May 26, 2008
LOS ANGELES, CA — Sydney Pollack was a champion of artists rights throughout his successful career as a director. He was the recipient of the DGA Honors John Huston Award for Artists Rights in 2000 for his dedication to protecting and preserving the creative rights of film directors. He testified before Congress in the Guild's fight against the unauthorized colorization of directors' work, served on the DGA's Social Responsibility Task Force, was a founding member of The Film Foundation and joined the Guild's PAC Leadership Council meeting frequently with elected leaders in government to discuss protection of the creative and economic rights of Guild members. Pollack also fought an important artists' rights battle in Denmark regarding the airing of a "pan and scan" version of his film Three Days of the Condor where he testified to the Danish court that the cropping of his film was a mutilation and that the director had a 'moral right' to have his artistic reputation protected. Although the case was lost on a technicality, Pollack felt it was an important victory in the battle for artists' rights.
When Pollack received the DGA Honor, fellow Guild member Barbra Streisand said "The John Huston Award has become one of the film community's most prestigious awards. I can think of no one more deserving to carry on the legacy and tradition of the John Huston Award than Sydney." Upon receiving the DGA Honor, Sydney himself stated: "On behalf of all the recipients of this award, and on behalf of all those who will get this, I accept this award. We have a long way to go in protecting artists' rights. We've taken a few baby steps, so here's to the good fight."
Directors Guild of America President Michael Apted made the following statement regarding Sydney Pollack's creative legacy:
"Called the quintessential 'actor's director,' Sydney let the dialogue and the emotion of a scene speak for itself. Not given to cinematic tricks, his gentle and thoughtful touch and his focus on the story let us inhabit the world he created in each film. From the romance of The Way We Were to the sweeping vistas of Out of Africa, from the out-of-work actor in Tootsie to the architectural prowess of Frank Gehry -- Sydney told a story like no other. For his storytelling excellence, Sydney received three nominations for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film -- in 1969 for They Shoot Horses, Don't They?; in 1982 for Tootsie; and in 1985 for Out of Africa."