The Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) is an annual

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws v ...

, typically held in late April. In 2022, it was announced that the festival have permanently changed its date to be held in October, as the festival began positioning itself for Oscar season.

History

Established in 1999 after the failure of an earlier film festival series in the same location, the Newport Beach Film Festival features World, North America, U.S. and West Coast premieres as well as International Spotlight Series celebrating foreign language films. Notable attendees have included Jeannot Szwarc, Isidore Mankovsky, McG and Richard Sherman In 2005, Will Ferrell was the honorary chair of a 'Youth Film Showcase.' In 2013, NBFF announced a new partnership with the Orange County Music Awards; which has produced the launch of the Music Video Showcase in the festival. 2013 was the first year this genre was included in the festival. In 2014, the festival reported record attendance of about 54,000. In 2019, the festival opened with Luce and the closing night film was A Part of Water. In 2021, the festival returned to a live format with a brunch for

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

's "10 Actors to Watch" and other honorees including

Thomasin McKenzie Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie (born 26 July 2000) is a New Zealand actress. After a minor role in '' The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies'' (2014), she rose to critical prominence after playing a young girl living in isolation in Debra Granik's dr ...

Regina Hall Regina Lee Hall (born December 12, 1970) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her role as Brenda Meeks in the comedy horror ''Scary Movie'' film series (2000–2006). She has since appeared in the television series '' Ally McBeal ...

Simon Rex Simon Rex Cutright (born July 20, 1974), is an American actor, rapper, comedian, and former model. Rising to fame as an MTV VJ, Rex later became an actor known for '' What I Like About You'', starring in three films of the ''Scary Movie'' fr ...

, Winston Duke, Rosanna Arquette and Harvey Keitel.

Awards

In addition to juried awards, NBFF distributes honors to distinguished members of the film industry:

Lifetime Achievement Award

Recipients include

Robert Wise Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American film director, producer, and editor. He won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his musical films ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''The Sound of ...

Eugene Levy Eugene Levy (born December 17, 1946) is a Canadian actor and comedian. From 1976 until 1984, he appeared in the Canadian television sketch comedy series '' SCTV''. He has also appeared in the '' American Pie'' series of films and the Canadian ...

Forest Whitaker Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. After making his f ...

and Harvey Keitel.

Icon Award

Recipients include Maryann Brandon, Mary Jo Markey,

Robert Forster Robert Wallace Forster Jr. (July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019) was an American actor, known for his roles as John Cassellis in '' Medium Cool'' (1969), Captain Dan Holland in ''The Black Hole'' (1979), Abdul Rafai in '' The Delta Force'' (1986 ...

and Rosanna Arquette (2020).

Artist of Distinction

Recipients include Colman Domingo,

Topher Grace Christopher John Grace ( ; born July 12, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Eric Forman in the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show'', Eddie Brock / Venom in Sam Raimi's film ''Spider-Man 3'', Pete Monash in '' Win a Date with Tad H ...

, Mary Elizabeth Winstead,

Gavin Hood Gavin Hood (born 12 May 1963) is a South African filmmaker, and actor, best known for writing and directing ''Tsotsi'' (2005), which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He also directed the films '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'', ...

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom '' The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

Aubrey Plaza Aubrey Christina Plaza (born June 26, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She began her career performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. She starred as April Ludgate on the NBC sitcom ''Pa ...

, Jonathan Majors and Keke Palmer.

Other awards

NBFF has distributed honors with many names over the years, some of these awards include the Breakout Performance ( Jenny Slate,

Moe Dunford Moe Dunford (born 11 December 1987) is an Irish actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Vikings'' and '' Patrick's Day''. He is the recipient of a number of accolades, including three Irish Film & Television Awards. Early life Dunford was b ...

, Aimee Carerro), Maverick Award (Cooper Raiff), Rising Star and Spotlight (

Colson Baker Colson Baker (born April 22, 1990), known professionally as Machine Gun Kelly (MGK), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is noted for his genre duality across alternative rock with hip hop. Machine Gun Kelly released f ...

, Anna Diop). The

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, pro ...

Center for Creativity has presented an award to student animators at the festival for a time.

UK Honours

Beginning in 2014, NBFF began honoring "British Talent" with a award ceremony held just before the BAFTA award ceremonies.

Types of Films

The Newport Beach Film Festival is divided into eight competitive sections, in which filmmakers can submit their pieces to. The film categories that are shown in this festival include: *Action Sports Films *AA+D (Art, Architecture and Design Film Series) *Documentaries *Environmental Films *Family Films *Music Films *Short Films *Youth Films Due to the coastal location of the festival, many of the films are connected to the history of surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding. This suggests the Newport Beach Film Festivals audience base is largely dedicated to the Action Sports Cinema category.

References

External links

* {{authority control Film festivals in California Newport Beach, California Tourist attractions in Orange County, California Film festivals established in 1999