2020 BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER

KINGSLEY BEN-ADIR

Moderated by Clayton Davis, Award Season Editor, Variety

After over a decade of impressive work on stage, film and television, British-Afro Caribbean actor Kingsley Ben-Adir is becoming one of the most sought after talents in film and television. In Regina King’s directorial debut ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI…, the Closing Film of the 2020 Montclair Film Festival, Ben-Adir gives a breakthrough performance as civil rights leader Malcolm X. Ben-Adir can also be seen playing the role of Barack Obama in Billy Ray’s THE COMEY RULE, opposite Jeff Daniels and Brendan Gleeson, starring with Sarah Snook in SOULMATES, the new episodic anthology series AMC, the Hulu comedy-drama series HIGH FIDELITY opposite Zoe Kravitz, as well as the HBOMax anthology rom-com series, LOVE LIFE, alongside Anna Kendrick and produced by Paul Feig. Previously, he appeared in the Netflix series THE OA, and the BBC/Netflix’s critically acclaimed series PEAKY BLINDERS. THE MFF is proud to honor Kingsley Ben-Adir with our 2020 Breakthrough Performer Award for ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI…, coming soon to Amazon Prime.

2020 BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR

LEE ISAAC CHUNG

Lee Isaac Chung grew up in Lincoln, Arkansas, on a small farm in the Ozark Mountains. He received his BA in Biology at Yale University and his MFA in Film Studies at the University of Utah. He was awarded a USA Artist Ford Fellowship In 2012 for his work. Chung is an award-winning writer and director. His first feature film was the Rwandan family drama MUNYURANGABO, which premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to great acclaim. He went on to direct the feature films LUCKY LIFE and ABIGAIL HARM. His new film MINARI, which debuted at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival to great acclaim, is the Montclair Film Festival’s 2020 Virtual Centerpiece Film. The MFF is proud to present Lee Isaac Chung with the festival’s 2020 Breakthrough Director Award.

Closed captions are available for this conversation. 

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