NBFF kicks off opening night with Sundance hit “American Animals.” The British-American true crime drama, written and directed by Bart Layton, starring Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner and Jared Abrahamson, will be followed by a gala reception at the Fashion Island shopping mall.
The fest will end its eight-day run with the West Coast premiere of “All Square,” director John Hyams’ dramedy about a small-time bookie (Michael Kelly) who comes up with a scheme to take bets on Little League games.
Following the screening, the fest, in partnership with Schiefer ChopShop and Via Lido Plaza, will host the closing-night celebration. The outdoor event will feature a hosted bar by Tito’s Vodka, Oban Whiskey and Guinness, with culinary tastings from top local restaurants.
In between those bookends, NBFF will host the U.S. premieres of the Italian feature “Wife and Husband,” the Chinese film “End of Summer,” the Japanese award-winning film “3 Ft. Ball and Souls” and the German film “My Blind Date With Life.”
International premieres at the fest include Mexican film “The Grand Promise” and Australia’s “The Pretend One.” The Irish Showcase will feature the premieres of three Irish films: “Maze,” “The Drummer and the Keeper” and “Michael Inside.”
The AA+D section highlights women artists, including designer-filmmaker Mika’ Ela Fisher, Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, sculptor Elizabeth King and British artist Penny Slinger. Spotlighted films include Chile’s ‘The Desert Bride,” Brazil’s “Rust,” France’s “Custody” and Sweden’s “Ravens.”
NBFF retrospectives include the 70th anniversary of Howard Hawks’ “Red River,” the 65th anniversary of “Peter Pan” and the 10th anniversary of director Patricia Riggen’s “Under the Same Moon.” The 2018 Free Filmmaking seminars include the Variety Cinematography Master Class and Panel presented by Zeiss, WIA Presents Building a Career in Animation, and Music in Film Presented by Costa Communications.
FESTIVAL HONOREES
The Newport Beach Film Festival will also recognize prominent artists, including:
Icon Award
Paco Delgado
Well-known in the industry for his deceptively complex work and love of bold colors, the twice Oscar-nominated Spanish costume designer (for Tom Hooper’s “Les Miserables” and “The Danish Girl”) was born in the Canary Islands and grew up loving to draw, and initially studied theater and set design. But after moving to London, where he created sets for various Fringe productions, he gradually moved away from set design and into costume design, where he found his true calling. Since then, he’s collaborated with such top directors as Pedro Almodóvar (“The Skin I Live In”), Alejandro G. Iñárritu (“Biutiful”) and M. Night Shyamalan (“Split” and the upcoming “Glass”). Most recently, Delgado, who’s also won two Goya Awards, created the haute couture-inspired fantastical costumes worn by Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling in Ava DuVernay’s “A Wrinkle in Time.” Next up: Disney adventure “Jungle Cruise,” starring Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson.
Artist of Distinction
Jessica Paré
The Canadian actress turned a lot of heads with her powerful, heartbreaking turn as Megan Draper in the acclaimed AMC series “Mad Men.” But Paré has been a face to watch ever since she made her debut in 1999 with a small role in TV movie “Bonanno: A Godfather’s Story,” shot while she was still in her final year in high school. That experience encouraged her to pursue acting, and she got her big break the next year when, after auditioning for another small role in the indie “Stardom,” director Denys Arcand cast her in the lead as a supermodel. The film, which played in Cannes, launched her career, and since then Paré has tackled a broad range of film and TV projects, including “Wicker Park” (her Hollywood debut), TV miniseries “Napoleon,” vampire horror-comedy “Suck,” the Kennedy teen drama series “Jack & Bobby” and the comedy “Hot Tub Time Machine.” She’s next slated to play the title character in “Queen Bee.”
Breakout
Nadine Haders
If you’ve seen the Oscar-winning, multi-layered horror comedy film “Get Out,” the debut feature film from comedian-turned-director Jordan Peele, then you’ve seen the work of up-and-coming costume designer Haders. As a key member of Peele’s creative team, she underscored the satire, symbolism and referential humor with precise wardrobes for each character that visually helped clue audiences into what was going on beneath the surface (the urban hero wears blue, then gray as he enters a strange new world where black and white and splashes of red are all vivid signifiers). L.A.-based Haders cut her teeth on such TV shows as “Into the Badlands,” “Legends,” “Raising Hope,” “Leverage” and “John From Cincinnati,” and her most recent work can be seen in CBS’ rebooted hit “MacGyver.” Haders is working on the upcoming sci-fi horror film “Only You,” directed by Jacob Estes and starring Storm Reid and David Oyelowo.
Newcomer
Joe Sill
After graduating from Dodge College, the aspiring writer-director worked at a visual effects house before deciding to make a commercial on spec for Tesla called “Tesla — Modern Spaceship,” which he wrote, produced and directed. The gamble paid off big time when it got the attention of Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk and advertising agencies, and jumpstarted Sill’s career. He quickly launched a production company and began making commercials and music videos, and in 2015 he won director accolades at the YouTube Music Awards for his imaginative and visually stunning music video for Lindsey Stirling “Take Flight.” Since then he’s directed branded short films for Google, NASA, Nike and EA Games, and made the ultimate Star Wars fan film, “Kara,” a short that was shot in the desert near Yuma, Ariz. He recently wrapped production on his first feature film, “Stray,” a supernatural noir thriller inspired by Japanese anime, made for less than $400,000.
(Pictured above: Delgado, Pare, Haders, Sill)
