Oscars: Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks and Carol Littleton nominated for honorary awards, Michelle Satter for Hersholt

Actress Angela Bassett, writer-director-actor-songwriter Mel Brooks and editor Carol Littleton have been chosen to receive honorary Oscars, while former Sundance Institute head Michelle Satter will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 2023 Governors Awards , the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday.

The 14th annual honors will be presented in a ceremony at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on November 18.

“The Academy’s board is thrilled to honor four pioneers who transformed the film industry and inspired generations of filmmakers and film enthusiasts,” Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement. “Throughout her decade-long career, Angela Bassett has continued to deliver transcendent performances that set new standards in acting. Mel Brooks lights up our hearts with his humor and his legacy has had a lasting impact on every aspect of entertainment. Carol Littleton’s career in film editing serves as a role model for those who will come after her. A pillar of the independent film community, Michelle Satter has played an integral role in the careers of countless filmmakers around the world.

The Honorary Academy Awards are presented annually to recognize “outstanding career distinction, outstanding contributions to the state of the motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.” They tend to go from people who practice a variety of film-related disciplines, some household names and some not, and some of which have previously been recognized with competitive Oscars and some not.

Bassett has been nominated twice but missed out on competitive Oscars, most recently earlier this year when she was ready Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Her previous nomination came 30 years before her, for her star role as Tina Turner What does love have to do with this. Other major credits include Boyz N the Hood, Malcolm X, Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back AND Black Panther.

Brooks won a competitive Oscar – 54 years ago, for the screenplay of The Producers. She has also received Academy Award nominations for a song by Burning Saddles and the script of Young Frankensteinwhich, how The Producershe also directed and had a cameo role. Other notable credits include Silent Film, High Anxiety, History of the World – Part I AND Space balls. And he’s still working at 96.

Littleton, for her part, has followed in the footsteps of other great film editors by editing some of the best films of the last 40-plus years. Most notable among them: ET The extraterrestrialfor which he received his only Academy Award nomination, plus Body heat, the big cold AND Places in the Heart. She also served for many years on the Academy’s board of directors as a representative of the film editors branch, some of her alongside her husband, cinematographer and former board chairman John Bailey.

Satter, meanwhile, becomes just the 43rd recipient of the Hersholt Award, which is occasionally given “to an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.” Previous recipients include Gregory Peck, Frank Sinatra, Oprah Winfrey, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Angelina Jolie and, last year, Michael J. Fox.

As Senior Director and Founder of Sundance Institute Artists Programs, which focuses on supporting independent storytellers (she has held that role for more than 40 years), Satter has discovered and/or promoted the careers of hundreds of filmmakers who are gone on to do a great job, many from underrepresented communities.

He has also led the Sundance Institute’s international initiatives in Asia, Europe, India, Latin America and the Middle East. She founded and oversees the vision and content of Sundance Collab, a global digital storytelling community and learning platform.