“Over the course of his long career, Rick Baker turned Michael Jackson into a zombie in Thriller and Jim Carrey into the Grinch.”
The Locarno Film Festival will award the Vision Prize, presented by Ticinomoda, to Rick Baker, the seven-time Academy Award winner behind some of cinema’s most incredible creatures.
Becker will receive the award in Piazza Grande square in the Swiss city on Wednesday evening, August 12. The festival’s program will also present two major films from his career: An American werewolf in London (1981) and Professor Al-Jawzi (1996).
“From his early make-up work on 1970s genre films to his cutting-edge creature and character designs for large-scale studio productions, Rick Baker forged new visual rules for cinematic transformation, earning him a record number of Academy Awards for Best Makeup and cementing his place as a reference point for generations of artists,” Locarno organizers said. “Over the course of his long career, Rick Baker turned Michael Jackson into a zombie stir And he turned Jim Carrey into the Grinch.
It concluded: “He has been responsible for crafting unforgettable werewolves for some of the most realistic gorillas ever created for films, each time redefining the audience’s sense of what is real and what is imagined on the big screen.”
The Vision Award honors an individual whose creative work has contributed to the renewal of cinematic imagination.
“Rick Baker was responsible for the Copernican revolution in cinema: a visionary and a revolutionary, he opened new paths for the imagination of entire generations, and showed what it truly means to witness physical transformation on the big screen,” said Locarno Artistic Director Giona Nazzaro. “His filmography includes collaborations with George Lucas, David Cronenberg, Brian De Palma, Joe Dante, Tim Burton, Peter Jackson, John Carpenter and Mike Nichols, among others. Presenting the Vision Award at Locarno to a pioneer and innovator like him, an absolute genius and an unparalleled craftsman, is an honor through which the festival celebrates the limitless possibilities of cinema and its bag of tricks.”
The 79th Locarno Film Festival will be held from August 5 to 15. Darren Aronofsky will receive an honorary Leopard Award from Locarno this year, Isabella Rossellini will receive the Award of Excellence, Asia Argento will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Twin Peaks, Wild at heart, Beverly Hills, 90210 Producer Sigurjón “Joni” Sighvatsson will receive the Raimondo Rezzonico Award.
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