Established in 1999 after the failure of an earlier film festival series in the same location, the Newport Beach Film Festival features World, North America, U.S. and West Coast premieres as well as International Spotlight Series celebrating foreign language films.
McG and
Richard Sherman In 2005,
Will Ferrell was the honorary chair of a 'Youth Film Showcase.' In 2013, NBFF announced a new partnership with the Orange County Music Awards; which has produced the launch of the Music Video Showcase in the festival. 2013 was the first year this genre was included in the festival. In 2019, the festival opened with
Luce and the closing night film was A Part of Water. In 2021, the festival returned to a live format with a brunch for
Variety's "10 Actors to Watch" and other honorees including
Thomasin McKenzie,
Regina Hall,
Simon Rex,
Winston Duke,
Rosanna Arquette and
Harvey Keitel. In 2022, the festival officially changed its date to October, and honored actors including
Jonathan Majors,
Keke Palmer,
Colson Baker, and
Aubrey Plaza. == Awards ==