50th San Francisco International Film Festival Rolls Out The Red Carpet For Film Society Awards Night

Honored Guests at Gala Fundraiser for San Francisco Film Society’s Education Program Include Spike Lee, George Lucas, Peter Morgan and Robin Williams

April 3, 2007

San Francisco, CA – The San Francisco Film Society will honor several extraordinary guests at its annual Film Society Awards Night during the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 26–May 10). The fundraising gala, whose proceeds support the Film Society’s Education Program, will be held Thursday, May 3 at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.

Among the guests of honor at FSAN will be the recipients of the Festival’s top honors: Spike Lee, who will receive the Film Society Directing Award; George Lucas, who will receive the one-time-only Irving M. Levin Award; Peter Morgan, the recipient of the Kanbar Award for excellence in screenwriting; and Robin Williams, who will receive the Peter J. Owens Award. Fred Levin and Nancy Livingston are the chairs of the Film Society Awards Night committee. Honorary chairs are Karen and John Diefenbach.

Irving M. Levin Award: George Lucas
The one-time-only Irving M. Levin Award, named in honor of the founder of the San Francisco International Film Festival, honors a man who has a deep appreciation for movies as an art form; a recognition of the important role that San Francisco plays in the world of art and cinema; a flair for innovation and entrepreneurship; and a spirit of adventure and passion for community. 

In addition to his appearance at FSAN, Lucas will be joining more than a dozen of his fellow Bay Area filmmaking luminaries at the world premiere of Gary Leva’s Fog City Mavericks on Sunday, April 29 at 7:30 pm at the Castro Theatre.

Film Society Directing Award: Spike Lee
The Directing Award is given each year to one of the masters of world cinema. Spike Lee has been on top of his game for more than a quarter of a century, but he still possesses the youthful, provocative ability to stir controversy and a steadfast insistence on speaking truth to power. 

Lee will also be appearing at the Castro Theatre at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, May 2. He will be interviewed onstage by Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe, and clips from his remarkable career, plus Acts II and III of When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006), will be shown. (When the Levees Broke will be shown in its entirety in a separate program on Friday, May 4 at SFMOMA.)

Peter J. Owens Award: Robin Williams
The Owens Award, named after local cultural benefactor and longtime Film Society board member Peter J. Owens, honors an actor whose work exemplifies brilliance, independence and integrity.

Williams will also be appearing at the Castro Theatre at 7:30 pm on Friday, May 4. He will be interviewed onstage by author Armistead Maupin, clips from his impressive career will be shown as well as Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King, for which Williams earned an Academy Award nomination.

Kanbar Award: Peter Morgan
The Kanbar Award acknowledges the crucial role that strong screenwriting plays in the creation of great films. It is named in honor of Maurice Kanbar, a longtime member of the board of directors of the San Francisco Film Society, a San Francisco film commissioner and a philanthropist with a particular interest in supporting independent filmmakers. Ron Howard, who is set to direct the film version of Morgan’s play Frost/Nixon, will present Morgan with his award.

Morgan will also be appearing at the Sundance Cinemas Kabuki at 1:00 pm on Saturday, May 5, for an onstage interview with critic and author David Thomson and a screening of his 2003 hit television film The Deal (in which The Queen’s Michael Sheen first tackled the role of Tony Blair).

About the San Francisco Film Society Education Program
Over the past fifteen years, SFFS has reached more than 30,000 students, 2,500 teachers, and 500 total educational institutions through screenings, talks, school visits, and other special events. As we enter our 50th Anniversary year, SFFS is actively expanding its year-round Education Program, with plans to double its in-school screenings, as well as offer increased curriculum support, lesson plans, study guides, and teacher training sessions.

For tickets and information for Film Society Awards Night only, call 415.551.5190.

Tributes and the Fog City Mavericks screening are $25 general/$20 SFFS members. For tickets and information visit www.sffs.org or call 925.866.9559.

The Kanbar Award is sponsored by Skyy Spirits.