THE EVENING WILL INCLUDE WINE, SIGNATURE COCKTAILS, AND HORS D’OEUVRES
Parking is limited. We strongly encourage you to be dropped off or to take a taxi. If you drive, please allow ample time to park in Siasconset. Please adhere to Town Parking Regulations.
In 1998, NFF set out to honor the very best screenwriters and storytellers, and over the years this event has expanded to encompass honors for Special Achievement in Documentary Storytelling, Excellence in Television Writing, New Voices in Screenwriting, and the Compass Rose Award for Career Achievement.
SCREENWRITERS TRIBUTE AWARD
The Screenwriters Tribute Award is the highest honor presented by the Festival. Established in 1998, this award honors an individual whose history in screenwriting has made a distinct impact on American cinema. The Screenwriters Tribute Award is not a “lifetime achievement” award, but rather an acknowledgment of the indelible impact these artists have made on the hearts and minds of people all over the world through their writing for the screen. These writers link us to our past and provide a glimpse into our future.
2022 Honors: BARRY JENKINS
Academy Award®-winner Barry Jenkins co-wrote and directed all ten episodes of his critically acclaimed adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winner Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad. As well as receiving seven Emmy® nominations, three Broadcast Critics Choice Awards nominations, two Film Independent Spirit, WGA, and USC Scripter nominations, Jenkins was awarded Best Director and Best Limited Series in the AACFA TV Honors 2021. In addition, Jenkins is the recipient of the 2022 USC Libraries Literary Achievement Award which recognizes his contributions to cinematic storytelling.
Jenkins’ feature films include Medicine for Melancholy, which received several Independent Spirit and Gotham Award nominations, and the Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning Best Picture Moonlight. His third feature, an adaptation of James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk went on to receive three Academy Award nominations and won Best Picture at the Independent Spirit Awards. Jenkins also received the Independent Spirit Award for Best Director.
Jenkins’ upcoming work includes a follow-up to The Lion King for Walt Disney Studios as well as a biopic of famed choreographer, Alvin Ailey, for Searchlight Pictures.
COMPASS ROSE AWARD FOR CAREER ACHIEVEMENT
The Compass Rose Award recognizes the work of an outstanding artist whose contribution to the world of filmmaking and storytelling has had a profound impact and serves as an inspiration for writers to create new material.
2022 Honors: JOHN TURTURRO
John Turturro is an actor, director, producer, and writer. He is known for his contributions to the independent film movement and has appeared in over sixty feature films and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers, Adam Sandler, and Spike Lee. He began his acting career in the early 1980s and received early critical recognition with the independent film Five Corners. Turturro appeared in Do the Right Thing, Miller’s Crossing, and Barton Fink, for which he won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Subsequent roles included Quiz Show, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and The Batman. He currently stars as Irving on the Apple TV+ series Severance. An Emmy Award winner, Turturro has also been nominated for four Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and four Independent Spirit Awards. Turturro has also written and directed numerous films including Mac, which won the Golden Camera Award at the Cannes Film Festival Illuminata, Romance & Cigarettes (starring James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, and Kate Winslet), and The Jesus Rolls.
Presented by Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller is a producer, director, writer, and actor. He has directed and starred in Reality Bites, Zoolander, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and Tropic Thunder. Stiller’s acting credits include There’s Something About Mary, Meet the Parents, and The Royal Tenenbaums. Stiller most recently directed Showtime’s critically acclaimed and award-winning Escape at Dannemora, Apple TV+’s Severance, the just-announced series Super Sad True Love Story, and the feature film Bag Man. Stiller has been on the NFF Board of Directors since the Festival’s inception.
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DOCUMENTARY STORYTELLING
Some of today's most gifted cinematic storytellers work outside of scripted characters and plots. We honor these non-fiction filmmakers with our Special Achievement in Documentary Storytelling. When it comes to imagination, scope, and heart, these directors more than equal their "fiction" colleagues. The greatest filmmakers in the non-fiction realm strive for a discerning fidelity to reality while simultaneously staying true to their instincts as a storyteller. What emerges are works that audiences will continue to cherish for decades to come.
2022 Honors: RAMIN BAHRANI
Academy Award® and Emmy nominee Ramin Bahrani is the Iranian-American writer, director, and producer of 2nd Chance (screening at this year’s Festival), The White Tiger, for which he has earned Oscar®, BAFTA®, and WGA Award nominations. Bahrani is the internationally renowned, award-winning filmmaker of critically-lauded films such as Man Push Cart (screened at NFF 2005), Chop Shop, Goodbye Solo, and 99 Homes. His films regularly premiere at the Cannes, Venice, Toronto, and Sundance film festivals. Bahrani is a Guggenheim Fellowship winner and his cinematic oeuvre is housed in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 2nd Chance is Ramin’s first feature-length documentary.
NEW VOICES IN SCREENWRITING
Every once in a while, a writer bursts onto the independent film scene, making noise with a combination of an already recognizable style and a compelling yet fresh take on a genre or tried-and-true narrative. Since 2010, we've been shining the spotlight on these exciting new talents with our New Voices in Screenwriting Award. These screenwriters think outside the box and still manage to engage audiences, critics, and the industry alike. We hope you take notice of these great filmmakers with us, and eagerly await what they come up with next.
2022 Honors: COOPER RAIFF
Cooper Raiff is an actor, writer, and director. His debut film, Shithouse, won the SXSW Grand Jury Award among other honors. His sophomore film Cha Cha Real Smooth was a smash hit at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and is screening at NFF this year.
TICKETS ONSALE MAY 25
Saturday, June 25 – 6:30pm
SCONSET CASINO
Join us at the ‘Sconset Casino in Siasconset.
The evening will include wine, signature cocktails, and hors d’oeuvres
Parking is limited. We strongly encourage you to be dropped off or to take a taxi. If you drive, please allow ample time to park in Siasconset. Please adhere to Town Parking Regulations.
Presented by
Ring Lardner, Jr. - M*A*S*H, Woman of the Year