02 · 05 · 15 Alejandro González Iñárritu Recognized by Sundance Share with twitter Share with facebook Share with mail Copy to clipboard The Sundance Institute will award Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu a Vanguard Leadership Award at their 5th annual benefit event, to take place on the 2nd June 2015 in Los Angeles. This event will bring together the cinematographic community and highlight the work of Iñárritu, who is described by Sundance as “a great visionary in independent film”. Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for a Best Director prize by both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and the Directors Guild of America. He was also the first Mexican to win the Best Director Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006 for Babel (the prize was subsequently awarded to Carlos Reygadas in 2012 and Amat Escalante in 2013). Iñárritu’s first film, Amores perros (2000), is part of the Sundance Collection at UCLA, a film preservation program that was established in 1997. The filmmaker has also had three films selected by the Sundance Film Festival: Nine Lives (2005), Mother & Child (2010) and Rudo y Cursi (2009). Keri Putnam, executive director of the Sundance Institute, released this statement on the Institute’s official website: “The current health and vibrancy of independent film is best reflected in the stories from filmmakers who continue to push and break boundaries. Alejandro G. Iñárritu is among the most creative and innovative filmmakers working today, and the boldness, humanity and audacity of his films will inspire generations to come.” Responding to the award, Iñárritu said: “It comes as a great honor to receive this award from an organization whose mission, spirit and objectives are noble and have a profound effect on many filmmakers around the world.” This is the fourth time that the Institute has awarded the Vanguard Leadership Award. In past years it has been won by the philanthropist George Grund, the journalist and film critic Roger Ebert and by the actress Glenn Close. For more information about the Sundance Institute benefit click here.
