Long Island’s leaders in business and the nonprofit field gathered recently for the Premier Business Women of Long Island Awards Gala, held at the Heritage Club at Bethpage.
The honorees included Caroline Sorokoff, the associate director of the Great Neck-based Gold Coast Arts Center and the Director of the Gold International Film Festival. The awards program, sponsored by RichnerLive, a division of Richner Communications, honored 48 business women for excellence in their fields and contributions to their communities.
Sorokoff, a resident of Plainview, received the recognition in the field of “Art & Culture” for her efforts in helping to create the Gold Coast International Film Festival, an event that has been bringing world-class films, including Hollywood hits, and award-winning independent films standing-room-only audiences since 2011.
The Gold Coast International Film Festival currently previews more than 100 feature-length and short films each year through its annual fall film festival and its year-round film screening and discussion series. Films include independent, foreign and documentary films, as well as previews of upcoming blockbusters, with most screenings followed by lively, informative, and interactive Q&A sessions with the film’s producer, director, star, or subject.
The festival has also attracted such Hollywood luminaries as Francis Ford Coppola, Hugh Grant, Paul Sorvino, Ed Burns, Bruce Dern, Isabella Rossellini, Lou Diamond Phillips, Morgan Spurlock, Eli Wallach, Gabriel Byrne, Phil Donahue, Phylicia Rashaad, and Susie Essman.
“It was truly an honor to be recognized alongside so many accomplished women in such fields as engineering, entrepreneurship, health care, hospitality, manufacturing, law, and real estate, to name a few,” said Sorokoff. “The event underscored the important leadership role women play in the region, and the significant impact they have on Long Island’s economic and social vitality.”
Sorokoff was nominated for the award by Karen Tenenbaum, a prominent Long Island attorney, who was compelled to recommend her after attending last fall’s Gold Coast International Film Festival where she was impressed by the quality of the programming and the array of films presented.
The master of ceremonies for the Premier Business Women of Long Island Awards Gala was Alyssa Seidman, of the Sea Cliff/Glen Head Herald; Kara Reifert, of K-98.3; and Antoinette Biordi, of News12 Long Island.
