Mar 29, 2016
Festival
San Francisco, CA — The San Francisco Film Society announced today that filmmaker Mira Nair will be the recipient of the Irving M. Levin Directing Award at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21-May 5). Given each year to one of the masters of world cinema in memory of SFIFF founder Irving M. Levin, the tribute acknowledges exceptional versatility in film and honors the director’s expansive body of work while celebrating her unique contributions to the art of cinema. The award will be presented to Nair at Film Society Awards Night, Monday April 25 at Fort Mason Center – Herbst Pavillion.
Nair will also be honored at An Afternoon with Mira Nair at the Castro Theatre on Sunday April 24, 4:30 pm. An onstage conversation with Nair will be followed by a screening of Monsoon Wedding (2001). The presentation will also include an exclusive first look at special footage from Nair’s next project Queen of Katwe, about a rural Ugandan girl with an aptitude for chess, starring Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo.
“Mira Nair has brilliantly bridged American and South Asian film traditions for more than 30 years, and it is a distinct pleasure to award her with the Film Society’s highest honor for directing,” said SFFS Executive Director Noah Cowan. “I can’t think of anyone who better embodies the spirit of internationalism, independence and passionate storytelling that defines our Festival, and I can’t wait to celebrate her with a screening of one of her greatest films and to get an early look at what she’s working on next.”
Mira Nair was born and raised in Rourkela, India and went on to study at Delhi and Harvard universities. She began as an actress before segueing to make documentaries. Her narrative feature debut, Salaam Bombay! (1988) won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film. A resourceful and determined independent filmmaker who casts unknowns alongside Hollywood stars, Nair has directed Mississippi Masala (1991), The Perez Family (1995), Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996), Hysterical Blindness (2002), Vanity Fair (2004), The Namesake (2006), Amelia (2009) and The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012).
Monsoon Wedding: Winner of the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion in 2001, Monsoon Wedding is a film of gigantic heart served with an ample dollop of social satire. Five romantic entanglements threaten to derail a high-end New Delhi marriage as the film effortlessly shifts between Bollywood expressionism and Altman-like character intrigue, gut-busting comedy and tender romance.
The Film Society and its year-round exhibition, education and filmmaker services will benefit from the Film Society Awards Night fundraiser honoring Nair. The star-studded event will also honor Peter Coyote, the recipient of the George Gund III Award for outstanding contributions to the craft of cinema, and the soon to be announced recipients of the Peter J. Owens Award for excellence in acting and the Kanbar Award for achievement in storytelling. Heidi Castelein and Victoria Raiser are co-chairs of this year’s gala, which is sponsored by NET-A-PORTER.COM.
The Irving M. Levin Directing Award (previously the Founder’s Directing Award) is presented each year to a master of world cinema and is given in memory of Irving M. Levin, visionary founder of the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1957. The award is made possible by Irving’s son and current SFFS board member Fred M. Levin and Fred’s wife Nancy Livingston. It was first bestowed in 1986 on iconic filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, and for many years carried his name.
The award has brought many of the world’s most visionary directors to the San Francisco International Film Festival over the years. Previous recipients are Guillermo del Toro, Mexico; Richard Linklater, USA; Philip Kaufman, USA; Kenneth Branagh, England; Oliver Stone, USA; Walter Salles, Brazil; Francis Ford Coppola, USA; Mike Leigh, England; Spike Lee, USA; Werner Herzog, Germany; Taylor Hackford, USA; Milos Forman, Czechoslovakia/USA; Robert Altman, USA; Warren Beatty, USA; Clint Eastwood, USA; Abbas Kiarostami, Iran; Arturo Ripstein, Mexico; Im Kwon-Taek, South Korea; Francesco Rosi, Italy; Arthur Penn, USA; Stanley Donen, USA; Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal; Ousmane Sembène, Senegal; Satyajit Ray, India; Marcel Carné, France; Jirí Menzel, Czechoslovakia; Joseph L. Mankiewicz, USA; Robert Bresson, France; Michael Powell, England; and Akira Kurosawa, Japan.
Tickets to An Afternoon with Mira Nair are $20 for SFFS members, $25 for the general public. Tickets for this special event are on sale Tuesday, March 29 for SFFS members, Friday, April 1 for the general public, online at sffs.org.
For more information about Film Society Awards Night please call 415-561-5028 or email specialevents@sffs.org.
For general information visit festival.sffs.org.
To request interviews or screeners, contact your Festival publicist.
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/press
59th San Francisco International Film Festival
The 59th San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 21-May 5 at the Castro Theatre, the Alamo Drafthouse New Mission, the Roxie Theater and the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco and BAMPFA in Berkeley. Held each spring for 15 days, SFIFF is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country’s most beautiful cities, featuring nearly 200 films and live events, 14 juried awards with nearly $40,000 in cash prizes and upwards of 100 participating filmmaker guests.