The 2025 Newport Beach Film Festival takes place at the Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach, California from the 16th to the 23rd October, featuring screenings of 100 films from across the globe and a number of notable honorees, none more notable than our very own Mark Hamill who will receive the Icon Award alongside fellow icons Brendan Fraser and Diana Lane. As he is at the San Diego Film Festival, Hamill is joined by fellow GFFA alum Rian Johnson, who gets the Best Director Award for his third entry in his Knives Out series Wake Up Dead Man.
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 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.
Congratulations to Mark, and here’s to correctly fitting trousers and no wardrobe malfunctions when he hits the stage to collect his awards.
