Jennifer Beals, Roshan Sethi to Receive Yale in Hollywood Fest Honors (EXCLUSIVE)

Yale in Hollywood has revealed Jennifer Beals and Roshan Sethi as honorees for its sixth annual virtual film festival, set to run Dec. 4-6.

Beals will receive the festival’s 2025 Career Achievement Award, while Sethi will be presented with the Queer Voice Award. Both honorees will accept their awards at the Yale in Hollywood Fest 2025 Awards Livestream on Dec. 6.

The Career Achievement Award has previously been bestowed upon actor C.S. Lee and television creator Justin Noble. The Queer Voice Award was established in 2024 by juror and 2023 fest award recipient Justin Noble.

Beals executive produced and starred in “The L Word: Generation Q,” the Showtime revival of her original hit series. Her portrayal of Bette Porter earned her the GLAAD Golden Gate Award, two NAACP Image Award nominations and a Satellite Award nomination. In 2012, she received the Human Rights Campaign’s Ally for Equality Award for her LGBTQ+ community advocacy. Beals is also executive producing “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” for Freeform alongside “The L Word” creator Ilene Chaiken. In 2024, she launched Run-A-Muck with Chaiken, a cross-platform queer media brand producing content across film, TV and live events.

Sethi, a writer, director and practicing oncologist, is known for co-creating the Fox medical drama “The Resident.” He directed the Independent Spirit Award-winning film “7 Days,” “World’s Best” for Disney Plus and “A Nice Indian Boy,” and co-wrote “Call Jane.”

The three-day festival lineup will feature short films and livestream events, with all programs streaming free worldwide at yihfest.com from Dec. 4 through Dec. 7.

VEEEU is awarding two $500 prizes to competition winners selected by the festival jury. Story-boards.ai, a Swiss AI storyboard software company, will sponsor three one-year subscription awards for competition winners.

Yale in Hollywood Fest showcases films featuring at least one Yale student, alumnus or current staff member in a key creative role. The organization is led by founder Kevin Winston, with Melissa Dawn Johnson and Quentin Lee serving as the festival’s founding programmer and director, respectively.

Past Yale in Hollywood Fest honorees include Oscar nominee Lee Isaac Chung, Robinne Lee, Justin Noble, Cory Finley, Kahlil Green and C.S. Lee.