Newport Beach Film Festival

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's "10 Actors to Watch" and other honorees including Thomasin McKenzie, Regina Hall, Simon Rex, Winston Duke, Rosanna Arquette and Harvey Keitel. In 2022, the festival officially changed its date to October, and honored actors including Jonathan Majors, Keke Palmer, Colson Baker, and Aubrey Plaza.

Awards

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

Lifetime Achievement Award

Recipients include Robert Wise, Eugene Levy, Forest Whitaker Harvey Keitel, and Mark Hamill.

Icon Award

Recipients include Maryann Brandon, Mary Jo Markey, Robert Forster and Rosanna Arquette (2020).

Artist of Distinction

Recipients include Colman Domingo, Topher Grace, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Gavin Hood, Patton Oswalt, Aubrey Plaza, 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, Thomasin McKenzie, Moe Dunford, Aimee Carerro), Maverick Award (Cooper Raiff), Rising Star and Spotlight (Simon Rex, Colson Baker, Anna Diop). The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity has presented an award to student animators at the festival for a time. In 2025, the Legend & Groundbreaker Award went to Scarlet Johansson.

UK Honours

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

Program

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

References

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2. "Newport Beach Film Festival".
3. Miller, Jason. (19 April 2011). "12th Annual Newport Beach Film Festival". Surfing Magazine.
4. (2022-10-08). "Newport Beach Film Festival returns in full force, now permanently in the fall". [[Los Angeles Times]].
5. Cohen, Alison. (October 13, 1999). "Film Festival Gets Renewed Push; Newport Beach officials vote to resurrect drive after demise of international event. Educational facet is discussed". [[Los Angeles Times]].
6. (April 22, 2009). "Newport Beach Film Festival marks 10th year". [[Long Beach Press-Telegram]].
7. (2000-02-29). "Newport Beach Film Festival Not Ready for Its Final Scene".
8. King, Susan. (2008-04-24). "Hollywood via Newport Beach".
9. Coker, Matt. (2009-01-20). "Newport Beach Film Festival Seeks Young Talent – OC Weekly".
10. Coker, Matt. (5 May 2014). "The Sublime and Beautiful, Kickstarted Drama, is Big Newport Beach Film Fest Award Winner".
11. (2014-05-03). "Film festival winners".
12. (2018-11-06). "2018 NBFF Fall Honors: About the Honorees".
13. (2021-10-21). "Variety's 10 Actors to Watch for 2021".
14. Plunkett, Paul. (2021-10-21). "Newport Beach Film Festival Returns Live with Events and Honorees Including Harvey Keitel and Regina Hall".
15. (2022-10-18). "Newport Beach Film Festival Honors Talent Including Eddie Redmayne, Majors, Keke Palmer".
16. (2001-09-21). "Newport Beach Film Festival to Honor Robert Wise".
17. Turchiano, Danielle. (2020-03-04). "Eugene Levy to Receive Newport Beach Film Festival's Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award".
18. Huver, Scott. (2021-06-16). "Forest Whitaker Reflects on Storied Career Ahead of Receiving Newport Beach Film Festival's Lifetime Achievement Award".
19. Sasic, Ema. "See Scarlett Johansson, Mark Hamill, 'Sinners' cast on the Newport film fest red carpet".
20. (2019-05-08). "2019 NBFF Awards".
21. Roberts, Toby. (2022-10-17). "Ron Howard and Colson Baker aka Machine Gun Kelly Honored At Newport Beach Film Festival".
22. (4 April 2019). "Moe Dunford to receive Breakthrough Artist Award at Newport Beach Film Festival – Film Ireland Magazine".
23. Nguyen, Lilly. (2022-10-18). "Newport Beach Film Festival joins with Variety to honor actors, filmmakers at Balboa Bay Club and Resort".
24. (2012-04-23). "Chuck Jones Centennial Celebration of Animation at the Newport Beach Film Festival 2012".
25. (2008-06-10). "LCAD student receives Chuck Jones animation award".
26. The NBFF, Editorial Team. (2020-02-06). "2020 UK Honours".