The annual gala celebration will take place on Friday, October 28, 2016 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. As previously announced, Ang Lee will be honored with the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing, Samuel L. Jackson will be honored with the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment, Ricky Gervais will be honored with the Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy, Ewan McGregor will be honored with the Britannia Humanitarian Award, and Felicity Jones will be honored with the British Artist of the Year presented by Burberry.  World-renowned television and event production company Done + Dusted will produce the ceremony.

The Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film is presented to a unique individual, upon whose work is stamped the indelible mark of authorship and commitment, and who has lifted the craft to new heights.  Prior recipients of the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film include Meryl Streep, Robert Downey Jr., George Clooney, Warren Beatty, Jeff Bridges, Tom Cruise, Daniel Day Lewis, Robert De Niro, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, George Lucas, Sean Penn, Steven Spielberg and Denzel Washington.

“It seems fitting that in this 40th Anniversary year of both Taxi Driver and Bugsy Malone, we are honoring Jodie’s remarkable trail-blazing career at the Britannia Awards,” said Kieran Breen, Chairman of BAFTA Los Angeles. “It takes a rare and special talent to launch an international career with two amazingly different performances, and Jodie’s choices as an actor and director have continued to earn a deserved reputation as one of the most versatile professionals of our time.”

The British Academy Britannia Awards is BAFTA’s big night out in Hollywood, where Brits and anglophiles alike come together in celebration of exceptional individuals who have dedicated their careers to advancing the art forms of the moving image in the US, UK and beyond. Known to be an enjoyable evening that captures a unique blend of sincerity and British irreverence, the evening also serves to celebrate the long-standing collaboration between the British and American industries. The Britannia Awards are BAFTA Los Angeles’ highest accolades, recognizing both outstanding British talent, and exceptional international talent by virtue of their strong connection to the British industry through their body of work. Proceeds from the event support BAFTA Los Angeles’ on-going education, scholarship, community outreach and archival projects.

Jodie Foster’s stunning performances as a rape survivor in The Accused and as Special Agent Clarice Starling in the hit thriller The Silence of the Lambs earned her two Academy Awards® for Best Actress and a reputation as one of the most critically acclaimed actresses of her generation.

Foster began her career at age three, appearing as “The Coppertone Girl” in the television commercial. She then went on to become a regular on a number of television series, including “Mayberry RFD,” “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father,” “My Three Sons” and “Paper Moon.” She made her feature debut in Napoleon and Samantha when she was eight years old.

But it was her role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1975), which brought her to the audience’s attention, and her powerful portrayal of a streetwise teenager in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976) that won her widespread critical praise and international attention. Foster appeared in a total of four films in 1976, Bugsy Malone, Echoes of Summer, Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane and Taxi Driver, which were all presented at the Cannes Film Festival. Alan Parker’s Bugsy Malone, earned her an Italian Comedy Award.

In total, Foster has appeared in more than 40 films, including recent films Elysium opposite Matt Damon for director Neil Blomkamp; Carnage for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination; Nim’s Island with Gerard Butler; The Brave One for director Neil Jordan for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination; Inside Man with Denzel Washington and Clive Owen; the box-office hit Flightplan; Jean Pierre Jeunet’s French language film, A Very Long Engagement; David Fincher’s box-office success, Panic Room; Anna and the King for director Andy Tenant, Contact for director Robert Zemeckis; Nell opposite Liam Neeson; the comedy Maverick opposite Mel Gibson and James Garner and the romantic drama Sommersby opposite Richard Gere.

Other select motion picture credits include Woody Allen’s stylized black and white comedy Shadows and Fog; Siesta; Stealing Home; Five Corners; as well as earlier films Tom Sawyer; Freaky Friday; Adrian Lyne’s Foxes; Tony Richardson’s The Hotel New Hampshire and Claude Chabrol’s The Blood of Others, for which the multi-lingual Foster looped all of her own dialogue in French.

For her role in The Silence of the Lambs, Foster was also awarded a Golden Globe® Award, a British Academy Award, a New York Film Critics Award and a Chicago Film Critics Award. Foster received her first Oscar® nomination and awards from the National Society of Film Critics and the Los Angeles Film Critics for her role in Taxi Driver. She also became the only American actress to win two separate awards in the same year from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts – Best Supporting Actress and Best Newcomer honoring her performances in both Taxi Driver and Bugsy Malone.

In 2013 she was presented with the Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for Lifetime Achievement.

In addition to her acting, Foster has always had a keen interest in the art of filmmaking.

Foster made her motion picture directorial debut in 1991 with the highly acclaimed Little Man Tate, in which she also starred. In 1995, Foster directed her second film, Home for the Holidays, which she also produced. The film starred Holly Hunter, Anne Bancroft and Robert Downey Jr. In 2011 she directed The Beaver, which starred Mel Gibson, Jennifer Lawrence and Anton Yelchin and Foster.

More recently, Foster made her television directorial debut. She directed episodes of two highly acclaimed Netflix series – Orange is the New Black and House of Cards. Foster received an Emmy Award Nomination and a Director’s Guild Award Nomination for “Best Directing in a Comedy Series” for Orange is the New Black and a Director’s Guild Award Nomination for “Best Directing in a Drama Series” for House of Cards.

In 2015 Foster directed the thriller Money Monster which stars George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Jack O’Connell. The film was released by Tristar in May 2016.

Foster founded Egg Pictures in 1992 and the company produced Nell (1994), for which Foster earned an Academy Award® nomination for Best Actress; Home for the Holidays (1995); the Showtime telefilm The Baby Dance (1998) which received a Peabody Award, four Emmy® Award nominations and three Golden Globe® Award nominations; as well as USA Films’ Waking the Dead, directed by Keith Gordon starring Billy Crudup and Jennifer Connelly. In 1996, Egg presented the award-winning French film Hate (L’Haine) in the United States. Foster and Egg Pictures also produced The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2001).

Foster graduated with honors from Yale University in 1985, earning a B.A. in literature.

The 2015 ceremony took place in October at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Harrison Ford received the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment, Orlando Bloom received the Britannia Humanitarian Award presented by the Beazley Group, Meryl Streep received the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film, Sam Mendes received the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing presented by the GREAT Britain campaign, James Corden received the Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year presented by Burberry and Amy Schumer received the Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy presented by Kodak.

The British Academy Britannia Awards is produced through a partnership between BAFTA Los Angeles and Done & Dusted. Event Production and Management is by MTA Events.

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