Newport Beach Film Festival Announces 2023 Winners, “American Fiction” and “Monster” Receive Honors (EXCLUSIVE)

Valerie Wu
·2 min read
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The 2023 annual Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF), hosted from Oct. 12 to Oct. 19, has announced its slate of awards winners.

The 24th annual NBFF showcased over 300 films. Over eight days, the festival was home to a range of film-related programming, including a special conversation with Judy Blume, author of the book behind “Are You There, God? It’s Me Margaret?;” movie screenings of Irish film “Woken” and Chinese film “Only the River Flows,” among others; and red carpet premieres.

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“American Fiction,” starring Jeffrey Wright and Issa Rae, and Japanese film “Monster” were the top-awarded films at the festival, each taking home three awards. Written and directed by Cord Jefferson and based on the novel “Erasure” by Percival Everett, “American Fiction” has picked up several festival awards this season, including the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The Audience Awards saw best international feature going to the Eugenio Derbez-starrer “Radical” while the best U.S. Feature prize was a tie between Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” and “Brave the Dark,” a true story about a troubled young man’s friendship with his drama teacher, played by Jared Harris.

Others honorees at the festival included Todd Haynes (“Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award”) and Patricia Clarkson (“Artist of Distinction Award”).

Film awards available were Audience, Jury and Festival awards. The list of winners is as follows:

AUDIENCE AWARDS

  • Best International Feature: “Radical”

  • Best U.S. Feature: “The Holdovers” & “Brave the Dark” (tie)

  • Best Action Sports Film: “One Way Ticket – The Story of Greg Lutzka”

  • Culinary Audience Award: “Food & Design”

  • Best Environmental Feature: “Green City Life”

  • Best Art, Architecture, & Design Feature: “Copyright Infringement”

  • Best Overall Documentary: “The Disappearance of Shere Hite” and “Remembering Gene Wilder” (tie)

  • Best Short Narrative: “Two for the Road”

  • Best Short Documentary: “Sincero”

  • Best Short Animation: “Aikane” and “Worry World” (tie)

  • Best Art, Architecture, & Design Short: “Barbara Rachko: True Grit”

  • Best Action Sports Short: “#MoCrazyStrong”

  • Best Irish Film: “Verdigris”

JURY AWARDS

  • Best Feature Documentary: “The Michoacán File”

  • Best Feature: “Monster”

  • Best Screenplay: Yûji Sakamoto (“Monster”)

  • Best Director: Guy Édoin (“Frontiers” / “Frontières”)

  • Best Cinematography: Narayan Van Maele (“Double Blind”)

  • Best Actor: Eita Nagayama (“Monster”)

  • Best Actress: Pascale Bussières (“Frontiers” / “Frontières”)

  • Best Short Narrative: “Dig Deeper”

  • Best Short Documentary: “Danceable”

  • Best Short Animation: “Inglorious Liaisons”

FESTIVAL HONORS

  • Outstanding Performance: Annette Bening (“Nyad”)

  • Outstanding Performance: Colman Domingo (“Rustin”)

  • Outstanding Feature Narrative: “American Fiction” – Cord Jefferson

  • Outstanding Screenplay: “American Fiction” – Cord Jefferson

  • Outstanding Documentary: “Immediate Family”

  • Outstanding Documentary: “Williams & Mansell: Red 5”

  • Outstanding International Documentary: “I Dream in Photos”

  • Outstanding Editing Feature: “American Fiction” – Hilda Rasula

  • Outstanding Editing Short: “Numan” – Salem Salavati

  • Outstanding Short Narrative: “A Wedding Day”

  • Outstanding Short Documentary: “Eat Flowers”

  • Outstanding Youth Short: “Ovaryacting”

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