In addition to showcasing over 300 films, the 2021 Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) will honor Rosanna Arquette, Winston Duke, Regina Hall, Harvey Keitel, Thomasin McKenzie, Simon Rex and Jeffrey Wright. The 22nd edition of the Festival will be held in person from October 21-28, 2021.
This year’s diverse slate of Newport Beach Film Festival honorees includes:
Rosanna Arquette (Icon Award)
Most recently seen in the Showtime series The L Word: Generation Q, Rosanna Arquette reprises her role of Cherie Jaffe from the original series. In addition, Rosanna is executive producing the Showtime series Coersion with Susannah Grant, she was featured in Showtime’s Ray Donovan and on the HBO series Girls. Along with a lead on the YouTube Originals series Sideswiped, Rosanna has nurtured a long career in feature film. Recently playing the female lead in the movie Etruscan Smile, starring along side Brian Cox, her other roles include Love Is Love Is Love alongside Rita Wilson, the Martin Scorsese film After Hours, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award, the feature film Holy Lands with Jonathan Rhys Meyers and James Caan, the David Cronenberg-directed Crash, and Desperately Seeking Susan, for which she won a BAFTA Award.
Winston Duke (Maverick Award)
Winston Duke made his feature film debut in Black Panther, the highest-grossing film of 2018 and the third highest-grossing film ever in the United States. As fan-favorite character M’Baku, the role earned him his first NAACP nomination for Breakout of the Year. He reprised the role in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: End Game. Earning other accolades such as the Breakout Award at the 2018 Savannah Film Festival, and named one of the Top Ten actors in Hollywood Reporter’s Next Generation issue, Duke serves as executive producer and star of Sony Picture Classics’ Nine Days. His other film credits include the Peter Berg Netflix crime drama Spencer Confidential and Jordan Peele’s US, for which he received an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture.
Regina Hall (Artist of Distinction Award)
One of Hollywood’s most sought-after actresses, Regina Hall was nominated for an NAACP Award for the hit Showtime comedy series Black Monday and most recently starred on the acclaimed Hulu drama Nine Perfect Strangers. For her upcoming projects she will star in and executive produce the upcoming occult drama Master for Amazon Studios, and the mega-church satire Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. In 2018 Hall became the first African American actress to win a New York Film Critics Circle award for Best Actress for her role in Support the Girls. Along with the hit films Girls Trip and The Hate U Give, her other films include Shaft, When the Bough Breaks, Barbershop 3, Love and Basketball and the Scary Movie franchise. She is currently filming the Netflix comedy Me Time.
Harvey Keitel (Lifetime Achievement Award)
A legendary actor who has worked alongside such Hollywood heavyweights as Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Robert De Niro on numerous feature projects, Harvey Keitel has played memorable roles in such celebrated films as Lansky, Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, The Last Temptation of Christ, Thelma & Louise, Reservoir Dogs, Bad Lieutenant, Pulp Fiction, Cop Land, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs and The Irishman. Among his many accolades, Keitel received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his turn in Barry Levinson’s Bugsy opposite Warren Beatty and won an Independent Spirit Award for Bad Lieutenant and an Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his starring role in Jane Campion’s The Piano.
Thomasin McKenzie (Breakout Performance Award)
Thomasin McKenzie is a veritable star on the rise. Her projects this year include Last Night in Soho directed by Edgar Wright, the psychological thriller Old, written, directed and produced by M. Night Shyamalan, Jane Campion’s The Power Of the Dog, and The Justice Of Bunny King, which had its world premiere at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. Her other projects include Jojo Rabbit, Leave No Trace, Lost Girls, True History Of The Kelly Gang, The King, The Hobbit – The Battle Of The Five Armies, Lucy Lewis Can’t Lose, Bright Summer Night and the short film The Boyfriend Game. McKenzie recently completed production on the BBC’s four-part adaptation of Kate Atkinson’s best-selling and award-winning novel Life After Life. It was recently announced that she will star as Olympian gymnast Kerri Strug in Fox Searchlight’s Perfect, directed by Olivia Wilde.
Simon Rex (Spotlight Award)
Known for his dynamic and unconventional roles, Simon Rex will next be seen in the starring role for the December 3 release of Sean Baker’s Red Rocket, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year to a rapturous response, and earned the Jury Prize and the Critics Prize at the Deauville American Film Festival. Rex’s magnetic performance continues to be celebrated by audiences and critics across the globe, with many considering this to be a breakthrough, career-defining moment for him. In addition to the drama My Dead Dad, directed by Fabio Frey, he will also be seen in Katie Aselton’s comedy Mack & Rita opposite Diane Keaton and Taylour Paige. Along with other film credits including Scary Movie 3, 4, & 5, Hotel California andKing of the Avenue, Rex was first introduced to TV audiences as an MTV VJ, going on to series regular roles on network shows such as Felicity, Jack and Jill and What I Like About You.
Jeffrey Wright (Variety Legend and Groundbreaker Award)
Jeffrey Wright is a Tony, Emmy, AFI and Golden Globe Award-winning actor who has enjoyed an illustrious career, spanning the worlds of theatre, film and television. This year he can be seen reprising his role of CIA agent Felix Leiter in the next James Bond installment, No Time to Die and in the all-star ensemble cast in Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, His projects include All Day And A Night, Hold the Dark, O.G.,The Goldfinch, All Rise, The Laundromat, Basquiat, Syriana, The Manchurian Candidate, The Hunger Games, Casino Royale and Boardwalk Empire.Wright recently wrapped production on the latest installment of The Batman: Vengeance in London and making history as the first African American to portray the iconic character of Commissioner Gordon. He is currently in production on the fourth season of HBO’s Westworld, playing the critically acclaimed role of Bernard Lowe, which has earned three Emmy nominations.
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