Donald Sutherland, Charles Burnett Lead Honorary 2017 Governors Awards

Owen Roizman and Agnes Varda will also be presented with honors

Charles Burnett, Owen Roizman, Donald Sutherland and Agnes Varda will receive Honorary Awards at the 9th Annual Governors Awards on Nov. 11, the Academy announced Wednesday.

“This year’s Governors Awards reflect the breadth of international, independent and mainstream filmmaking, and are tributes to four great artists whose work embodies the diversity of our shared humanity,” said Academy President John Bailey in a statement.

Burnett is an independent filmmaker whose work has been praised for its portrayal of the African-American experience. He has written, directed, produced, photographed and edited films including his first, “Killer of Sheep,” as well as “My Brother’s Wedding,” “To Sleep with Anger,” “The Glass Shield” and “Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation.”

Roizman has received five Oscar nominations for his cinematography on “The French Connection,” “The Exorcist,” “Network,” “Tootsie” and “Wyatt Earp.” His feature film debut was titled “Stop” in 1970. Other notable credits include “The Heartbreak Kid,” “Absence of Malice” and “The Addams Family.”

Sutherland has more than 140 film credits to his name, starting with his breakthrough performance in 1967’s “The Dirty Dozen.” He has since starred in films like “M*A*S*H,” “The Day of Locust,” “1900,” “The Italian Job,” “Pride & Prejudice” and “The Hunger Games” series.

Varda has been called the mother of French New Wave. Her first feature, “La Pointe Courte” (1956) is considered to be the film that inspired that movement. She has shot documentaries to narrative feature films during her 60-year career, including “Cleo from 5 to 7,” “One Sings, the Other Doesn’t,” and “Vagabond.” Her most recent work is “Faces Places.”

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.”

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