Director Scott Cooper, along with actors Benicio Del Toro, Kristen Stewart, and Wunmi Mosaku will be honored at the 2025 SSFILM Awards Night.
The event’s purpose is to honor “exemplary achievement in film craft and is a fundraiser with proceeds from the event supporting SFFILM’s enduring mission to discover, nurture, and showcase the next generation of film artists.”
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere director Scott Cooper will receive the Irving M. Levin Award for Film Direction. The award is presented each year to “one of the masters of world cinema” and is given in memory of the founder of SFFILM’s San Francisco International Film Festival. Some notable recipients include Greta Gerwig (2023), Ryan Coogler (2022), Guillermo del Toro (2015), Francis Ford Coppola (2009), and Spike Lee (2007).
The Maria Manetti Shrem Award for Acting will be presented to Benicio Del Toro by actor Regina Hall. The award “honors a performer whose work in film exemplifies brilliance, independence, and integrity.” He is currently starring in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, alongside Hall, Leonardo DiCaprio and Chase Infiniti.
Wumni Mosaku is a Nigerian-born British actress of screen and stage, most recently starring as Annie in Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. She will be honored with the George Gund III Award for Virtuosity, which will be presented by Delroy Lindo. The award is intended to honor “cinema’s outstanding visionaries, regardless of their craft and calls attention to an artist who exemplifies excellence, integrity, and promise. Past honorees include director Malcolm Washington (The Piano Lesson, 2024), writer/director Cord Jefferson (American Fiction, 2023), and actor Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once, 2022).
Kristen Stewart will receive the Nion McEvoy & Leslie Berriman Award for Storytelling. Presented by Imogen Poots, the award “acknowledges the critical importance that storytelling plays in the creation of outstanding films.” Her directorial debut, The Chronology of Water, made its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and will begin limited release in December. Recent recipients include Jason Reitman (2024), Roger Ross Williams (2023), Sarah Polley (2022), Maggie Gyllenhaal (2021), and Aaron Sorkin (2020).
Anne Lai, the Executive Director of SFFILM, said, “The work of our honorees will resonate for years to come, and central to our mission at SFFILM is nurturing the next generation of artists and audiences. Along with our Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks, we couldn’t be more thrilled to honor such notable talents as Scott, Benicio, Wunmi, and Kristen for their stellar contributions to film this year.”
SFFILM Awards Night will take place on Monday, December 8, 2025, at San Francisco’s Gateway Pavilion at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture.
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