The 2024 Sundance Film Festival will honor two prominent directors.
This was announced by the Sundance Institute on Wednesday Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan and Past lives director Celine Song will receive special awards at the opening ceremony of the festival on January 18.
Nolan, 53, will receive a brand new honor, the Sundance Institute Trailblazer Award, while Song, 35, receives the Vanguard Award alongside director Maite Alberdi. Both songs Past lives and Alberdieva Eternal memory premiered at the festival in January.
Nolan, whose summer blockbuster Oppenheimer is now the highest-grossing biopic of all time, winning praise at Sundance more than two decades ago when his Memory screened at the festival in 2001. The award he will receive is intended to recognize “the artist’s unwavering dedication and notable contribution to the field of independent film,” according to the announcement.
“I present Memory at the Sundance Film Festival marked a pivotal moment in my career,” Nolan said in a statement Wednesday. “This award is a full-circle moment and a testament to the extraordinary impact of independent filmmaking.”
Christopher Nolan praises how Taylor Swift let her go Eras Tour Movie: ‘Incredibly Valuable’
Celine Song.
Matej Dunivan
The Vanguard Awards, which will go to Song and Alberdi, “honor artists whose works highlight the art of storytelling and creative independence in nonfiction and fiction,” according to a statement.
Song made her directorial debut Past liveswhich received three nominations for the upcoming Gotham Awards in 2023. The director said in a statement that her upcoming honor at Sundance “really means a lot to me.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“Sundance is where I screened my first film for the first time, and I’ll never forget that experience — walking around the green room at Eccles, waiting to present the film to the world, meeting the audience afterwards, being with everyone who made the film with me,” she said.
“Sundance is the place that launched my career as a filmmaker: it’s home to Past lives — and home to me — in the deepest way.”
Yes, Cillian Murphy really learned how to give a physics lecture in Dutch for Oppenheimer
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(999x0:1001x2)/Christopher-Nolan-and-Celine-Song-Sundance-Film-Festival-110123-3-0fde62ce89414c178fbaedd50a0e9c42.jpg)
Christopher Nolan.
Magnus Nolan
The Sundance Institute said Wednesday that its annual festival opening night gala “enables nonprofits to raise critical funds to support independent artists year-round through labs, grants and public programs that nurture artists around the world.”
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival will be held in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, from January 18-28, with an online component running from January 25-28.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education