It looked on Friday night as though the 15th annual Hamptons International Film Festival were going to be a washout. Torrential rains slowed traffic to a baby crawl on the Long Island Expressway, and by the time it was a little before 7 p.m., the assorted bedraggled paparazzi were fidgeting and joking among themselves at the sight of the empty red carpet at the East Hampton Cinema on Main Street, the hub of the festival.  read more »

Via indieWIRE:

European Film Market co-director Karen Arikian has been named the new Executive Director of the Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF). Arikian will join the festival, which is opening its 15th annual event on Wednesday, after the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival. The move comes as the Hamptons fest looks to the future after the recent departure of longtime executive director Denise Kassell and artistic director Rajendra Roy, who recently left to head the film department at MoMA.

"It's a small festival, but it's a gem of a festival positioned for growth in the future," noted Arikian, chatting about the festival with indieWIRE Tuesday morning. A native of Brooklyn, she is currently on Long Island to attend this year's event and added that building on the success of Kassell and Roy who sought connection with overseas events, she "wants to reach out internationally" given the growth potential for the Hamptons event. She will officially join the event in March.