ALTMAN TO RECEIVE PRESTIGIOUS BFI ACCOLADE

THE BRITISH Film Institute (BFI) are to present their prestigious Fellowship award to Robert Altman.
The BFI’s 52nd Fellowship, the accolade is bestowed on individuals from around the world in recognition of their outstanding contribution to film and television culture.
The National Film Theatre are running an extensive tribute to three times Oscar-nominated Altman in January and February 2001, including new prints of at least seven of his films. One new print is of ‘M*A*S*H’ (1970), the anarchic black comedy starring Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould, which established Altman as a major Hollywood player. The retrospective incorporates some of his early television work, rarely seen in recent years, alongside the features, including ‘The Long Goodbye’, ‘Nashville’, ‘A Wedding’, ‘Short Cuts’ and ‘The Player’.
BFI Chair, Joan Bakewell, said: “I am delighted that the BFI is to recognise Robert Altman’s extraordinary career with its latest Fellowship. He is one of the most independent and influential of all directors, who has also written and produced much of his own material, His films, shot with a sceptical, analytical eye, possess a distinctive style and often complex structure. At the age of 75, he shows no sign of letting up.”
The presentation will take place at the BFI National Film Theatre on London’s South Bank on January 24 2001, when Altman will give an interview about his life and work. (CMcL)