27th ANNUAL NEWPORT BEACH FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2026 AWARDS WINNERS
Feature Film Awards
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Best Narrative Feature: ‘Wild Horse Nine’
Best International Feature: ‘La Bola Negra’
Best Animated Feature: ‘In Waves’
Best Music Documentary Feature: ‘Frampton’
Best Documentary Feature: ‘4000 Days’
Best Thriller Feature: ‘Better’
Best Action Sports Feature: ‘Stern Fever’
Best Art, Architecture + Design Feature: ‘Heroic: Sabin Howard Sculpts the National WWI Memorial’ & ‘Leica – A Century of Vision’
Best Environmental Feature: ‘The Sludge War’
Best Culinary Feature: ‘How To Feed a Dictator’
Best Family Feature: ‘Whale Shark Jack’
Best Irish Feature: ‘You’ll Never Believe Who’s Dead’
JURY & FESTIVAL AWARDS
Best Feature: ‘A Talent For Murder’ – Anton Corbijn
Best Documentary: ‘All American Girls’ – Andrea Berman and Christy Wegener
Best Screenplay: ‘A Talent For Murder’ – Joanna Murray-Smith
Best Cinematography: ‘Fatherland’– Łukasz Żal
Best Director: Paweł Pawlikowski – ‘Fatherland’
Best Actor: Alden Ehrenreich – ‘A Talent For Murder’
Best Actress: Sandra Hüller – ‘Fatherland’
Best Ensemble: ‘…And Out Comes the Wolf’
Outstanding Achievement in Directing: ‘Paper Tiger’
Outstanding Achievement in Narrative Filmmaking: ‘Jimmy’ & ‘Ink’
‘The Body is Water’ – Outstanding Achievement in International Filmmaking: ‘The Body is Water’ & ‘Sisa’ & ‘What A Way To Go’
Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Filmmaking: ‘Carl Sagan: We Are Made of Star Stuff’ & ‘As Far Back As I Can Remember…The Story of Goodfellas’ & ‘Avedon’
Outstanding Achievement in Animation: ‘Julián’
Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking – Action Sports: ‘Beyond Borders Patagonia’
Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking – Art, Architecture + Design: ‘The Last Inventor: Chuck Hull & The Hope of 3D Printing’ –
Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking – Culinary: ‘Noor: Eating History’
Outstanding Achievement in Editing: Mikkel E.G. Nielsen – ‘Wild Horse Nine’
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Gris Jordana – ‘La Bola Negra’
Short Film Awards
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Best Narrative Short: ‘The 65th’
Best Documentary Short: ‘Guardians of Anatolia’
Best International Short: ‘To Save a Life’
Best Animated Short: ‘The Whistle’
Best Action Sports Short: ‘Hunter’s Moon’
Best Art, Architecture + Design Short: ‘Women Laughing’
Best Irish Short: ‘Listen’ & ‘FAT’
JURY & FESTIVAL AWARDS
Best Animated Short: ‘That Night’
Best Documentary Short: ‘The Baddest Speechwriter of All’
Best Narrative Short: ‘Every Time I See a Yellow Car’
Outstanding Achievement in Narrative Short Filmmaking: ‘Fire Lily’
Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Short Filmmaking: ‘Bright Harvest: Powering Earth From Space’
Outstanding Achievement in International Short Filmmaking: ‘Submitting Tigers’
Outstanding Achievement in Short Filmmaking – Animation: ‘Wait!’
Outstanding Achievement in Short Filmmaking – Action Sports: ‘On Flying’
Outstanding Achievement in Short Filmmaking – Art, Architecture + Design Short: ‘Curating Modernism’
Best Irish Short: ‘A Vinyl Goodbye’