The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures announced Tuesday that its gala leading up to the Los Angeles museum’s Sept. 30 opening will honor actress Sophia Loren and Ethiopian filmmaker Haile Gerima. The gala, to be held Sept. 25, will celebrate Loren as recipient of the museum’s inaugural annual Visionary Award, honoring an artist or scholar whose work has contributed to advances in cinema. AdvertisementOscar-nominated director Ava DuVernay — an advisor to the museum’s 2022 exhibition “Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971” — will co-chair the Sept. 25 gala along with producer Jason Blum and writer-director Ryan Murphy. In January film historian, scholar and archivist Jacqueline Stewart joined the museum as chief artistic and programming officer, overseeing exhibitions, programming and education. AdvertisementThe Academy Museum had originally planned to open on Dec. 14, 2020; that date was pushed to April 30, 2021, because of the pandemic, then again to Sept. 30.

Source: Los Angeles Times March 08, 2021 21:00 UTC