Newport Beach Film Festival Announces 2025 Honorees: Brendan Fraser, Mark Hamill, Diane Lane and More (EXCLUSIVE)
The 2025 Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) has unveiled its 2025 Festival Honors, set to take place on Oct. 19 at Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach, CA. The Newport Beach Film Festival will take place from Oct. 16 to Oct. 23, screening 100 feature films from around the world.
This year’s honorees will include Brendan Fraser (“Rental Family”), Diane Lane (“Anniversary”) and Mark Hamill (“Life of Chuck”) who will each receive the Icon Award. Kerry Condon (“F1”) and Jenny Slate (“Dying for Sex”) will both receive the Artist of Distinction Award, Tessa Thompson (“Hedda”) will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Acting Award and Noah Schnapp (“Stranger Things”) will receive the Spotlight Award. This year’s Casting Visionary Award will go to Francine Maisler (“Sinners,” “Deliver Me from Nowhere”), alongside the Arts Champion Award presented to journalist and screenwriter Steven Gaydos, who recently retired from Variety after 33 years.
The honors event will include Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch lineup, highlighting upcoming actors such as Milly Alcock (“Supergirl”), Ella Anderson (“Song Sung Blue”), Tonatiuh (“Kiss of the Spider Woman”), Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (“Sentimental Value”), Miles Caton (“Sinners”), Guillaume Marbeck (“Nouvelle Vague”), Mari Yamamoto (“Rental Family”), Chase Infiniti (“One Battle After Another”), and Jay Lycurgo (“Steve,” “Peaky Blinders”).
The 2025 honorees will be joined by Scarlett Johansson who will receive the Variety Legend & Groundbreaker Award at the brunch event alongside Rian Johnson who will receive Best Director Award. Johnson’s film, “Wake Up Dead Man” will screen on Oct. 17 at the festival.
The ceremony will be filmed for broadcast and aired during key awards voting window in January on PBS SoCal.
This year’s honorees will include Brendan Fraser (“Rental Family”), Diane Lane (“Anniversary”) and Mark Hamill (“Life of Chuck”) who will each receive the Icon Award. Kerry Condon (“F1”) and Jenny Slate (“Dying for Sex”) will both receive the Artist of Distinction Award, Tessa Thompson (“Hedda”) will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Acting Award and Noah Schnapp (“Stranger Things”) will receive the Spotlight Award. This year’s Casting Visionary Award will go to Francine Maisler (“Sinners,” “Deliver Me from Nowhere”), alongside the Arts Champion Award presented to journalist and screenwriter Steven Gaydos, who recently retired from Variety after 33 years.
The honors event will include Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch lineup, highlighting upcoming actors such as Milly Alcock (“Supergirl”), Ella Anderson (“Song Sung Blue”), Tonatiuh (“Kiss of the Spider Woman”), Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (“Sentimental Value”), Miles Caton (“Sinners”), Guillaume Marbeck (“Nouvelle Vague”), Mari Yamamoto (“Rental Family”), Chase Infiniti (“One Battle After Another”), and Jay Lycurgo (“Steve,” “Peaky Blinders”).
The 2025 honorees will be joined by Scarlett Johansson who will receive the Variety Legend & Groundbreaker Award at the brunch event alongside Rian Johnson who will receive Best Director Award. Johnson’s film, “Wake Up Dead Man” will screen on Oct. 17 at the festival.
The ceremony will be filmed for broadcast and aired during key awards voting window in January on PBS SoCal.