Milos Forman will receive the top film honor bestowed by the Directors Guild of America, the Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Achievement in Motion Picture Direction, DGA president Taylor Hackford announced on Wednesday.
The Czech-born Forman's films include "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Amadeus," both of which won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director, as well as DGA Awards for feature-film directing.
Other films from Forman's five-decade career include "The People Vs. Larry Flynt," "Valmont," "Loves of a Blonde" and "Taking Off."
“No matter what subject or genre he tackles, Milos finds the universality of the human experience in every story, allowing us — his rapt audience — to recognize ourselves within the struggle for free expression and self-determination that Milos so aptly portrays on the silver screen," said Hackford in the DGA release announcing the award.
The DGA's Lifetime Achievement Award is chosen by the guild's current and past presidents. The 80-year-old Forman will become the 34th director to receive the honor in the guild's 76-year history; past recipients include Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese.
Forman has also served two terms on the DGA's National Board.
The award will be presented at the 65th Annual DGA Awards on Feb. 2, 2013 in the Ray Dolby Ballroom at the Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles.
