Congratulations to the award winners, announced yesterday, and thank you to ALL of the filmmakers who generously shared their beautiful work with our audiences this past week. You moved us and made us laugh, sparking conversations and friendships that will last a lifetime. You are now part of the PIFF family!
Category: Festival Archives
2024 – Joel Kim Booster
Comedian, writer, and actor Joel Kim Booster is perhaps best known for writing and starring in the breakout hit Fire Island (PIFF 2022), for which he received two Emmy nominations along with a “Best First Screenplay” nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards.
2024 – Colman Domingo
Colman Domingo is an award-winning actor, playwright, director, and producer. In other words, he’s a mega talent. A 2024 Oscar, BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe, and Critics Choice Award nominee for his starring role as Bayard Rustin in Rustin, Domingo also starred last year as Mister in The Color Purple. He is a two-time Film Independent Spirit, Gotham, SAG, Critics Choice, NAACP Image, Tony®, Sir Lawrence Olivier, Drama Desk, Drama League and NAACP Theatre Award nominee for his work on stage and screen, and is an OBIE and Lucille Lortel Award winner.
2024 – Andrew Haigh
Andrew Haigh is an award-winning British writer-director, known for tender and emotionally revealing works. His most recent film, the critically acclaimed All of Us Strangers, starring Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy and Jamie Bell, received six BAFTA nominations, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Haigh. All of Us Strangers was also the recipient of four Gotham and three Independent Spirit Awards nominations. Haigh’s previous feature films include A24’s Lean on Pete (2017), IFC’s Sundance Selects’ 45 Years (2015), for which Charlotte Rampling earned an Academy Award nomination, and his breakout hit, Weekend, which screened at PIFF in 2011.
2023 – JULIO TORRES
Julio Torres is an Emmy-nominated and WGA-winning writer. His work on “Saturday Night Live” garnered four Emmy nominations and he’s performed stand-up on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” as well as “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” In 2017, Julio headlined his first solo hour at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, “My Favorite Shapes: By Julio Torres” to rave reviews, and which became… Continue reading 2023 – JULIO TORRES
2023 – MEGAN STALTER
Standout comedian and actress Megan Stalter is known for her hilarious breakout performance as Kayla in the Emmy Award-winning series “Hacks” with Jean Smart. In 2020, The New York Times critic Jason Zinoman declared her “sketch comedy’s newest star.” In addition to her current starring role in the PIFF 2023 Opening Night film CORA BORA, she appears… Continue reading 2023 – MEGAN STALTER
2023 – BILLY PORTER
Billy Porter is a tremendously talented Emmy, Tony and Grammy-award winning actor, singer and director, and playwright. His cinematic performances include 80 for Brady, Cinderella, The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy and Bill Oliver’s OUR SON, which is featured in this year’s festival. He made his feature-film directorial debut with Anything’s Possible in 2022. Billy’s work on FX’s… Continue reading 2023 – BILLY PORTER
2023 – BRUCE LABRUCE
Bruce LaBruce is an award-winning filmmaker, photographer, writer, and artist whose work is known for pushing boundaries and blurring the lines between independent film and pornography. Along with numerous short films, he has written and directed fourteen feature films, including Gerontophilia, which won the Grand Prix at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal in 2012.… Continue reading 2023 – BRUCE LABRUCE
2022 – DALE DICKEY
Dale Dickey is a superbly talented veteran of film, television and the theater, with over 60 film credits—notably her Film Independent Spirit Award-winning performance in Debra Granik’s acclaimed Winter’s Bone. Other films include Flag Day, Palm Springs, Hell or High Water, No Exit, Iron Man 3, and A LOVE SONG, which is featured in this year’s festival. With over 50… Continue reading 2022 – DALE DICKEY
2021 – RIZ AHMED
Riz Ahmed became one of Hollywood’s most sought-after artists following the explosive success of HBO’s The Night Of, for which he won an Emmy Award, and was Golden Globe and SAG Award nominated. Ahmed has starred in successful films including ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY, THE SISTERS BROTHERS and VENOM. He first garnered industry… Continue reading 2021 – RIZ AHMED