¡SORPRESA! & the Hamptons International Film Festival.

The ¡Sorpresa! Network and the Hamptons International Film Festival announced that they will continue their partnership with the ¡Sorpresa! Youth Film Competition at the 16th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival, to be held October 15th ˆ 19th, 2008. For this year’s competition, ¡Sorpresa! is looking for outstanding short films created by young people ages 17 and under that illustrate ‘The World You Imagine’ through a Hispanic lens.

“We are pleased to provide a platform for Latino youth to share their perspective,” stated Karen Arikian, Executive Director of the Hamptons International Film Festival. “The ¡Sorpresa! Youth Film Competition offers a unique opportunity for the Festival to demonstrate its commitment to up-and-coming filmmakers from the Latino community by showcasing their short films before international film directors, producers and industry members.”

¡Sorpresa! is kicking off its search for submissions of original 3 to 5 minute short videos or films depicting a world of each participant‚s design reflective of Hispanic culture. Five finalists will be selected and screened at the Hamptons International Film Festival. The competition winner will be announced at the Festival and featured in the original program Luz, Camara, ¡Sorpresa!, which highlights the youth-made films and the talented filmmakers and airs on the ¡Sorpresa! network. ¡Sorpresa! viewers will also be able to access the program through our cable partners on VOD.

“Our partnership with the Hamptons International Film Festival provides the perfect avenue to display the creative abilities of our audience,” commented Maria Badillo, ¡Sorpresa! VP of Programming. “Several of the films generated by the ¡Sorpresa! Youth Film Competition will not only be seen at the Festival, but also in the more than one million cable homes in which ¡Sorpresa! is available across the country.”