19/11/2014 - Awards recognises outstanding contribution to British film by an actor

Emma Thompson

Emma Thompson will receive The Richard Harris Award at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) on December 7. Award was introduced in 2002 in honour of Richard Harris and recognises outstanding contribution to British film by an actor.  Previous winners include John Hurt, David Thewlis, Bob Hoskins, Jim Broadbent, Daniel Day-Lewis, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon and Julie Walters in 2013.

Thompson said, “I am so delighted to be receiving The Richard Harris Award at this year’s BIFAs. It is a very special award, in name of an incredible actor who inspired so many people during his career. I am honoured to follow in the footsteps of my peers who have received this award before me, and look forward to celebrating a fantastic year of British independent filmmaking on 7th December.”

Emma Thompson first gained international prominence in 1992 for her role in the Merchant Ivory adaptation of E.M. Forster’s Howards End.  Her performance won her a BAFTA, Los Angeles Film Critics Award, New York Film Critics Award, Golden Globe and Academy Award.  She gained two Oscar nominations the following year for her work in The Remains of the Day and In the Name of the Father. In 1995, Thompson’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, directed by Ang Lee, won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as well as the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay and Best Screenplay awards from the Writers Guild of America. For her performance in the film she won a Best Actress BAFTA and was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award.