollocks" by reuniting at London's Brixton Academy on Nov. 8 for a single performance.

Original band members John Lydon, Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock will tear through their punk classics. And that's how fast 30 years blows by. 

Rick McKay Makes Documentary about Fay Wray

Naomi Watts and Peter Jackson will participate in Rick McKay’s upcoming documentary, “Fay Wray: A Life,” including never-before-seen footage from the historic dinner McKay hosted where Jackson met his childhood idol Wray for the first time and Wray passed the proverbial baton to Watts and approved her casting.

In the movie Fay Wray tells of coming to America on a daring trip by stagecoach over the Canadian Rockies almost a century before and of early Hollywood in the ‘20s and ‘30s.  Candidly, Wray shares stories of the kidnapping of her daughter, blackmail threats against her mother, and romantic relationships with Howard Hughes and Clifford Odets. Wray shares intimate stories of working with the century’s most important directors and stars from the legendary era of silent film in the ‘20s through the Golden Ages of both film and television over the next 50 years. Wray’s work in over 80 films includes the film classics “King Kong,” “Mystery of the Wax Museum” and “The Most Dangerous Game,” while her television work includes one of the medium’s first series, “Pride of the Family,” where her daughter was played by Natalie Wood, as well as numerous episodes of “Perry Mason” and “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”

The centenary celebration of Wray’s birth (September 15th, 1907) includes a special evening at New York City’s Film Forum on Tuesday, September 18th, 2007, with Wray’s 1927 silent film “The Wedding March,” where she was handpicked by her costar, director Eric Von Stroheim, screening alongside the first peek at a quarter hour of McKay’s Fay Wray documentary. The evening will include special appearances by McKay, Wray’s daughter/actress Susan Riskin, film historian Foster Hirsch and Film Forum’s Bruce Goldstein.