Eliza Hittman is following up her Berlinale win with another award. The “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” writer-director and “Parks and Recreation” alumna Amy Poehler are among the honorees at the upcoming Sun Valley Film Festival, set to be held March 18-22. Variety confirmed the news.
Given in recognition of “an industry innovator that embodies the trailblazing spirit,” Variety’s Pioneer Award will go to Hittman, whose other features include “Beach Rats” and “It Felt Like Love.” This weekend Hittman took home the Silver Bear grand jury prize at the Berlin International Film Festival for “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” an intimate drama about a teenager (Sidney Flanigan) from rural Pennsylvania who travels to New York City to get an abortion.
Poehler will receive the Vision Award, presented “to an industry icon whose contributions to the entertainment field have changed the industry for the better.” The Golden Globe and Emmy winner co-created Natasha Lyonne-starrer “Russian Doll” and animated comedy “Duncanville.” She’s the co-founder of Smart Girls, an organization dedicated to helping young women professionally excel through their own intellect and creativity. Poehler made her feature directorial debut with last year’s “Wine Country” and helmed the upcoming “Moxie,” a coming-of-age pic about a teen who decides to start a feminist revolution at her high school.
The creator behind PBS’ “Cosmos: A Personal Voyage” is also being honored at the fest. Ann Druyan will be presented with the National Geographic Further Award, which “recognizes a boundary-pushing leader whose work is uniquely innovative, timely, and impactful.”
Sun Valley’s slate this year includes “Military Wives” and “Boys State.” The former, written by Rosanne Flynn and Rachel Tunnard, is a comedy about group of women who form a military base choir while their partners are deployed in Afghanistan. The latter, co-directed by Amanda McBaine, is a documentary that follows a thousand 17-year-old boys from Texas who band together to build a representative government from the ground up.
