For over 30 years, SFFILM and the Mel Novikoff Family Foundation have presented the Novikoff Award at the annual San Francisco International Film Festival. The Novikoff Award is named for Mel Novikoff (1922–1987), the pioneering San Francisco-based art and repertory film exhibitor. His influence on film appreciation and movie-going culture endures through the Award which is given to an individual or institution that honors the history of cinema and celebrates theatrical exhibition as a means of connecting audiences with the art of film. The honoree is selected by members of the Novikoff Committee which is made up of notable filmmakers, curators, exhibitors, culture workers, and historians whose work has enhanced the filmgoing public’s knowledge and appreciation of world cinema.
2023 Mel Novikoff Awardee
Firelight Media + “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution”
Award-winning filmmakers Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith founded Firelight Media in 1998 as a nonprofit documentary production company with a focus on telling stories seldom broached in mainstream media. Ten years later, the company adjusted its focus to concentrate on backing filmmakers of color, while Nelson led a new, for-profit documentary production house, Firelight Films. With labs, fellowships, and film funds, Firelight Media supports artists around the world.
Learn more about the 2023 Awardee →
Jessie Fairbanks, A-Ian Holt, Janis Plotkin, John Cooper, Stanley Nelson, Marcia Smith, Gary Meyer, Rod Armstrong, Anne Lai at the 65th SFFILM Festival.
Photo by Pamela Gentile.
John Cooper, Jennifer Kroot, and Michael Lumpkin attend 2023 SFFILM Awards Night.
Photo by Natalie Schrik for Drew Altizer Photography.
Daniel Chávez Ontiveros, Rodrigo Reyes, and Rod Armstrong at SFFILM's 2022 Doc Stories.
Photo by Pamela Gentile.
Helena Foster, Anita Monga, Kevin Brownlow, Gary Meyer, Linda Blackaby, and Maurice Kanbar at the Novikoff Award reception at Foreign Cinema during the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival.
Photo by Pamela Gentile.
Mel Novikoff Award recipient David Thomson and author Geoff Dyer on stage at a screening of Preston Surges' THE LADY EVE at the 57th San Francisco International Film Festival.
Photo by Pamela Gentile.
Steve Cohen, Janis Plotkin, Tom Luddy, Anita Monga, Francis Rigney, M.D, Serge Bromberg, Gary Meyer, and Harold Novikoff.
Photo by Pamela Gentile.
Film Preservation Association founder Donald Krim and Kino International head David Shepard receive the Mel Novikoff Award while an approving Charlie Chaplin impersonator looks on at the 43rd San Francisco International Film Festival, 2000.
Current Committee Members and Past Awardees
Click the toggle below to see the Novikoff Committee Members and Awardees over the years.
Plain Text List of Awardees and Committee Members here.
