The Independent Filmmaker Project announces today that director Kathryn Bigelow, actors Natalie Portman and Stanley Tucci, and producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, are to be honored with a career tribute at the Gotham Independent Film Awards, November 30th:
This year’s Tribute selection represents a range of individuals – all veterans well-versed in the journey between lower-budget independent films and large-scale studio releases. In addition, all of the honorees are involved with some of this year’s most critically acclaimed and/or highly anticipated films including: The Hurt Locker from Summit Entertainment (directed by Kathryn Bigelow) and Julie and Julia from Columbia Pictures (directed by Nora Ephron and featuring Stanley Tucci); and the upcoming Lionsgate release Brothers (directed by Jim Sheridan and featuring Natalie Portman), Paramount’s The Lovely Bones (directed by Peter Jackson featuring Stanley Tucci), and A Serious Man (directed by the Coen Brothers and produced by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner) and Pirate Radio (directed by Richard Curtis and produced by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner) both to be released by Focus Features.
Details after the cut.
Kathryn Bigelow exploded back on the scene this year with her tense Iraqi war drama The Hurt Locker starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty. The film which is currently in release has already garnered numerous accolades. Bigelow’s first film was the sexy and stylish Willem Dafoe starrer, The Loveless in 1982. But her career was elevated with Near Dark in 1985. The visually distinctive film caught the eye of the Museum of Modern Art which honored her with a career tribute at the time. She burst into mainstream in the classic action thriller Point Break, which starred Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze. She followed with the critically acclaimed futuristic actioner Strange Days the big budget K-19 The Widowmaker with Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson and the more dramatic and personal The Weight of Water starring Sean Penn, all of which were praised for her technical expertise, intense and unique visuals, and unmatched ability to create suspense.
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Academy Award® nominated actress Natalie Portman is best known for her versatile performances in Mike Nichols’ Closer, Zach Braff’s Garden State, the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and her breakout role in Luc Besson’s The Professional. Natalie’s latest work includes acting and directing in New York, I Love You, Jim Sheridan version of Brothers opposite Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal, and Don Roos’ Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, which she also executive produced. Portman recently completed production on David Gordon Green’s comedy Your Highness and will soon start filming Darren Aronsfsky’s Black Swan. Portman draws on her celebrity to shine the spotlight on the impact of microloans on those in developing countries. She works on behalf of FINCA International, and was named its Ambassador of Hope in 2004.
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Stanley Tucci has appeared in over 50 films and countless television shows. In the past few years he has appeared in The Devil Wears Prada, The Terminal and Road to Perdition. He is no stranger to the theater; and has appeared in multiple plays, on and off Broadway. Stanley was last seen in Julie & Julia, opposite Meryl Streep and directed by Nora Ephron and can next be seen in Blind Date, which he also co-wrote and directed, opposite Patricia Clarkson (September 25, 2009) and The Lovely Bones opposite Mark Wahlberg and Susan Sarandon (December 11, 2009). Stanley also served as an executive producer on Saint John of Las Vegas, Olive Productions first co-production, which will be released in November and will next be directing the indie comic drama The Hunter, starring Pierce Brosnan, Julianne Moore and Patricia Clarkson.
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Working Title Films, co-chaired by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner since 1992, is Europe’s leading film production company. Founded in 1983, Working Title has made over 90 films. It’s films have won six Academy Awards, 26 BAFTA Awards, and prestigious prizes at the Cannes and Berlin International Film Festivals. Bevan and Fellner have been honoured with two of the highest film awards given to British filmmakers; the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema, at the Orange British Academy Film [BAFTA] Awards, and the Alexander Walker Film Award at the Evening Standard British Film Awards.
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This year’s Gotham Awards tribute recipients join a prestigious group of previous honorees including: actors Javier Bardem, Pénelope Cruz and Kate Winslet; filmmakers Mira Nair, Gus Van Sant and Melvin Van Peebles; executives Shelia Nevins (HBO Documentaries) and Jonathan Sehring (IFC Films); and film critic Roger Ebert.
