Australian actor Cate Blanchett is to be awarded a BFI Fellowship by the UK’s lead film agency, the British Film Institute, at this year’s London film festival.
The BFI Fellowship – not to be confused with a similarly titled honour given by Bafta (the British Academy of Film and Television Arts) – is a lifetime achievement award given by the BFI board of governors and presented for “outstanding achievement in film and television”. There have been some 80 previous recipients, including Al Pacino, Judi Dench, Mike Leigh and, most recently, Mel Brooks.
Blanchett, who was born and brought up in Melbourne, Australia, shot to international fame in 1997 when she starred opposite Ralph Fiennes in the adaptation of Peter Carey’s Booker-prize winning novel Oscar and Lucinda. She went on to win a string of awards, including Oscars for best supporting actress (The Aviator in 2004) and best actress (Blue Jasmine in 2013). She also played the elf queen Galadriel in all six Tolkien films directed by Peter Jackson. Aside from film work, Blanchett has taken on numerous theatre roles, and spent five years as co-CEO and artistic director of Sydney Theatre Company with her husband, playwright Andrew Upton.
Two of Blanchett’s most recent films – Carol, a romance adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Price of Salt (which got a five-star review from Peter Bradshaw), and Truth, about American TV journalist Mary Mapes – will screen at the London film festival, where Blanchett is due to receive her award on 17 October.
- The 2015 BFI London film festival runs from 7-18 October
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