Past Newport Beach Film Festival Winners

Before you hear about the past Newport Beach Film Festival winners—those elite few who receive the title of Best Picture—it may be good to know exactly what the Newport Beach Film Festival is. The film festival was founded ten years ago in Newport Beach in Orange County, California. The mission of the festival is “to bring Orange County the best of classic and contemporary filmmaking from around the world.” The festival also creates a venue for local non-profit organizations to share the work they are doing in Orange County with the people who come.

Since it's beginning, the Newport Beach Film Festival annually shows about 350 films to 50,000 people in a “diverse collection of studio and independent films”. In an effort to promote the event and the art of cinema, screenwriters, actors and directors are among those who attend and provide attendees the opportunity to talk about the movies and provide a post-production Q&A session. As the list of winners will reveal, each film is very different. Films that have appeared at Newport Beach Film Festival include “500 Days of Summer”, “Crash” and “The Illusionist." A jury decides each year’s winners for Best Picture and all subsequent categories for the festival.

1. 2000: "Just, Melvin: Just Evil A documentary about a family's history with alcoholism and generational incest.
2. 2001: “Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale” Story of a man who stumbles upon a Cannibalistic tribe in the jungles of Peru.
3. 2002: “Ti voglio bene Eugenio (I Love You, Eugenio)” Italian film about an inspirational story of a man with Down syndrome.
4. 2003: “How Harry Became a Tree” An adaptation of the story "Lao Dan" by Yang Zhengsung in which a depressed Irishman in the 1920's picks a random man to be his enemy.
5. 2004: “Shut Up and Kiss Me” Romantic comedy about two best friends who fall for the wrong girl.
6. 2005: “My Suicidal Sweetheart” Suicidal comedy about escaped mental patients who get married and try to find new ways to die.
7. 2006: “Al Otro Lado (To the Other Side)” Documentary about illegal immigration and drug trafficking between Mexico and the United States.
8. 2007: “Art in the Face of War” Story about eight World War II veterans turned artists.
9. 2008: “Fugitive Pieces” Based on Anne Michaels’ poetic novel about a Holocaust survivor.
10. 2009: “Seraphine” A French film based on the life of French painter Séraphine de Senli.

The eleventh annual Newport Beach Film Festival takes place April 22-29^th.