Hamptons Film Festival Names Iceland Oscar Nominee ‘Rams’ Best Narrative Feature

Grímur Hákonarson’s Rams, about sheep-farming brothers estranged for decades until disease threatens their flocks, has won the Hamptons International Film Festival Award for Best Narrative Feature. The film last month was named Iceland’s official selection for the Academy Awards and earlier won the best film of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section. Missing People, directed by David Shapiro, received the HIFF Award for Best Documentary Feature. Over, directed by Jörn Threlfall, and Last Day Of Freedom, directed by Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman, received the HIFF Awards for Best Narrative Short Film and for Best Documentary Short Film, respectively.

This year’s narrative jury included actor Josh Charles (The Good Wife); Dan Guando, U.S. head of Acquisitions, Production, and Development at The Weinstein Company; and screenwriter Michael H. Weber (The Fault In Our Stars, The Spectacular Now). The documentary feature jury included Marshall Fine, current chair of the New York Film Critics Circle; chef and TV personality Bobby Flay; and Sarah Lash, consultant with Condé Nast Entertainment.

“Our aspiration for the festival has always been to highlight the importance of diversity in film and support emerging talent in the industry,” artistic director David Nugent said in the announcement. “We are incredibly proud of this year’s lineup and having had achieved these goals once again.”