The Academy Award® and BAFTA-winning director Steve McQueen’s Blitz was named the recipient of the 2024 SF Honors Award by FFILM today. The film stars newcomer Elliott Heffernan, Academy Award®-nominated actor Saoirse Ronan, and Harris Dickinson in an emotionally rich, intricately layered narrative about intersecting lives in London during World War II. The SF Honors event will culminate in a special public screening of the film on Tuesday, December 3 at 7:30 pm at the Premier Theater at One Letterman. Writer, Producer, and Director Steve McQueen is expected to attend in person for the pre-screening award presentation and an in-depth post-screening conversation about the film.
SF Honors has been recognizing the year’s more compelling films since 2016.
“Blitz represents the pinnacle of bold, fearless filmmaking that SF Honors celebrates,” said SFFILM Board President Todd Traina. “McQueen’s distinctive vision exemplifies why we created this award—to bring extraordinary cinema to San Francisco audiences.”
“We are elated to present the second SF Honors Award of the season to the cinematic luminary, Steve McQueen for his most recent film Blitz,” said Jessie Fairbanks, SFFILM’s Director of Programming.
“Steve’s artistry is distinguished by his ability to confront difficult subject matter with profound sensitivity and uncompromising visual style. This is stunningly evident in his powerful WWII epic and we can’t wait to welcome him back to SFFILM.”
Apple Original Films’ Blitz follows the epic journey of George (Elliott Heffernan), a nine-year-old boy whose mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) sends him to safety in the English countryside. George, defiant and determined to return home to Rita and his grandfather, Gerald (Paul Weller), in East London, embarks on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril, while a distraught Rita searches for her missing son.
Written and directed by Academy and BAFTA Award winner Sir Steve McQueen, Blitz stars newcomer Elliott Heffernan, Academy and BAFTA Award nominee Saoirse Ronan, with Harris Dickinson, Benjamin Clementine, Kathy Burke, Paul Weller, Stephen Graham, Leigh Gill, Mica Ricketts, CJ Beckford, Alex Jennings, Joshua McGuire, Hayley Squires, Erin Kellyman, and Sally Messham.
McQueen’s Lammas Park produces alongside Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title Films, Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan and Michael Schaefer for New Regency, with producers Anita Overland and Adam Somner.
McQueen reunites with production designer Adam Stockhausen, costume designer Jacqueline Durran, composer Hans Zimmer, Nicholas Britell for on-screen music, cinematographer Yorick Le Saux, and makeup designer Naomi Donne.
Blitz is playing in select theaters and will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on November 22, 2024.
For more information visit sffilm.org.
