Riz Ahmed to receive Excellence in Acting Award at Provincetown International Film Festival

The Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF) announced today that Academy Award, BAFTA nominee and Emmy Award winner Riz Ahmed (SOUND OF METAL, THE NIGHT OF) will receive this year’s Excellence in Acting Award. His latest film, MOGUL MOWGLI, which he co-wrote, produced and stars in, will be screened during the festival. The film follows the story of a British Pakistani rapper who, on the cusp of his first world tour, is struck down by an illness that forces him to face his past, his family, and the uncertainty of his legacy. Ahmed will be honored in a virtual conversation during the festival. Strand Releasing will open the film in theaters on September 3. 

“Riz Ahmed is a huge talent who lights up the screen again in MOGUL MOWGLI, the stunning debut feature from his production company” said Andrew Peterson, PIFF’s Director of Programming. “We’re thrilled to celebrate his artistry and shine a spotlight on Bassam Tariq’s film at this year’s festival.”

As previously announced, the festival will recognize this year’s Filmmaker on the Edge recipient Richard Linklater in conversation with resident artist John Waters. PIFF will also honor actor/filmmaker Natalie Morales (LANGUAGE LESSONS, PLAN B) with the Next Wave Award in conversation with musician Holly Miranda. The highly-anticipated summer hit musical IN THE HEIGHTS will open the festival at the Wellfleet Drive-In, while BEING BEBE, a documentary about the first winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race, will close out the festival. 

PIFF also announced new special events added to the programming lineup:

PIFFtalk: Joey Soloway (available to stream June 17-25)A virtual conversation with television creator, showrunner, writer and director Joey Soloway on nonbinary and trans filmmakers. Soloway is the highest profile nonbinary individual in Hollywood and created such award-winning and narrative changing shows as TRANSPARENT and authored the book, She Wants It: Desire, Power and the Toppling of the Patriarchy. Soloway will be in conversation with Doane Tulugaq Avery, a filmmaker whose stories focus on feminine, queer, and Indigenous character-driven narratives that seek to blend cinematic realism with surreal and musical moments.

PIFFplus: Celebrating Christine Vachon & Daniel Minahan (in person on Saturday, June 19, 6pm at Truro Vineyards)Join us at the beautiful Truro Vineyards to celebrate a significant milestone for two film artists who have deep ties to Provincetown and our Festival: producer Christine Vachon and writer/director/producer Daniel Minahan. Their collaborations began with the landmark independent film I SHOT ANDY WARHOL, which Vachon produced and Minahan co-wrote. 25 years later they have partnered again to create the new Netflix series Halston, with both serving as Executive Producers and Minahan directing all five episodes. 

PIFFplus: Evan Lawson Brunch, Featuring Author Wally Lamb (in person on Sunday, June 20, 11am, at Bubala’s by the Bay)The annual Evan Lawson Brunch will feature Wally Lamb, the author of six New York Times best-selling novels and twice-selected for Oprah’s Book Club. Lamb’s keynote speech will discuss the 15+ year journey of his novel, I Know This Much Is True, to an acclaimed six-episode limited series on HBO. 

Running June 16-25 virtually and in Provincetown, Massachusetts, this year’s hybrid festival features 23 narrative features, 19 documentary features, and 45 short films. The full lineup is available here.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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