The British Film Institute will honor Cate Blanchett with its Fellowship Award at the London Film Festival on Oct. 17 – one day before the closing of the fest, which commences on Oct. 7. The two-time Oscar winner appears at the fest on behalf of Todd Haynes’ Carol and James Vanderbilt’s Truth, which, as Awards Daily notes, will make their UK debuts at the fest.
Check out some recent Fellowship recipients below, with bold indicating those who picked up Oscar nods in the same years that they received their Fellowship Awards.
- 2015: Mel Brooks – earlier this year
- 2014: Stephen Frears, Al Pacino
- 2013: John Boorman, Philip French, Christopher Lee
- 2012: Tim Burton (Frankenweenie – animated feature), Helena Bonham Carter (Les Misérables*), Bryan Forbes, Richard Lester
- 2011: David Cronenberg (A Dangerous Method), Judi Dench (J. Edgar and My Week with Marilyn**), Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2***), Isabelle Huppert
- 2010: Danny Boyle (127 Hours – picture, director, adapted screenplay), David Rose
*The film received won three Oscars – including supporting actress – from eight nominations.
**Dench received a BAFTA nod for supporting actress; the film received Oscar bids for actress and supporting actor.
***The film received nominations for art direction (now production design), makeup, and visual effects.
This Fellowship honor suggests that Blanchett will hit the campaign trail for both Carol and Truth, but… will she drop to supporting for one of them? I’m the only one shouting this possibility into the void, but hey, if she’s the lead of Truth and it’s a flashier part than her turn in Carol (as some have claimed it to be)…
Awards and Such 