Awards

Film: Anora

Mikey Madison is swiftly solidifying her status as a highly sought after young actress across both film and television platforms. With an impressive array of projects under her belt, Madison’s talent and versatility have garnered widespread acclaim.

Stepping into the spotlight, Madison assumes the titular role in Sean Baker’s highly anticipated film Anora, which premiered in the Main Competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. She also shared the screen with Academy Award-winner Natalie Portman in the Apple TV+ limited series The Lady in the Lake, and continues to make waves in television, notably in FX’s critically acclaimed series Better Things.

Madison recently graced the screen in the highly successful Paramount Pictures’ Scream 5 alongside the cast of the original 1996 cult classic. She also had a memorable role in Academy Award nominated film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, where she shared the screen with Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Margot Robbie.

Film: Memoir of a Snail

Adam Elliot is an Academy Award-winning independent animator and visual artist based in Melbourne, Australia. His animated films and imagery are what he calls “Clayographies”: clay animated biographies based on the bittersweet lives of his family and friends. He has created seven animated films, including Memoir of a Snail, Mary and Max, and Harvie Krumpet. They have been voiced by some of the world’s leading actors, including Sarah Snook, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana, and Toni Collette. In 2010 his first feature film, Mary and Max, was recognized in IMDB’s Top 250 Films of all time.

Adam is the Official Patron for The Film Critics Circle of Australia and is a voting member for the Annual Academy Awards. In 2017, he was appointed an Adjunct Professorship at Swinburne University and RMIT University. Apart from his film work, he loves to draw and is having a solo exhibition in late October 2024.

Film: Day of the Fight

Jack Huston is an acclaimed actor, writer, and director known for Ben-Hur, American Hustle and HBO’s critically acclaimed series Boardwalk Empire. Huston began his on-screen career in the 2004 TV mini-series Spartacus, and gained widespread recognition for his portrayal of Richard Harrow, a disfigured war veteran turned assassin, in Boardwalk Empire. His performance as Pete Musane in American Hustle earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award as part of the ensemble cast.

In 2023, Huston made his directorial debut with Day of the Fight, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and was nominated for the Audience Award. The film stars Steve Buscemi and Michael Pitt, with Pitt playing a weathered boxer preparing for his first fight after leaving prison. With his expanding creative repertoire, Huston continues to establish himself as a dynamic talent both in front of and behind the camera.

Screening: The Penguin
Panel: Designing the Production

Kalina Ivanov is a prolific production designer whose artistry most recently shaped the production design for the feature films The Boys In The Boat and The Tender Bar both directed by George Clooney, and was the Production Designer for the HBO series The Penguin. She also designed the HBO award-winning series Lovecraft Country, created by Misha Green and produced by Jordan Peele and JJ Abrams. Prior to that, she earned a Primetime Emmy Award and Art Directors Guild Award for the production design of the HBO film Grey Gardens, directed by Michael Sucsy. Other notable films include the Oscar-nominated Little Miss Sunshine, Max, Poltergeist, Rabbit Hole, Made Of Honor, Brown Sugar, The Best Man, Household Saints, Smoke, and many others. She is a co-founder of the Production Designers Collective and a proud member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). She is currently serving as a Governor of the Production Design branch at AMPAS.

Film: Luther: Never Too Much

Dawn Porter is an American documentary filmmaker and the founder of the production company Trilogy. Her award-winning films include Gideon’s Army (2013), about three black public defenders working in the southern United States; Spies of Mississippi (2014), about the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission’s (MSSC) efforts to preserve segregation during the 50s and 60s; Trapped, about the impact of anti-abortion laws on abortion providers in the South; and Bobby Kennedy for President, which debuted on Netflix.

Film: Pavements

Alex Ross Perry was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1984. He attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and worked at Kim’s Video in Manhattan.

He is the director of the films Impolex, The Color Wheel, Listen Up Philip, Queen of Earth, Golden Exits, Her Smell, Ghost: Rite Here Rite Now and Pavements. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Film: Saturday Night

Lamorne Morris is best known for his breakout role as Winston on the hit sitcom New Girl (2011–2018), where his comedic timing and charm made him a standout in the ensemble cast. A Chicago native, Morris honed his comedic skills at the legendary Second City before becoming a familiar face on television through a series of TV commercials and hosting gigs on BET, where he anchored music, tech, and award shows. His early career included a role in the 2007 horror film April Fool and hosting Cartoon Network’s game show Brain Rush in 2009.

His role on New Girl catapulted him to Hollywood’s watch lists, showcasing his comedic talents to a broader audience. Morris’s blend of humor and warmth has made him a versatile performer, quickly rising from a well-known face to a sought-after talent in both television and film.