Close directed by Lukas Dhont won Best Narrative Feature and Pray For Us Sinners, directed by Sinéad O’Shea, won Best Documentary Feature at this year’s 30th anniversary edition of the Hamptons International Film Festival.

A24’s Close, directed by Lukas Dhont, follows two thirteen-year-old best friends, whose seemingly unbreakable bond is suddenly, tragically torn apart. The winner of this year’s Cannes Grand Prix, the film is an emotionally transformative and unforgettable portrait of the intersection of friendship and love, identity and independence, and heartbreak and healing.

Pray For Us Sinners, directed by Sinéad O’Shea documents the townspeople in O’Shea’s hometown and the control exerted by the Catholic Church, showing their quiet victories, ongoing struggles and the eccentricities of life within a small Irish town. These astonishing yet uplifting stories use rare first hand testimonies to describe the horrors of mother and baby homes, the prevalence of violence against children, and the co-dependent relationship between the Church, State and its people.

In the shorts program, Snow In September, directed by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir won Best Narrative Short; and When the LAPD Blows Up Your Neighborhood, directed by Nathan Truesdell, won Best Documentary Short. Additionally, the festival gave a special mention to The Sentence of Michael Thompson, directed by Kyle Thrash and Haley Elizabeth Anderson.

Hamptons International Film Festival 2022 Winners:

The HIFF Award Winner for Best Narrative Feature
CLOSE, directed by Lukas Dhont

HIFF Award Winner for Best Documentary Feature
PRAY FOR OUR SINNERS, directed by Sinéad O’Shea

The HIFF Award Winner for Best Narrative Short Film
SNOW IN SEPTEMBER, directed by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir

The HIFF Award Winner for Best Documentary Short Film
WHEN THE LAPD BLOWS UP YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, directed by Nathan Truesdell

Special Mention for
THE SENTENCE OF MICHAEL THOMPSON, directed by Kyle Thrash and Haley Elizabeth Anderson