“President’s Cake” and “Sentimental Value” are among the winners at HIFF

As awards season contenders continue to take shape, the 33rd Hamptons International Film Festival presented its winners^Third Stroll on a luxurious beach retreat.

The film “The President’s Cake” by director Hassan Hadi won the award for best feature film. From distributor Sony Pictures Classics, this film follows a young Iraqi girl who is chosen to bake a festive dessert at her school on Saddam Hussein’s birthday. As she strives to gather ingredients in rarefied territory, the realities of the dictatorship become clear.

HIFF, presented by the Artemis Rising Foundation, awarded Hadi a $2,500 cash award as well as a film production package of in-kind goods and services valued at $92,500 from TCS, Neon Diesel Finishing, Hamptons Locations, and On Location Education.

“Through the eyes of a young girl torn between tradition and survival, Hassan Hadi’s expansive drama shows us what’s really at stake in a dictatorship driven by violence and fear,” Narrative Contest judges Judy Arlington, Brian Burns and diverseMatt Donnelly said in a statement.

In the reality program, “To the West in Zapata” won the award for best documentary. David Beam’s film highlights the terrible struggles Cuba has endured during the pandemic and has received a $2,500 cash prize as well as a $50,000 film production package from Neon Diesel Finishing, TCS and Greenslate.

“No film has taken the jury’s breath away like Pym,” said documentary consultants Monica Castillo, Agnes Chu and Lauren Hammonds. They called it “a black-and-white, verité-style cinematic masterpiece” and “a heartbreaking look at the struggle of ordinary Cubans in the face of insurmountable odds.”

In the short films program, “Sammi, Who Can Detach His Body Parts” by director Ryan Michelson won the Best Short Story award. “Correct Me If I’m Wrong” won the Best Short Documentary Award. Each winner received $1,000 in cash and is eligible for Academy Awards for Best Live Action Short Film and Best Documentary Short Film, respectively.

The Audience Awards went to Joachim Trier’s “Emotional Value” for narrative and “Eyes of Ghana” for nonfiction. Zan Pais’ “Lighting Bug” and Cece King’s “Island Willing” took home the Audience Awards for Best Narrative and Short Documentary, respectively.

Additional special jury awards included a narrative honor for Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay’s “intellectually stimulating” feature-length narrative text “Hysteria.” Sheherazade Maher for “subverting expectations with a short film that proves that communication transcends language” with his short film “Curfew”; Short direction document for the film “Andre the Fool” by Tony Pena; In recognition of innovative storytelling through animation, social commentary and interviews with director Glenn Kaino’s “Hoops, Hopes & Dreams.”