D.A. Pennebaker, the filmmaker who made such classics as Monterey Pop and Don’t Look Back, will be the first documentary maker to receive an Honorary Oscar from the Motion Picture Academy.
D.A. Pennebaker
The Honorary Oscar is given to an individual for “extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.”
Per the Academy press release:
D. A. Pennebaker, a pioneer of modern nonfiction film, has directed more than 20 feature-length documentaries, including Don’t Look Back, Monterey Pop, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Moon over Broadway, Kings of Pastry and The War Room, for which he received an Oscar® nomination. During his career of more than six decades, Pennebaker has inspired generations of filmmakers with his “you are here” style. He is considered one of the founders of the cinéma vérité movement, beginning with his collaboration on the seminal 1960 film Primary.
Pennebaker’s music documentaries include:
- Lambert, Hendricks & Co. (1964)
- Don’t Look Back (1967)
- Monterey Pop (1968)
- Keep on Rockin’ (1969)
- Company: Original Cast Album (1970)
- Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1973)
- Jimi Plays Monterey (1989)
- John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band: Sweet Toronto (1988)
- Shake!: Otis at Monterey (1989)
- Jimi Hendrix Live (1989)
- Jerry Lee Lewis: The Story of Rock & Roll (1991)
- Comin’ Home (1991)
- Branford Marsalis: The Music Tells You (1992)
- Woodstock Diary (1994)
- Searching For Jimi Hendrix (1999)
- Down From the Mountain (2000)
- Only the Strong Survive (2002)
- National Anthem: Inside the Vote for Change Concert Tour (2004)
- 65 Revisited (2007)
The award will be given at the 4th annual Governor’s Awards dinner on Saturday, December 1 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at the Hollywood & High Center.
