David Lynch, Wes Studi and Lina Wertmüller will receive honourary awards from the governors at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and Geena Davis will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
The Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Academy’s 11th Annual Governors Awards in Hollywood on October 27.
“These Governors Awards given by the Academy each year recognize individuals who have devoted to a lifetime of artistic accomplishment and brought outstanding contributions to our industry, and beyond,” said Academy president John Bailey. “It is with great pleasure that we announce this year’s recipients.”
Davis won an Oscar for her supporting performance in The Accidental Tourist in 1989, and is an advocate for gender equality in media. She is the founder and chair of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and was appointed special envoy for women and girls in information and communication technologies for the United Nations’ International telecommunication union in 2012. She served as chair of the California Commission on the status of women, and in 2015 launched the Bentonville Film Festival to support women and diversity in the entertainment industry.
Her acting credits include Thelma & Louise, for which she earned an Oscar nomination, The Fly, Beetlejuice, A League Of Their Own, and The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Lynch earned a cult following with his feature debut Eraserhead, and went on to create and direct Twin Peaks, and direct The Elephant Man, for which he received directing and shared adapted screenplay Oscar nods in 1981, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, Dune, Wild At Heart, Lost Highway, The Straight Story, and Inland Empire.
Studi is a Cherokee-American actor who has appeared in more than 30 films, and has been an activist since his tour of duty in Vietnam. Film roles include Powwow Highway, Dances With Wolves, The Last Of The Mohicans, Heat, The New World, and Avatar.
In 1976, Italian filmmaker Wertmüller became the first woman to receive an Oscar nomination for directing for Seven Beauties. Her often political work encompasses writing and directing credits on The Basilisks, The Seduction Of Mimi, Love And Anarchy, and Swept Away.
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.”
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, also an Oscar statuette, is given “to an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.”
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