Only Three will Accept Governors Award

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California, has announced that following a two-month-long cordial exchange of correspondence with Academy president Tom Sherak, French director Jean-Luc Godard has regretfully notified Sherak that he will not be able to attend the November 13th Governors Awards and receive his Honorary Oscar® in person.

The November 13th dinner ceremony, produced by Sid Ganis and Don Mischer, will pay tribute to Godard, and others, through film clips and commentary by admirers. The award will be accepted on Godard’s behalf by the Academy and following the event, the Academy will arrange for the Oscar statuette to be delivered to him in Switzerland.

Besides the Honorary Oscar to director Jean-Luc Godard, the Board of Governors of the Academy voted Honorary Awards to historian and preservationist Kevin Brownlow, and to director and actor Eli Wallach. They also voted to present the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producer-director Francis Ford Coppola.

All four awards will be presented at the Academy’s 2nd Annual Governors Awards dinner at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center®.The event is by invitation only and will not be televised. However highlights will be shown during the Academy Awards telecast in February.

The Honorary Award, an Oscar statuette, is given to an individual for “extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.”

The Thalberg Award, a bust of the late motion picture executive, is given to “a creative producer whose body of work reflects a consistently high quality of motion picture production.”

“Each of these honorees has touched movie audiences worldwide and influenced the motion picture industry through their work,” said Sherak. “It will be an honor to celebrate their extraordinary achievements and contributions at the Governors Awards.”

The 83rd Academy Awards nominations will be televised and announced live on Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at 5:30 a.m., PT, from the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Wilshire Boulevard.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.