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Louisiana-born singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for Music in Film and New Orleans-based filmmaker Darcy McKinnon will receive the Lumi\u00e8re Award as the New Orleans Film Society<\/a> gives out its highest honors at its Oct. 24 gala. This special night, part of the New Orleans Film Festival, supports the NOFS\u2019s year-round independent filmmaker programs.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year\u2019s festival is packed with incredible parties, panels, and red-carpet premieres, and the gala is at the heart of it,\u201d said Dodd Loomis, interim executive director of the New Orleans Film Society.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Lifetime Achievement Award for Music in Film honors artists whose work has left an indelible mark on both the art of cinema and the world of music. Lucinda Williams epitomizes these qualities with her compositions and contributions to a plethora of films, including her most recent soundtrack productions on \u201cRiff Raff\u201d with Ed Harris and Jennifer Coolidge, and \u201cIt Ends with Us\u201d with Blake Lively, which just scratches the surface of her work on 68 soundtracks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Williams has spent more than four decades at her craft, releasing 14 acclaimed albums and earning three Grammy Awards, including wins for \u201cCar Wheels on a Gravel Road,\u201d and the songs \u201cPassionate Kisses\u201d and \u201cGet Right with God.\u201d She was named Time magazine\u2019s Songwriter of the Year in 2001. Her return to her gritty blues roots has longtime fans cheering.<\/p>\n The Lumi\u00e8re Award takes its name from the brothers who were early innovators of cinema, but the word lumi\u00e8re also means “light” in French. This award is about the light that is not only used to shape images, but to shine a light on the world\u2019s issues which need to be illuminated.<\/p>\n Darcy McKinnon is a veteran filmmaker and producer whose work focuses on the American South and the Caribbean. Her prior film projects include \u201cA King Like Me,\u201d \u201cCommuted,\u201d the winner of the New Orleans Film Festival Audience Award and Best Louisiana Documentary, and her Emmy-nominated \u201cThe Neutral Ground.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Her most recent film, \u201cNatchez\u201d with director Suzannah Herbert, was awarded the Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival and will be shown at this year\u2019s New Orleans Film Festival.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very interested in telling stories about the pressing issues which make the South unique,\u201d said McKinnon. \u201cJust as importantly, I want people in the South to tell their own stories, rather than have others tell them for us. When that happens, there can be a lot of misinterpretation. I am very proud to be receiving the Lumi\u00e8re Award because I have a warm place in my heart for all that NOFS has done in cultivating this filmmaking community. The educational training programs they offer are largely responsible for many filmmakers now making a living in this profession.\u201c<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The gala\u2019s awards ceremony at The Civic Theater in New Orleans will be preceded by the patron party, presented by Liberty Bank and hosted by Welsh singer-songwriter Judith Owen who spends much of her time at her French Quarter residence, when she\u2019s not in Great Britain. This pre-party is expected to exceed all expectations. If you\u2019re imagining schmoozing with cocktails and canap\u00e9s, you\u2019re in for a real surprise.<\/p>\n \u201cFriends of mine on the Board, who are familiar with the Christmas Show that Harry (husband, Harry Shearer) and I do, asked me to put on an exciting piece of entertainment this year,\u201d said Owen. \u201cSo, this will be an awards show with a real appreciation for New Orleans and its cinematic history. Along with honoring some wonderful people, this will be highly entertaining.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n No spoilers here, but could there be bits of classic movies thrown in, and even some singing?<\/p>\n Mum\u2019s the word from Owen, as the element of surprise is always fun, but she says to expect the unexpected.<\/p>\n A full list of panels, workshops, film schedules, parties and events, is now online at neworleansfilmsociety.org<\/a>. Individual tickets plus all-access passes, virtual passes and tickets to the gala are now on sale on the website.<\/p>\n