Variety will honor “Elvis” director Baz Luhrmann with the Creative Impact in Directing Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. The award, for the director’s body of work including “Elvis,” will be presented on Jan. 6 as part of the annual 10 Directors to Watch brunch at the Parker Palm Springs. The film’s star, Austin Butler, will be on hand to present Luhrmann with the award.
Luhrmann, a writer, director and producer, has worked across film, opera, theatre, events and music. His most recent film, “Elvis,” which opened in theaters this summer, has become the filmmaker’s highest grossing film in the U.S. and in 22 international territories. In Australia, “Elvis” became the fourth-highest grossing Australian film of all time. “Elvis” is also the second-highest grossing musical biopic of all time, globally.
Luhrmann entered the world filmmaking scene with the first of the Red Curtain Trilogy, “Strictly Ballroom” (1992), followed by the modern adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo + Juliet” (1996) and Academy Award-winning “Moulin Rouge!” (2001). In addition, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” won Tony Awards for scenic design, costume, lighting, sound design and orchestrations, and a featured acting Tony for Danny Burstein. His collaboration with Netflix later produced “The Get Down” (2016), a critically successful series based on the birth of hip-hop in 1970s South Bronx.
“From his dazzling Cannes Film Festival sensation of 1992, ‘Strictly Ballroom,’ to his current Oscar-contending biopic, ‘Elvis,’ Baz Luhrmann has been at the forefront of international cinema as the rare auteur who also connects with global audiences,” said Variety’s Executive VP of Global Content, Steven Gaydos. “Whether it’s turning the screen musical upside down with ‘Moulin Rouge’ or bringing F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age to new life and new relevance with ‘The Great Gatsby,’ Luhrmann makes distinctive, personal cinema on a grand scale, a reminder of Hollywood Golden Age directors who are revered as bold film artists and also remembered for creating big, accessible, beloved hit movies.”
Past recipients of the Creative Impact in Directing Award include Ryan Coogler, Tom Hooper, Patty Jenkins, David O. Russell, Charlie Kaufman, Jeff Nichols and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
The Palm Springs International Film Festival runs Jan. 5-16.