Sidney Poitier Set For Posthumous Icon Tribute At 2022 Gotham Awards

deadline.com:

The Gotham Film & Media Institute has set the late actor, filmmaker and activist Sidney Poitier for the Icon Trbute at the 32nd annual Gotham Awards, taking place live and in person at NYC’s Cipriani Wall Street on November 28.

The Icon Tribute was conceived by the Gotham Awards Advisory Committee in 2021 to call attention to the boldness, artistry and impact of a filmmaker from a historically excluded community whose work has not been previously recognized by the organization.

Playwright and filmmaker Kathleen Collins last year became its inaugural recipient. The Gotham’s posthumous recognition of Poitier comes following the Toronto Film Festival premiere and September release of Sidney, a Critics Choice Documentary Award-winning Apple documentary directed by Oscar nom Reginald Hudlin, which honors the Hollywood legend and his legacy, as a star at the center of both Hollywood and the Civil Rights Movement.

Emmy-nominated actor and Gotham Board member Jonathan Majors will present the Tribute to members of the Poitier family, along with Hudlin and Sidney producer Derik Murray. “Sidney Poitier’s extraordinary achievements as an actor and filmmaker across landmark independent films and studio features, as well as his inspiration and influence on filmmaking – particularly the way he changed the landscape of our entire industry – have been so greatly impactful to us and the collective of filmmakers that we represent here at The Gotham,” said The Gotham Film & Media Institute’s Executive Director, Jeffrey Sharp. “While his loss will continue to be felt deeply, we were incredibly moved by the new documentary film Sidney which provides a fresh and powerful testimony to Sidney’s remarkable life and legacy, and is a timely