The Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) handed out its 2022 awards, with The Quiet Girl, the Irish film on a quiet, neglected girl sent away from her overcrowded, dysfunctional family to live with foster parents for the summer, winning the Jury award for Best Film. Lovely Jackson, the true life story of Rickey Jackson who spent 39 years on death row and in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, won for Best Feature Documentary.
The top Audience Awards went to Four Samosas for Best Narrative Feature (US), The Banshees of Inisherin for Best Narrative Feature (International), and The Ghost of Richard Harris for Best Documentary Feature.
The 23rd edition of the festival was held in person from October 13-20, 2022, showcasing over 350 films from around the world.
The festival also celebrated outstanding achievement in film and television at the 2022 Festival Honors. The 2022 Festival honorees included Ron Howard (Variety Legend and Groundbreaker Award); Jonathan Majors, Patton Oswalt, Keke Palmer and Aubrey Plaza (Artist of Distinction Awards); Colson Baker (Spotlight Award); Anna Diop (Spotlight Award); Cooper Raiff (Maverick Award); and Aimee Carrero (Breakout Performance Award). Additionally, Variety presented their 10 Actors to Watch, with Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin), Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Ximena Lamadrid (Bardo), Christina Jackson (Devotion), Thuso Mbedu (The Woman King), Zen McGrath (The Son), Amber Midthunder (Prey), Sam Nivola (White Noise), Jeremy Pope (The Inspection), and Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) in attendance.
At other festival events Eddie Redmayne received the Icon Award, while Adam Sandler received the festival’s inaugural Performance of the Year Award in recognition of his work in Jeremiah Zagar’s Hustle. In addition, filmmaker Paul Feig received the Career Achievement Award at the screening for The School of Good and Evil.
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Best Narrative Feature (US): “Four Samosas”
Best Narrative Feature (International): “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Best Documentary Feature: “The Ghost of Richard Harris”
Best Documentary Feature (Action Sports): “Facing Monsters”
Best Documentary Feature (Local OC): “The Baja Bug Movie”
Best Documentary Feature (Environmental): “Patrick and the Whale”
Best Documentary Feature (Art, Architecture + Design): “Greenhouse by Joost”
Best Documentary Short (US): “Just Hold On”
Best Narrative Short (International): “Warts & All”
Best Animation Short: “Andy: A Dog’s Tale”
Best Documentary Short (Environmental): “Aonghas – A Wish for the Waves / Aonghas – Miannna Mara”
Best Documentary Short (Local OC): “Con Su Pluma en Su Mano: The Ballad of Gustavo Arellano”
Best Documentary Short (Art, Architecture + Design): “Gus Alva | Paradigm+++Mas”
JURY AWARDS
Feature Narratives
Best Film – “The Quiet Girl”
Best Director – Shal Ngo, “The Park”
Best Screenplay – Anna Baumgarten, “Disfluency”
Best Cinematography – Andrew Jeric, “Supercell”
Best Actress – Libe Barer, “Disfluency”
Best Actor – Jance Enslin, “The Mental State”
Best Feature Documentary – “Lovely Jackson”
Short Films
Animated Short – “Andy: A Dog’s Tale”
Narrative Short – “Brownsville Bred”
Documentary Short – “Lalito 10”
Festival Awards
Outstanding Achievement Feature Film – “The Lost King”
Outstanding Achievement Cinematography – “All Quiet on the Western Front”
Outstanding Achievement in Editing – Billy Fox, “Devotion”