London Critics Circle to honour Nicolas Roeg

Previous recipients include Dirk Bogarde, Richard Attenborough, Julie Walters, Judi Dench, Quentin Tarantino and Kristin Scott Thomas.

The Circle’s film section said that Roeg “remains a lasting testament to innovation and individuality in cinema, a director whose films define an era of British cinema yet never seem to go out of style.”

Roeg, whose credits include Don’t Look Now, Performance and Puffball, said of the honour: “This award has truly amazed me and certainly caught me a bit left-footed. I’m sure the critics will understand when I say: on looking through and reading some of my old reviews, I’m torn between thanking you and forgiving you. But having slept on it, I’ll go with the positive and thank you all and hope that in the countdown for the decision of the ‘Critics’ Circle’ to give me a tribute, some old mathematical rule applied where two negatives can sometimes make a positive.”

Chairman of The Critics’ Circle Film Section, Jason Solomons, added: “Nic Roeg’s films stand out as one of the most distinctive and influential bodies of work of any British film maker. I am thrilled that he can now join the list of illustrious honorees of the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Cinema - he adds mischief, daring and brilliance to it, as well as the sort of maverick artistic spirit that only cinema can liberate.”

The awards are earlier in 2012, to be held Jan 19 at BFI Southbank.