LOS ANGELES, Dec. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Acclaimed film and television creators Ava DuVernay and Greg Berlanti will be honorees at the 45th Annual HUMANITAS Prize event, it was announced today by HUMANITAS Executive Director Cathleen Young and President Ali LeRoi. The event takes place Friday, January 24, 2020, at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
DuVernay will receive the HUMANITAS Voice for Change Award, which honors an individual in the film and television industry who makes high-level, sometimes challenging choices to create positive systemic change. Berlanti is the recipient of the Kieser Award, a lifetime achievement award for television and feature film writers whose work not only entertains but also enriches the viewing public. It is named after HUMANITAS founder Fr. Ellwood "Bud" Kieser.
Writer, director, producer, and film distributor DuVernay is an Emmy, BAFTA and Peabody Award winner and an Academy Award nominee. Her work as a feature director includes the historical drama SELMA, the documentary 13TH, and A WRINKLE IN TIME, the highest-grossing film by a black female director in American box office history. Her miniseries WHEN THEY SEE US, based on the infamous case of the Central Park Five, was released worldwide on Netflix in May 2019.
DuVernay's television credits also include the critically acclaimed drama series QUEEN SUGAR, the limited series THE RED LINE, and the upcoming series CHERISH THE DAY. Winner of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival's Best Director Prize for her micro-budget film MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, DuVernay amplifies the work of people of color and women through her nonprofit film collective ARRAY, named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies. DuVernay sits on the advisory board of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and co-chairs the Prada Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council.
"Ava DuVernay is a powerful, original storyteller whose work shines a light on characters and events rarely portrayed on screen," said Young. "Her documentaries and narrative films and series hold a mirror up to us as a nation and challenge us to do better as people. She is richly deserving of the HUMANITAS Voice for Change Award."
Added LeRoi: "From her early short films in the mid-2000s through recent critical and commercial successes like QUEEN SUGAR and WHEN THEY SEE US, Ava DuVernay has emerged as one of the most important voices working in film and television today. As a woman of color she has broken barriers and enriched us all by blazing a trail for a new generation of storytellers. "
Berlanti is a critically hailed writer, director, and producer who made television history in 2018 with a total of 14 scripted series on the air at one time. A WGA, DGA and Golden Globe nominee, he is executive producer and co-creator of the CW's ARROW, THE FLASH, DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW and SUPERGIRL. He also serves as executive producer on GOD FRIENDED ME, THE RED LINE, RIVERDALE, BLACK LIGHTNING, and BLINDSPOT.
Berlanti started in television as a staff writer on DAWSON'S CREEK and was promoted to showrunner in his second year on the series. Since then, he has served as creator, writer, and producer of such critically hailed television series as EVERWOOD; JACK & BOBBY; BROTHERS & SISTERS; ELI STONE; and DIRTY SEXY MONEY; as well as the miniseries POLITICAL ANIMALS. Berlanti's feature film directing credits include LOVE, SIMON and LIFE AS WE KNOW IT. He co-wrote and produced the action film GREEN LANTERN and produced PAN under his Berlanti Productions banner.
"Greg Berlanti is one of the most prolific and successful writer-producers in television as well as an extremely accomplished screenwriter and feature director," said LeRoi. "Most impressively, he's achieved all that by creating consistently innovative work that offers unique insights into what it means to be human — even in shows where his characters are superhuman."
Added Young: "Since his days on DAWSON'S CREEK, Greg Berlanti has demonstrated a unique ability to tell rich, compelling and meaningful stories in a virtually unlimited array of genres, styles, and mediums. It is our immense pleasure to present him with the 2020 Kieser Award."
Winners of the HUMANITAS Prize in 10 categories as well as college student fellowship and New Voices winners will be announced at the annual ceremony, which honors film and television writers whose work inspires compassion, hope, and understanding in the human family.
About the HUMANITAS Prize
Since its inception in 1974, the HUMANITAS Prize has awarded over $4 million to more than 360 deserving television and motion picture writers whose work examines what it means to be a fully realized human being in a world struggling with racism, terrorism, sexism, ageism, anti-Semitism, political polarization, religious fanaticism, extreme poverty, violence, and unemployment. By deeply exploring the cultures, lifestyles, sexual orientations, political views, and religious beliefs of people who are very different from ourselves, we can dissolve the walls of ignorance and fear that separate us from one another. For more information, please visit the HUMANITAS Prize at www.humanitasprize.org.
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