Alexander Payne, Darren Aronofsky and Sphere Entertainment to Receive Special Honors at Advanced Imaging Society’s Lumiere Awards

The Advanced Imaging Society revealed the Special Honors for the 2024 Lumiere Awards, which will be held on Feb. 9 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. “The Holdovers” director Alexander Payne will receive the Harold Lloyd Award for filmmaking while Darren Aronofsky and Sphere Entertainment will accept Earthday.org’s Voices for the Earth Award for their film “Postcard from Earth.”

The Lumiere Awards celebrate creative and technical achievements in film and television; voting has commenced and will be open until Wednesday.

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The Harold Lloyd Award is the Imaging Society’s top award. Payne’s latest feature “The Holdovers” stars Paul Giamatti as a curmudgeonly New England prep school teacher who must remain on campus during winter break, forming unlikely bonds with a student (Dominic Sessa) and the school’s cook (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). Both Giamatti and Randolph won Golden Globes on Sunday for their performances.

“The Harold Lloyd Award originated more than a decade ago to recognize filmmakers who have boldly moved our industry forward through their technical artistry and storytelling,” said AIS president Jim Chabin.

“We are thrilled to be honoring Alexander Payne, a brilliant filmmaker whose career has inspired audiences by writing and directing nuanced personal stories that reveal deeper realities of American life,” said Suzanne Lloyd, chairman of Harold Lloyd Entertainment. “Harold Lloyd, who, like Alexander Payne, was a native Nebraskan, celebrated authentic human characters who were navigating life with integrity.  In the film ‘The Holdovers,‘ Mr. Payne has enlightened us with a beautiful story woven from intimate portraits of unforgettable characters, creating a heartfelt and memorable ode to boyhood, teaching and to an iconic era in the United States.”

“Postcard from Earth” showcases the natural wonders of our planet in 18K while exploring life on Earth. It was filmed with the intention of screening at Las Vegas’ Sphere venue.

Kathleen Rogers, president of Earthday.org, said, “​Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Postcard From Earth’ is a tribute to the earth’s beauty and its complexity as well as the technological possibilities of filmmaking itself. Mr. Aronofsky’s stunning film underscores how every single species on the planet is completely dependent on it.  There is no backup planet. So, I hope that his work will serve as a timely reminder of why we all need to do more to protect Earth.  Now more than ever.  We are truly proud to present this award to a visionary filmmaker who shares our love for planet Earth and all of the precious species that call it home.”

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