Ruth Negga handed Spotlight Award at Savannah Film Festival for role in ‘Passing’

Ruth Negga has received a Spotlight Award at the 24th SCAD Savannah Film Festival.

The 39-year-old was presented the award for her work in the drama ‘Passing’ by Rebecca Hall, which is due to be released on October 29.

Negga posed for shots during the annual event in a black jacket embellished with gold buttons and a floor length black skirt.

In the film, the Oscar-nominated actress stars alongside Tessa Thompson as two black women who can "pass" as white.

Negga portrayed Clare Bellew in the much-lauded Passing, which served as Ms Hall's directorial debut and was based on Nella Larsen's 1929 novel of the same name.

The feature is centred on two childhood friends who reconnect as adults and navigate issues of race and identity in 1920s era New York City.

The film had its official world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, which took place in January of this year.

Following its debut, the project's distribution rights were picked up by Netflix, who will release the feature on November 10.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Negga spoke about the film’s themes and noted that they were virtually universally applicable.

“I think we all wear a mask of a kind, many masks, and sometimes we switch them in and switch them out. I think that's just basic survival, really.

“Being a mixed-race person, I think that it naturally informed Clare. Feelings of perhaps alienation, of being different, about trying to find your place. But it's very hard for me to find distinct experience,” she said.

Speaking on RTÉ’s The Late Show earlier this month, Negga said: “The film is an interrogation of how we pass and the masks we wear. Most poignant for me it’s an exploration of female friendship.”

Host Ryan Tubridy then noted that Passing is generating some Oscar buzz, Negga replied: “It’s lovely to hear, I don’t know anyone who does their job for the Oscar, but it’s a lovely thing to be acknowledged by your peers.”

The Ethiopian-Irish star received her first Oscar nomination for her role in Loving, with La La Land's Emma Stone taking the award at the ceremony in 2017.