Donald Sutherland to receive honorary Oscar

Donald Sutherland, Charles Burnett, Owen Roizman, and Agnes Varda will receive Honorary Awards at the 9th Annual Governors Awards on Nov. 11, the Academy announced Wednesday.

“This year’s Governors Awards reflect the breadth of international, independent and mainstream filmmaking, and are tributes to four great artists whose work embodies the diversity of our shared humanity,” said Academy President John Bailey in a statement.

Sutherland has more than 140 film credits to his name, starting with his breakthrough performance in 1967’s The Dirty Dozen. He has since starred in films like M*A*S*H, The Day of Locust, 1900, The Italian Job, Pride & Prejudice, and The Hunger Games series.

Burnett is an independent filmmaker whose work has been praised for its portrayal of the African-American experience. He has written, directed, produced, photographed and edited films including his first, Killer of Sheep, as well as My Brother’s Wedding, To Sleep With Anger, The Glass Shield, and Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation.

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Roizman has received five Oscar nominations for his cinematography on The French Connection, The Exorcist, Network, Tootsie, and Wyatt Earp. His feature film debut was titled Stop in 1970. Other notable credits include The Heartbreak Kid, Absence of Malice, and The Addams Family.

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Varda has been called the mother of French New Wave. Her first feature, La Pointe Courte (1956), is considered to be the film that inspired that movement. She has shot documentaries to narrative feature films during her 60-year career, including Cleo From 5 to 7, One Sings, the Other Doesn’t, and Vagabond. Her most recent work is “Faces Places.”

The Honorary Award, an Oscar statuette, is given “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.”

Source: AFP