The 20th annual Newport Beach Film Festival announced the winners of this year’s awards following its eight-day run (April 25 - May 2, 2019) in Southern California.
The festival boasts the largest celebration of Irish Cinema in North America with highlights include an Irish Showcase event, red carpet premieres, Breakthrough Artist Award presentation to Moe Dunford, 11 Irish feature-length films, 20 Irish short films, along with the participation of a number of Irish filmmakers and talent.
John Butler’s ‘Papi Chulo’ picked up the Audience Award for Best Feature Film ahead of its North American release on June 7th. The film stars Matt Bomer and Alejandro Patino and is produced by Rebecca O’Flanagan and Robert Walpole of Treasure Entertainment.
Writer Stuart Drennan and actor Moe Dunford picked up Jury Awards for Best Screenwriter and Best Actor, respectively, for their work on Northern Irish drama ‘The Dig’. Drennan’s script was developed through Northern Ireland Screen’s New Talent Focus scheme with Lottery funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Brothers Ryan and Andrew Tohill directed in their feature debut, while Brian J. Falconer (‘Normal People’) produced through Out of Orbit.
Kerry native Jessie Buckley picked up a Festival Honour for Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking; Acting for her performance in Scottish musical-drama ‘Wild Rose’. Buckley can currently be seen in HBO/Sky Atlantic drama series ‘Chernobyl’.
Moe Dunford previously received the Breakthrough Artist Award at the 2019 Festival Honors reception co-hosted by Variety Magazine at the Balboa Bay Resort. Dunford, who featured in three of the Festival’s Irish films (‘Metal Heart’, ‘Rosie’, ‘The Dig’) and is best known for ‘Vikings’, ‘Patrick’s Day’ and ‘Michael Inside’ (a 2018 NBFF official selection), has emerged as one of Ireland’s most talented and versatile actors with a robust slate of films in the works, on the festival circuit and in theatrical release.
The winners of the Newport Beach Film Festival were announced on May 8th in Southern California.