HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Sept. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The 15th Annual
Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards, presented by
Starz Entertainment, are pleased to announce that Academy
Award-nominated actress Michelle
Williams will be honored with the "Hollywood Actress Award,"
at the festival's Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony, which will
take place October 24, 2011, at the
Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly
Hills.
The announcement was made today by Carlos de Abreu, Founder and Executive Director
of the Hollywood Film Festival.
"It is a privilege to honor Michelle
Williams for her excellent talent and remarkable career,"
said Mr. de Abreu.
The Hollywood Film Awards Gala launches the awards season. In
the past eight years a total of 73 Oscar nominations and 27 Oscars
were given to the honorees of the Hollywood Awards.
The 2011 Hollywood Film Festival has also announced that they
will honor Academy Award-nominated actor Christopher Plummer with the "Hollywood
Supporting Actor Award" for "Beginners," actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt with the "Hollywood
Breakthrough Actor Award" for "50/50," actress Jessica Chastain with the "Hollywood Breakthrough Actress Award"
for "The Tree of Life," "Coriolanus," "The Debt," "The Help,"
and "Take Shelter," and actress Felicity
Jones with the "New Hollywood Award" for "Crazy Love." Other
honorees include the cast of "The Help" (Jessica Chastain, Viola
Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard,
Allison Janney, Chris Lowell, Ahna O'Reilly, Octavia Spencer, Emma
Stone, Sissy Spacek,
Mary Steenburgen, Cicely Tyson and Mike
Vogel), Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, Editor
Stephen Mirrione, Production
Designer James Murakami, and Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Farrar at their annual Awards Gala. In
addition, Gore Verbinski's "Rango" will be honored at the
Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony, along with additional honorees
to be announced in the coming weeks.
MICHELLE WILLIAMS
Michelle Williams' performances
have established her as one of Hollywood's most sought-after and respected
actors earning her two Academy Award® nominations.
Williams was last seen in Derek
Cianfrance's BLUE VALENTINE opposite Ryan Gosling. Williams' captivating performance
earned her an Academy Award® nomination for Best Actress as well as
Golden Globe and Broadcast Film Critics Association
nominations and her fourth Independent Spirit Award nomination.
This fall, Williams takes on the iconic Marilyn Monroe in MY WEEK WITH MARILYN opposite
Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench. The film will be released by The
Weinstein Company on November 4,
2011. She will star opposite Seth
Rogan in Sarah Polley's TAKE
THIS WALTZ, which made its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto
Film Festival.
Williams is currently in production on Sam Raimi's OZ: THE
GREAT AND POWERFUL, opposite James
Franco, where she stars as Glinda the Good Witch.
Williams' performance in Ang
Lee's BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, released in 2005, earned her a
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award as well as an
Independent Spirit Award, SAG, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy
Award® nomination for "Best Supporting Actress." Following,
Williams was nominated for a 2007 Independent Spirit Award for
"Best Actress" for her performance in Wim
Wenders' LAND OF PLENTY. In her first collaboration
with Kelly Reichardt on her
critically acclaimed independent film WENDY AND LUCY, Williams'
moving and evocative performance as "Wendy" garnered a Toronto Film
Critics Award for "Best Actress" in 2009 and her third Independent
Spirit Award Nomination.
In 2004, Williams shared a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination
with her fellow actors for Thomas
McCarthy's THE STATION AGENT for "Outstanding Performance by
a Cast in a Motion Picture." In 2005, Williams was honored by
the Motion Picture Club as "Female Star of Tomorrow."
Williams' other film credits include her second collaboration
with director Kelly Reichardt's
MEEK'S CUTOFF, Martin Scorcese's SHUTTER ISLAND, Sharon Maguire's INCENDIARY, Charlie Kaufman's SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK, Todd
Haynes' I'M NOT THERE, Ethan
Hawke's THE HOTTEST STATE, Sandra
Goldbacher's ME WITHOUT YOU, and Andrew Fleming's DICK.
On television, Williams starred opposite Chloe Sevigny in Martha
Coolidge's HBO movie IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK 2. She also
had a six-year run as "Jen Lindley"
on the WB's hit television series DAWSON'S CREEK. The series
premiered in 1998 and remained one of the WB's top-rated shows
throughout its run.
On stage, Williams received glowing reviews for her portrayal of
Varya in Chekhov's THE CHERRY ORCHARD at the Williamstown Theatre
Festival. She also achieved critical acclaim for her run in
Mike Leigh's SMELLING A RAT at the
Samuel Beckett Theatre and her off-Broadway debut in KILLER JOE.
The festival and awards will mark their return on October 20 for a week long series of screenings,
competitions and awards. The Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony will
take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on October 24, 2011.
ABOUT STARZ ENTERTAINMENT, LLC:
The festival and awards presenter is Starz Entertainment, LLC, a
premium movie and original programming entertainment service
provider operating in the United
States. The company offers 17 premium channels including the
flagship STARZ® and ENCORE® brands with approximately 19
million and 32.9 million subscribers respectively. Starz
Entertainment airs in total more than 1,000 movies and original
series every month across its pay TV channels. Starz
Entertainment is recognized as a pay TV leader in
providing HD, On Demand, HD On Demand and online advanced
services for its STARZ, ENCORE and MOVIEPLEX brands. Starz
Entertainment (www.starz.com) is an operating unit of Starz,
LLC, which is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media
Corporation and is attributed to the Liberty Starz tracking stock
group (NASDAQ: LSTZA).
http://www.hollywoodfilmfestival.com
SOURCE Hollywood Film
Festival