Viola Davis to Present Steve McQueen with the John Schlesinger Britannia Award

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles (BAFTA Los Angeles) is pleased to announce that Academy Award Winner and "12 Years a Slave" director Steve McQueen will receive The John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing at the 2018 British Academy Britannia Awards. The award will be presented by Academy, Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress Viola Davis.

This year's event will take place on Friday, October 26, 2018 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

"Steve's ground-breaking work continues to shape the trajectory of film, tackling socially relevant content in ways that have profoundly moved audiences and changed the conversation," said BAFTA Los Angeles Chairman Kieran Breen. "We could not think of a more deserving recipient of this year's John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing and are looking forward to honoring Steve."

The John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing is presented to deeply respected, distinctive directors, whose contribution as both technicians and artists represents the zenith of the directing profession. Past recipients have included Ava DuVernay, Ang Lee, Sam Mendes, Mike Newell, Danny Boyle, Christopher Nolan, David Yates, Quentin Tarantino, and Kathryn Bigelow.

McQueen's upcoming fourth feature, "Widows," starring Oscar® winner Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Erivo opposite Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Daniel Kaluuya and Robert Duvall, is a blistering, modern-day thriller. Set in contemporary Chicago against a backdrop of crime, passion and corruption, "Widows" is the story of four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands' criminal activities. With everything to lose, they take their fate into their own hands and conspire to forge a future on their own terms.

In 2013, McQueen's "12 Years a Slave," adapted from Solomon Northup's 1853 memoir of the same name, dominated awards season, winning the Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, PGA (joint winner), Independent Spirit, African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) and the Black Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Picture. McQueen won the Independent Spirit, African-American Film Critics Association and Black Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Director and received Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA and DGA nominations for directing. His second feature, "Shame" (2011), starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, received numerous awards and nominations as well as Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for Fassbender and the Venice Film Festival's Volpi Award for Best Actor. "Shame" ranks as one of the highest grossing NC-17-rated movies in U.S. box office history. In 2008, McQueen's critically-acclaimed first feature, "Hunger," won the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. McQueen received BAFTA's Carl Foreman Award for Most Promising Newcomer in addition to numerous other international awards and nominations. "Hunger" is one of the most awarded debut movies with 45 wins and 33 nominations.

Viola Davis is the first black actress to win Tony ("Fences" & "King Hedley II"), Oscar ("Fences") and Emmy ("How to Get Away with Murder") awards. Davis is currently starring in the ABC series "How to Get Away with Murder," from ABC Studios and Shondaland. The series, which drew 14.24 million viewers during its 2014 premiere, is a sexy, suspense-driven legal thriller that centers on ambitious law students and their brilliant and mysterious criminal defense professor. In 2015, Davis received the Screen Actors Guild Award for "Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series," in addition to becoming the first African American actress to receive the Primetime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series." In 2016, she received her second Screen Actors Guild Award and her second Emmy nomination for portraying Annalise Keating. Davis will next be seen staring in Fox's "Widows." Directed by Steve McQueen and written by Gillian Flynn, the film follows a group of widows after their criminal husbands are killed during a heist.

The British Academy Britannia Awards is BAFTA's biggest event outside of the U.K., where Brits and anglophiles alike come together in Los Angeles in celebration of exceptional members of the creative community who have dedicated their careers to advancing the art forms of the moving image in the U.S., U.K. and beyond.

The Britannia Awards are BAFTA Los Angeles' highest accolades, recognizing both outstanding British talent, and exceptional international talent by virtue of their strong connection to British entertainment through their body of work. Known to be an enjoyable evening that captures a unique blend of sincerity and British irreverence, the evening also serves to celebrate the long-standing collaboration between the British and American industries. Proceeds from the event support BAFTA's Access for All campaign, a range of impactful educational initiatives created to provide a foot-in-the-door and a pathway to success for talented individuals, uninhibited by background, demographics or personal circumstance.

About BAFTA and BAFTA Los Angeles

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is a world-leading independent arts charity that brings the very best work in film, games and television to public attention and supports the growth of creative talent in the U.K. and internationally. Through its Awards ceremonies and year-round program of learning events and initiatives - which includes workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures and mentoring schemes in the U.K., U.S. and Asia - BAFTA identifies and celebrates excellence, discovers, inspires and nurtures new talent, and enables learning and creative collaboration. For advice and inspiration from the best creative minds in working in film, games and television, visit www.bafta.org/guru. For more, visit www.bafta.org.

Founded in 1987, BAFTA Los Angeles serves as a bridge between the Hollywood and British production and entertainment business communities. Its commitment to professional and community education is at the heart of all activity, including an award-winning community outreach program, screenings, seminars, Behind Closed Doors series, Q&As, scholarships for British students studying in the U.S., a Newcomers Program for emerging British talents working in the U.S., and a Heritage Archive project that preserves in-depth interviews with the industry's leading talents for future generations. BAFTA Los Angeles celebrates and promotes excellence through its annual Britannia Awards, Awards Season Film and Television Tea Parties and the Student Film Awards.

BAFTA Los Angeles is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Corporation and relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and CORPORATE partnerships to support its ongoing work. www.bafta.org/losangeles

Photo Credit: 2018 Twentieth Century Fox

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