Scorsese to Receive MPAA Humanitarian Award

You may not be aware of how much Martin Scorsese has done for the preservation and promotion of classic film, but he was one of the first to push for the National Film Registry, which is the Library of Congress initiative to select films we simply can't afford to lose. In addition to that fight, which has now saved upwards of 500 movies from future degradation, Scorsese is a walking film archive. So it's no surprise that he has been chosen to select the MPAA's Jack Valenti Humantitarian Award in Washington, D.C. on April 21st. MPAA chairman Dan Glickman said in a statement that Scorsese "has exemplified an extraordinary sense of community both on and off screen." The MPAA is in Washington to address lawmakers about the motion picture industry's economic importance, and Scorsese's honor will be awarded during the group's Business of Show Business event. Scorsese, in a very real way, is the best link we have from the filmmakers of the original Golden Age. Listen to his commentaries on the westerns of John Ford, hear him discuss Chaplin, Welles, Kubrick, D.W. Griffith, and more. He's the consummate student of film, and he happens to be one of its greatest instructors, too. So the more awards you want to throw at the guy, the better.