Children of Men Wins American Society of Cinematographers Awards

Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC took top honors in the feature film competition for Children of Men at the 21st Annual American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Outstanding Achievement Awards at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel.

This is the first ASC Award for Lubezki, who was nominated along with Dick Pope, BSC for The Illusionist; Robert Richardson, ASC for The Good Shepherd; Dean Semler, ASC, ACS for Apocalypto; and Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC for The Black Dahlia. The award was presented by Tim Allen, who noted, "All of these artists contributed their talent for writing with light and motion to each story."

David James Elliott presented John Stokes, ACS with the top award in the television movie/miniseries/pilot competition for the TNT miniseries Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King ("Umney's Last Case"). Beau Bridges presented David Moxness, CSC with the episodic TV award for The CW's Smallville ("Arrow").

Nominees in the television movie/miniseries/pilot category included Thomas Del Ruth, ASC for the pilot of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip; Adam Kane for the Heroes pilot; Walt Lloyd, ASC for The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines; and Bill Roe, ASC for the Day Break pilot.

Nominees in the episodic category were Eagle Egilsson for CSI: Miami, Nathan Hope for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Gale Tattersall for House M.D., and Roe with a second nomination for an episode of Day Break.

Charlize Theron presented Allen Daviau, ASC with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Daviau has earned Oscar nominations for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Color Purple, Avalon, The Empire of the Sun and Bugsy. Theron, who starred in The Astronaut's Wife with Daviau behind the lens, said, "It was a beautiful experience. It was like watching a great artist paint."

Universal Studios President and Chief Operating Officer Ron Meyer presented Ron Howard with the ASC Board of Governors Award, which is presented annually to an individual who has made extraordinary contributions to advancing the art of filmmaking.

Martin Scorsese honored Michael Ballhaus, ASC (The Departed, Gangs of New York) with the organization's International Achievement Award. Joseph Sargent presented his long-time collaborator Donald M. Morgan, ASC (Something the Lord Made, Walkout) with the Career Achievement in Television Award. Richard Benjamin bestowed the ASC Presidents Award to Gerald Hirschfeld, ASC (My Favorite Year, Young Frankenstein).

The ASC John Alonzo Heritage Award was presented to two student filmmakers, Brian Melton from the North Carolina School of the Arts and Lyle Vincent from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Alonzo shot such classics as Harold and Maude, Lady Sings the Blues, Norma Rae and Scarface.

The ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards were inaugurated in 1987 for the purpose of recognizing and inspiring the quest for artistry in narrative filmmaking. There are currently some 290 members from many countries around the world, and another 145 associates in allied fields. For information, visit the ASC Web site at www.theasc.com.