Awards
FILMMAKER ON THE EDGE
Presented to a film artist whose outstanding achievement, innovation, and vision continue to push the boundaries of film.
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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…
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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.……
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2022 – LUCA GUADAGNINO
Luca Guadagnino is an Academy Award-nominated director, screenwriter, and producer known for his visually arresting style and his affecting psychological portraits. He is currently in production on Challengers starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist, and in post-production on the hotly anticipated Bones and All, starring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell. Guadagnino’s varied credits include the Academy Award, Golden Globe……
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2021 – RICHARD LINKLATER
It’s hard to imagine what the American film landscape would look like without Richard Linklater. Linklater was among the first and most successful talents to emerge during the American independent film renaissance of the 1990s. Often his work explored what he dubbed “the youth rebellion continuum,” definitively capturing the 20-something culture of his era and……
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2019 – JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL
To describe the work of John Cameron Mitchell as groundbreaking would be an understatement. As co-writer, director, and star, Mitchell’s film adaptation of his hit Off-Broadway play HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH burst onto the scene at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival where he was honored as Best Director. Through its many iterations, Hedwig became……
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2018 – SEAN BAKER
Sean Baker’s work defines a new social realism in US cinema, focusing on modern, marginalized characters through a compassionate and often humorous lens. He is the director and co-writer of the highly lauded film, The Florida Project, which premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. The film was released by A24 and was nominated for……
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2017 – SOFIA COPPOLA
Over the past 18 years, Sofia Coppola has become one of America’s most singular filmmakers, often creating dream-like filmscapes that transport viewers to strange-yet-familiar worlds. Her storied career as a feature writer, director, and producer began with The Virgin Suicides. With a world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, The Virgin Suicides subsequently earned her……
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2016 – ANG LEE
ANG LEE (Director/Producer) is a three-time Academy Award winner and one of the world’s most revered and honored directors. His film LIFE OF PI, which he directed and produced, was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, winning prizes for Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects and Best Original Score. In addition, the film received nine……
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2015 – BOBCAT GOLDTHWAIT
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2014 – DAVID CRONENBERG
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2013 – HARMONY KORINE
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2012 – ROGER CORMAN
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2011 – DARREN ARONOFSKY
Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Darren Aronofsky was born and raised in Brooklyn. Aronofsky heads Protozoa Pictures based in Chinatown NYC. His upcoming film “The Whale” for A24 stars Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, and Samantha Morton. Aronofsky wrote and directed 2017’s “mother!” starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem. Before that, Aronofsky made the 2014 box……
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2010 – KEVIN SMITH
Kevin Smith has been saying silly cinematic shit since 1994’s Clerks. 2022 marks the 28th year since the last time he had a real job.
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2009 – GUY MADDIN
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2008 – QUENTIN TARANTINO
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2007 – TODD SOLONDZ
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2006 – GREGG ARAKI
GREGG most recently directed on MONSTER: THE JEFFREY DAHMER STORY, Ryan Murphy’s hit Limited Series for Netflix. GREGG has been incredibly in demand in television, including creating, co-writing and directing all 10 episodes of NOW APOCALYPSE (Starz). The series was executive produced by GREGG ARAKI, Steven Soderbergh, Pavlina Hatoupis and Gregory Jacobs. A fixture in……
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2005 – MARY HARRON
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2004 – JIM JARMUSCH
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2003 – TODD HAYNES
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2002 – GUS VAN SANT
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2001 – TED HOPE & JAMES SCHAMUS
James Schamus is an award-winning screenwriter, producer, director and business executive, and he’s been a mainstay of independent filmmaking for over three decades. In 2015, Schamus launched Symbolic Exchange, a New York based film development company focused on supporting diverse, emerging voices. Symbolic’s most recent films are Kitty Green’s “The Assistant,” starring Julia Garner (which……
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2000 – CHRISTINE VACHON
Christine Vachon is an Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Award winner who co-founded indie powerhouse Killer Films with partner Pamela Koffler in 1995. Over the past two decades, they have produced over 100 films, including some of the most celebrated American indie features: CAROL, FAR FROM HEAVEN, STILL ALICE, BOYS DON’T CRY, KIDS, HEDWIG AND……
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1999 – JOHN WATERS (Inaugural Honoree)
Excellence in Acting
Presented to a film artist whose admirable body of work pushes the boundaries of the medium, demonstrating originality and innovation.
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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…
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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……
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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……
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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……
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2019 – JUDITH LIGHT
We’re honored to celebrate the career of Judith Light, whose has the uncanny ability to reveal new depths to her talents with each new project. Two-time Tony winner and Emmy winner Judith Light is known for her extensive body of film, television, and stage work. An artist whose talent is as big as her heart……
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2018 – MOLLY SHANNON
Molly has forged an amazing career starting with her six-season run on “Saturday Night Live,” where she created a host of indelible characters. In the years since leaving SNL she has become one of the most sought-after actors working in the business. Last year, Molly was awarded the Independent Spirit Award for “Best Supporting Actress”……
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2017 – CHLOË SEVIGNY
In some ways Chloë Sevigny already feels like family. Massachusetts-born and Connecticut-raised, her films have been a fixture at PIFF for years, and she’s worked with four past Filmmaker on the Edge honorees (Christine Vachon, Jim Jarmusch, Mary Harron and Harmony Korine). Sevigny burst onto the screen in Kids, playing Jennie, the film’s tragic heroine—a……
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2016 – CYNTHIA NIXON
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2014 – PATRICIA CLARKSON
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2013 – MATT DILLON
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2012 – PARKER POSEY
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2011 – VERA FARMIGA
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2010 – TILDA SWINTON
Tilda Swinton started making films with the director Derek Jarman in 1985 with Caravaggio. Her second film was Peter Wollen’s Friendship’s Death. She and Jarman made seven more films together, including The Last of England, The Garden, War Requiem, Edward II (for which she won the Best Actress award at the 1991 Venice International Film……
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2009 – ALESSANDRO NIVOLA
Alessandro Nivola has established himself as one of the most versatile actors of his generation with an array of emotionally searing and complex roles defining his body of work. He is currently in production on THE BIG CIGAR, Apple TV+’s limited series which chronicles Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton (André Holland) and his best friend, Bert Schneider……
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2008 – GAEL GARCÍA BERNAL
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2007 – ALAN CUMMING
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2006 – LILI TAYLOR
Lili Taylor is a multifaceted award-winning actor who has conquered film, television, and stage. She can most recently be seen on the Amazon Studios mystery drama series OUTER RANGE starring opposite Josh Brolin for Plan B Entertainment. She recently wrapped on the Apple TV+ limited series MANHUNT. Lili can be seen in Andrew Bujalski’s THERE,……
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2002 – MARCIA GAY HARDEN (Inaugural Honoree)
Academy Award-winning and Emmy nominated actress Marcia Gay Harden has forged an incomparable body of work, and like a chameleon she transforms into each character she plays. Her critically lauded performances are myriad – from glamorous Ava Gardner in Sinatra, to artist Lee Krasner in Pollock (winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress), to……
NEXT WAVE AWARD
Presented to a film artist who has an exciting and distinctive voice, takes artistic risks, and has a passionate commitment to independent film.
Faith Hubley Memorial Award
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2015 – Jennifer Coolidge
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2014 – Debra Winger
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2013 – Edward Lachman
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2012 – Kirby Dick
Kirby Dick is a two-time Emmy award-winning and Academy award-nominated filmmaker behind some of the most groundbreaking documentaries today. Many of his films have directly impacted American politics and culture, resulting in real-world change. Dick’s latest project, NOT SO PRETTY (2022), is a four-part investigation-driven exploration of the lurking dangers in the commodities we all……
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2010 – Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman have been working in movies and television for over 30 years. Their work as directors, writers, producers, and editors has been honored with two Academy Awards®, five Emmy Awards, and three Peabody Awards. They have had career retrospectives at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, the Taipei International Film……
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2008 – Jane Lynch
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2003 – Mira Nair
Career Achievement Award
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2011 – Albert Maysles
Two of America’s foremost non-fiction filmmakers, Albert Maysles and his brother David (1932-1987) are recognized as pioneers of “direct cinema,” the distinctly American version of French “cinema verité.” They earned their distinguished reputations by being the first to make non-fiction feature films- films in which the drama of human life unfolds as is, without scripts,……
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2009 – Strand Releasing
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2008 – Michael Childers
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2007 – Kathleen Turner
Screen icon Kathleen Turner has garnered critical acclaim for her performances in movies including BODY HEAT, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe; ROMANCING THE STONE and PRIZZI’S HONOR, which earned her a Golden Globe Award for each; PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED, which brought Turner both an Academy Award nomination and a Golden……