The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) will bestow its Board of Governors Award on director Denzel Washington on February 4, 2017, during the 31st ASC Awards at Hollywood & Highland’s Ray Dolby Ballroom.
Washington made his directorial debut with Antwone Fisher (2002). His second feature, The Great Debaters, followed in 2007. Washington’s current project is the critically-acclaimed film Fences, written by August Wilson and based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning play. In addition to producing and directing the movie, Washington reprises his original Tony Award-winning role alongside Viola Davis.
“Denzel Washington is an amazing director and actor, and a conscious force in these challenging times,” noted ASC President Kees van Oostrum. “A true artist is empowered by the era they live in, and he expresses an awareness of the world around us through his work. It is that strength of character that we honour with the ASC Governors Award.”
Washington began his career in New York theatre productions, and rose to fame in NBC’s long-running television series St. Elsewhere. He has starred in over 50 films and television shows, in addition to his theatre roles and directing credits. He earned his first Oscar nomination for Cry Freedom (1987), as South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko. From there, he went on to portray Muslim minister and human rights activist Malcolm X in Malcolm X (1992), boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter in The Hurricane (1999), football coach Herman Boone in Remember The Titans (2000), and drug kingpin Frank Lucas in American Gangster (2007). He also starred in Much Ado About Nothing, A Soldier’s Story, Crimson Tide, Devil In A Blue Dress, and Inside Man. He received his first Academy Award for the historical war drama Glory (1989) and a second for the crime thriller Training Day (2001). Washington was mostly recently seen in Antoine Fuqua’s remake of The Magnificent Seven and before that, they teamed up for The Equalizer.
