The 13th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Awards, presented by Starz, have announced that two-time Academy Award-winning actress Hilary Swank will be honored with the "Hollywood Actress Award" at the festival's Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony.

The gala ceremony will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on October 26, 2009. The announcement was made today by Carlos de Abreu, Founder and Executive Director of the Hollywood Film Festival. "It is a privilege to honor Hilary Swank's extraordinary talent and remarkable career," said Mr. de Abreu.

ABOUT HILARY SWANK
Hilary Swank will soon be seen starring in the title role of Mira Nair's biopic Amelia, from Fox Searchlight, which is the story of the life of legendary aviatrix Amelia Earhart. World famous for her aviation triumphs, Earhart disappeared along with her navigator Fred Noonan on July 2, 1937, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean near Howland Island while on her World Flight to circumnavigate the globe. Amelia also stars Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston, and Joe Anderson.

Hilary Swank has won two Best Actress Academy Awards. She won her first Oscar for the role of Brandon Teena in the 1999 drama Boys Don't Cry. In 2005, she won her second Academy Award for her starring role as boxer Maggie Fitzgerald in Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning Best Picture, Million Dollar Baby, opposite Eastwood and Morgan Freeman.

An actress as well as a producer, Swank is involved with several highly anticipated projects. She recently completed filming on the feature Betty Anne Waters, based on the true story of a working mother who puts herself through law school to free her wrongfully convicted brother who is serving a life sentence. Set for release in late 2009, Swank stars alongside Sam Rockwell and Minnie Driver. Swank also stars in the 2010 thriller The Resident, about a doctor who suspects she may not be alone in her Brooklyn loft, and learns that her landlord has formed a frightening obsession with her.

In 2008, Swank and producer Molly Smith launched the production company 2S Films and signed a two-year first-look pact with Warner-based Alcon Entertainment. Projects in the works include French Women Don't Get Fat, based on the 2004 bestseller by Mireille Guiliano, a romantic comedy about a young, single woman living in New York who learns some tough life lessons about truly loving yourself and Sweet & Vicious, a light-hearted comedy about female friendship and the pitfalls of success. Other projects in development are You're Not You, based on a novel by Michelle Wildgen, about a woman suffering from a terminal illness and an aimless young woman who enters her life as a caregiver. Also in development is "Falling Out of Fashion," based on the debut novel by Karen Yampolsky, which centers on a woman who leaves a Georgia hippie commune for New York City with dreams of becoming a magazine editor, and "Something Borrowed" based on the first novel from author Emily Giffin, about a woman who falls for her best friend's fiance.

In 2007, Hilary starred in two films which showcased her range in talent, both from director Richard LaGravenese: first in the drama, Freedom Writers, opposite Patrick Dempsey, based on the inspirational true story of school teacher Erin Gruwell, followed by her starring role in the romantic comedy P.S. I Love You, opposite Gerard Butler and Kathy Bates.

Swank's other film credits include Brian De Palma's real-life crime drama The Black Dahlia, opposite Josh Hartnett and Scarlett Johansson, The Affair Of The Necklace, opposite Adrien Brody, Sam Raimi's The Gift, with Cate Blanchett and Keanu Reeves, Christopher Nolan's Insomnia, opposite Al Pacino and Robin Williams, The Reaping, The Next Karate Kid and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

For more information please go to HollywoodFilmFestival.com