Press release: Turner Classic Movies (TCM) today announced that filmmaker Martin Scorsese will be given the inaugural Robert Osborne Award in recognition of his work as a film preservationist and impassioned classic movie fan. The Robert Osborne Award will be given out annually at the TCM Classic Film Festival to a recipient whose work has helped keep the cultural heritage of classic films alive and thriving for generations to come. The award will be presented on April 26 during opening night of the 2018 TCM Classic Film Festival.
“I am truly honored to be the first recipient of the Robert Osborne Award. I started The Film Foundation 28 years ago in order to preserve and share cinema’s history with audiences of the present and the future. Bob and TCM have always been trusted allies in this mission. I always loved watching Bob’s introductions and interviews on TCM because you could immediately feel that this was someone who knew movie history, who wanted to share that knowledge and pass it on, and – most importantly – who truly loved movies. Bob was a true believer in the cinema, so to receive this award in his name means a great deal to me.” – Martin Scorsese, Recipient of the Robert Osborne Award
Martin Scorsese has been a celebrated director and film preservationist for more than 50 years, making some of the most influential films in cinema history. Five-time nominee for Best Director at the Academy Awards, he won in 2007 for The Departed (2006). In 1990 Scorsese established The Film Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting and preserving motion picture history by working in partnership with archives and studios, the foundation has restored over 800 films, while the World Cinema Project has restored 31 films from 21 countries. The foundation’s free educational curriculum, The Story of Movies, teaches young people about the language and history of film.
For more than 22 years, Robert Osborne served as the primetime host and anchor of TCM, helping millions of viewers discover and enter the world of classic movies, and dedicating his life to preserving and sharing the movies he loved. Embraced by fans around the globe as both a fellow movie lover and an unparalleled film historian, his legacy of devotion to classic films and their ability to inspire will live on through the Robert Osborne award.
Robert was the cornerstone of TCM and his contributions were fundamental in shaping the network into what it is today. Through the creation of the Robert Osborne Award we acknowledge how much he meant to TCM and the impact he had on preserving the love of classic film. – Jennifer Dorian, General Manager of TCM
