The British Academy of Film and Television Arts will honour Sir Ridley Scott with the Fellowship at the EE British Academy Film Awards on Sunday 18 February.
Awarded annually, the Fellowship is the highest accolade bestowed by BAFTA upon an individual in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, games or television. Fellows previously honoured for their work in film include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Sean Connery, Elizabeth Taylor, Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Lee, Martin Scorsese, Alan Parker, Helen Mirren and Sidney Poitier. Mel Brooks received the Fellowship at last year’s Film Awards.
On Monday 19 February, Ridley Scott will discuss craft and career at a special ‘BAFTA A Life in Pictures’ event at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, its headquarters in London. The event is a part of long-running series of onstage interviews in which some of the world’s leading film talent share insights into the experiences that have helped them hone and develop their craft.
Sir Ridley Scott said: “It is a privilege to have been able to make a career for myself in this industry and to be honoured for my body of work is indeed very gratifying.”
Amanda Berry OBE, Chief Executive of BAFTA, said: “Ridley Scott is a visionary director, one of the great British filmmakers whose work has made an indelible mark on the history of cinema. His passion and unrelenting pursuit of excellence have provided cinema goers with a tantalising range of films, including Alien, Gladiator, Thelma and Louise and Blade Runner. 40 years since his directorial debut, his films continue to cross the boundaries of style and genre, engaging audiences and inspiring the next generation of film talent.”
Ridley Scott’s eminent career has spanned over 40 years, during which he has continuously pushed boundaries in modern filmmaking. Scott has been at the helm of over 25 feature films including Hannibal (2001), Black Hawk Down (2001), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), American Gangster (2007), Body of Lies (2008) and Prometheus (2012). Across his career, he has garnered five BAFTA nominations and three Oscar nominations.
At the 1992 British Academy Film Awards, Scott received BAFTA’s Special Award, and at the 1995 Film Awards, he received the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award alongside his brother Tony.
Following his studies at the Royal College of Art, Scott began his career in the 1960s at the BBC as a trainee set designer, working on popular television police series Z-Cars and science fiction series Out of the Unknown. In 1968 Scott, alongside his brother Tony, founded production company Ridley Scott Associates (RSA). During the 1970s the company produced a number of notable commercials, including the 1973 Hovis advertisement, filmed on Gold Hill in Shaftesbury.
In 1977 Scott made his feature film debut as a director with The Duellists. Set during the Napoleonic Wars and starring Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel, the film received BAFTA nominations for Cinematography and Costume Design and won the Award for Best Debut Film at the Cannes Film Festival.
Scott’s next film, Alien (1979), went on to become one of the most influential science fiction films of all time. Following Scott’s decision to switch his lead from a hero to a heroine, Ellen Ripley became one of cinema’s most iconic female leads. The film won two BAFTAs in 1980, for Production Design and Soundtrack, and received a further four nominations.
Scott went on to direct Blade Runner in 1982. Based on Philip K. Dick’s novel ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’, the film starred Harrison Ford and is widely-considered to be one of most important science fiction films ever made. Its sequel, Blade Runner 2049, was released in 2017, on which Scott served as an executive producer.
1992 saw the release of one of Scott’s biggest critical successes, Thelma & Louise, for which he received his first BAFTA and Oscar nominations for Director. The film, which delivered a breakthrough role for Brad Pitt as J.D., received a further seven BAFTA and five Ocar nominations.
In 2000 Scott directed historical drama Gladiator. The film went on to receive critical acclaim and numerous awards, winning four BAFTAs (including the award for Best Film) and five Oscars. The film also received a further 10 BAFTA nominations, including a Director nomination for Scott. He received another Director nomination in 2016 for The Martian.
Most recently Scott directed and produced All the Money in the World (2017), a drama about the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III. As well as an Oscar nomination, the film has received a BAFTA nomination for Supporting Actor for Christopher Plummer. Scott also served as executive producer on Blade Runner 2049 (2017), which has received eight BAFTA nominations and five Oscar nominations.
The EE British Academy Film Awards take place on Sunday 18 February at the Royal Albert Hall. The ceremony will be hosted by Joanna Lumley and will be broadcast exclusively on BBC One and BBC One HD. The ceremony is also broadcast in all major territories around the world. On the night, www.bafta.org will feature red carpet highlights, photography and winner’s interviews, as well as dedicated coverage on its social networks including Facebook (/BAFTA), Twitter (@BAFTA / #EEBAFTAs) and Instagram.