Hollywood TV and movie star Alec Baldwin was co-chairman of the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2015. As Chairman Emeritus, in 2017, Baldwin created the Dick Cavett Artistic Champion Award, “to honor those in the creative arts who not only excel in their field, but who also support the arts and artists in other fields, such as education, related media, and other arts disciplines.
Baldwin has a home in East Hampton (see below), and the famous comedian and former talk show host Dick Cavett has a home in Montauk, New York. Above is Cavett interviewing the late great David Bowie in the 1970s.
The 2022 Dick Cavett Artistic Champion Award will be presented to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star and East Hampton resident Mariska Hargitay, at the 30th Anniversary HIFF in October.
In 2004, the Emmy Award-winning actress founded the Joyful Heart Foundation, a national non-profit organization that supports and advocates for survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse.
Hargitay was also a producer of the 2018 documentary film I AM EVIDENCE, which is about the untested rape kit backlog in the U.S.
Dick Cavett was the recipient of the 2017 Award; Alan Alda received the award in 2018; and artist Toni Ross (and HIFF Chair Emeriti) was the 2019 recipient.
