Six of the ten up and coming directors, curated by the astute Peter Debruge of Variety, were in attendance, but awards were announced or given to Maggie Betts (“The Burial”), Elegance Bratton (“The Inspection”), Elijah Bynum (“Magazine Dreams”), Alice Diop (“Saint Omer”), Eva Longoria (“Flamin’ Hot”), Nida Manzoor (“Polite Society”), Laurel Parmet (“The Starling Girl”), Saim Sadiq (“Joyland”), Jingyi Shao (“Chang Can Dunk”) and Charlotte Wells (“Aftersun”).
In addition, Impact Awards were given to Angela Bassett (the scene-stealer of Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”), for Creative Impact in Acting. She was introduced by Academy Award-winning costumer Ruth Carter.
Brian Tyree Henry, who has received raves for his performance in Lila Neugebauer’s “Causeway,” earned the Creative Impact in Breakthrough Performance prize. He was introduced by Danielle Deadwyler, who gave such a moving performance in Chinonye Chukwu’s “Till” as Mamie Mobley Till, mother of Emmett Till. She received an award last night at the Palm Springs festival.
Rian Johnson won the Creative Impact in Screenwriting award, and was introduced by Kate Hudson, who starred in his recent film, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” Last but not least, Baz Luhrmann received the Creative Impact in Directing award, which was presented by Austin Butler, his amazing star in “Elvis.”
All photos by Chaz Ebert.