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Press Release > SFFILM Presents 2024 SF Honors Award to Steve McQueen’s BLITZ
SFFILM Presents 2024 SF Honors Award to Steve McQueen’s BLITZ
Nov 18, 2024
SFFILM
Award and screening presentation with director and writer Steve McQueen in person
Saoirse Ronan and Steve McQueen on the set of BLITZ. Photo courtesy of Apple Original Films.
San Francisco, CA – November 18 – SFFILM announced today a recipient of the 2024 SF Honors Award going to Blitz, written and directed by BAFTA and Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen. The film stars newcomer Elliott Heffernan, Academy Award®-nominated actor Saoirse Ronan, and Harris Dickinson in an emotionally rich, intricately layered narrative about intersecting lives in London during World War II. The SF Honors event will culminate in a special public screening of the film on Tuesday, December 3 at 7:30 pm at the Premier Theater at One Letterman. Writer, Producer, and Director Steve McQueen is expected to attend in person for the pre-screening award presentation and an in-depth post-screening conversation about the film.
SF Honors has been recognizing the year’s more compelling films since 2016. “Blitz represents the pinnacle of bold, fearless filmmaking that SF Honors celebrates,” said SFFILM Board President Todd Traina. “McQueen’s distinctive vision exemplifies why we created this award—to bring extraordinary cinema to San Francisco audiences.”
“We are elated to present the second SF Honors Award of the season to the cinematic luminary, Steve McQueen for his most recent film Blitz,” said Jessie Fairbanks, SFFILM’s Director of Programming. “Steve’s artistry is distinguished by his ability to confront difficult subject matter with profound sensitivity and uncompromising visual style. This is stunningly evident in his powerful WWII epic and we can’t wait to welcome him back to SFFILM.”
About the Film
Apple Original Films’ Blitz follows the epic journey of George (Elliott Heffernan), a nine-year-old boy whose mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) sends him to safety in the English countryside. George, defiant and determined to return home to Rita and his grandfather, Gerald (Paul Weller), in East London, embarks on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril, while a distraught Rita searches for her missing son.
Written and directed by Academy and BAFTA Award winner Sir Steve McQueen, Blitz stars newcomer Elliott Heffernan, Academy and BAFTA Award nominee Saoirse Ronan, with Harris Dickinson, Benjamin Clementine, Kathy Burke, Paul Weller, Stephen Graham, Leigh Gill, Mica Ricketts, CJ Beckford, Alex Jennings, Joshua McGuire, Hayley Squires, Erin Kellyman, and Sally Messham.
McQueen’s Lammas Park produces alongside Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title Films, Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan and Michael Schaefer for New Regency, with producers Anita Overland and Adam Somner.
McQueen reunites with production designer Adam Stockhausen, costume designer Jacqueline Durran, composer Hans Zimmer, Nicholas Britell for on-screen music, cinematographer Yorick Le Saux,
and makeup designer Naomi Donne.
Blitz is playing in select theaters and will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on November 22, 2024.
Tickets and Accessibility
SF Honors featuring Blitz is on Tuesday, December 3 at 7:30 pm at the Premier Theater at One Letterman, 1 Letterman Dr. #B, San Francisco, CA 94129. A post-screening Q&A will follow. Tickets are $20 for SFFILM Members and $25 for general and can be purchased at sffilm.org.
The Premier Theater at One Letterman is ADA accessible. Closed captioning and audio description are available for this film.. To request accessibility accommodations, email ada@sffilm.org. Please note any requests for American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation must be made at least one week in advance of the event.
Transit options include Muni Line 43 and the PresidioGO Shuttle. The easiest way to find directions to this theater is by having your GPS navigate to the Yoda Fountain. Street parking and paid underground parking ($6/hour) is available at the theater. When you arrive, follow the signs to find underground parking.
SF Honors
SF Honors is an annual award and showcase that celebrates the fearless and bold talent behind one of the year’s most compelling films.
The inaugural SF Honors award was presented in 2016 to La La Land, with a public screening event and onstage conversation featuring writer/director Damien Chazelle, actors Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, and composer Justin Hurwitz. Subsequent SF Honors awardees include Darkest Hour (2017), with director Joe Wright and actors Gary Oldman and Ben Mendelsohn; On the Basis of Sex (2018) with screenwriter Daniel Stiepleman and actors Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer; CODA (2021) with director Siân Heder; Cyrano (2021) with writer/director Joe Wright, screenwriter Erica Schmidt, and actors Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr.; Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022); and Azazel Jacobs’ His Three Daughters (2024).
SF Honors is made possible by support from SFFILM Board President Todd Traina and philanthropist Diane B. Wilsey.
SFFILM
SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM inspires and connects audiences, students and teachers, and filmmakers through film exhibition, youth education, and artist development programs. Annual public film programs presented by SFFILM include the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM Festival) which is the longest running film festival in the Americas, Doc Stories documentary series, special events with the best and brightest in contemporary film, and family programming. SFFILM Education serves more than 15,000 students and educators with learning opportunities designed to cultivate media literacy, global citizenship, and a lifelong love of movies. SFFILM Makers supports the careers of independent filmmakers from the Bay Area and beyond with grants, residencies, and other creative development services.
For more information visit sffilm.org
This press release is available online at sffilm.org/press/releases
For press requests, please contact JCPR&C, Nicole Kerr at nicole@jcpr-c.com
Tickets and information for the event are available here: https://sffilm.org/event/sf-honors-blitz/
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