THE HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AND indieWIRE SET TO TOAST MARCIE BLOOM

The Hamptons International Film Festival is presenting its 12th anniversary season this October 20th – 24th, 2004. The Hamptons Festival is a celebration of film – its art, its excitement, its people. This year, the Festival partners with indieWIRE to inaugurate a new event where we celebrate a person or persons who best exemplifies the spirit of the independent film world and whose energy, vision, and acumen enhances the industry we are in and propels the art of film to greater heights.

As the Hamptons’ first ‘Toastee,” Fest’s Executive Director Denise Kasell announced at a party at the Plage des Palmes Café in Cannes on Sunday (5/17), that “we are proud and honored to fete industry veteran Marcie Bloom, most recently the accomplished co-President of Sony Pictures Classics. Marcie thrives in a movie theatre. She has dedicated her life to the movies and has championed many new and established talents. She helped opened the door from the art house to a broader audience.”

Eugene Hernandez, Editor of indieWIRE says “Marcie is the perfect recipient for this toast. If it wasn’t for her efforts and desire to see independent films find a solid place in the movie-goers world then there may never have been a need for our publication. She helped make the independent film a highly desirable option.”

Marcie Bloom is one of the independent film world’s most beloved personalities. She started with the Film Society of Lincoln Center, became the head of publicity for Triumph films, which segued into a stint as publicity guru at PMK, before settling in as co-President of Orion Classics and Sony Pictures Classics. And through it all she has amassed a great many friends, followers and admirers. With partners Michael Barker and Tom Bernard at Orion Classics and Sony Pictures Classics she was pivotal in the tremendous success of the specialized film business in the international film world today.

Marcie has worked with many of the world's finest independent filmmakers including Akira Kurosawa, Stephen Frears, Claire Denis, John Boorman, Louis Malle, David Mamet, James Ivory, Zhang Yimou, Wim Wenders, Jim Jarmusch, Allison Anders, Agniezska Holland, John Sayles, Errol Morris, Alan Rudolph, Hal Hartley, Pedro Almodóvar, Woody Allen, Francis Truffaut, Lily Tomlin, Richard Linklater, Merchant-Ivory, Neil LaBute, Sally Potter, Gary Oldman and Ang Lee. She has released some of the best and most successful independent films from the past two decades including HOWARDS END, CRUMB, SAFE, RAN, MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE, BABETTE’S FEAST, MYSTERY TRAIN, AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS, WINGS OF DESIRE, SLACKER, ORLANDO, WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, LONE STAR, IN THE COMPANY OF MEN, THE SPANISH PRISONER, PERSUASION, THE OPPOSITE OF SEX, CENTRAL STATION, RUN LOLA RUN, SWEET AND LOWDOWN, HOUSE OF MIRTH, POLLOCK and Ang Lee's CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.

Recent honors include France's distinguished Chevalier Order of Arts and Letters, The Gotham Industry Lifetime Achievement Award from the IFP (Independent Feature Project), the FINDIE Award at the IFP/West Spirit Awards, the GLAAD Media Award in 1998, and a recent retrospective at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. At the Sony Global Management assembly, Marcie, along with her partners, received the distinguished Special Recognition Award two consecutive years for their continued success and achievement.