Nassau, Bahamas – The Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) announced today that actress Heather Graham ( Boogie Nights, Drugstore Cowboy, Austin Powers) will be honored with the prestigious Career Achievement Award at this year’s Film Festival, taking place December 1-4 in Nassau.
The Career Achievement Tribute ceremony featuring Graham will take place at the Atlantis Theater on the evening of Friday, December 2nd. Jeffrey Lyons, host of the TV show “Lyons Den”, will be moderating the evening’s conversation. Details of the event and its participants were revealed today by BIFF Founder and Executive Director Leslie Vanderpool.
Heather Graham discovered her passion for acting at an early age and caught the attention of filmmakers with her breakout role in Gus Van Sant’s Drugstore Cowboy, for which she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Graham went on to score unforgettable roles in the 1997 classic Boogie Nights, for which she received the MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and 1999’s Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Also in 1999, Graham was named ShoWest Female Star of Tomorrow.
Up next, Graham will star in Cherry opposite James Franco and Heartland opposite Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron.
Most recently, she starred in Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer, 5 Days of War, Scream4 (2011) and opposite Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifinakis in The Hangover (2010). She also starred with a stellar ensemble in Emilio Estevez’s Bobby, about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, which premiered at the 2006 AFI Film Festival.
Throughout her career, Graham has worked with some of the industry’s most respected actors and directors. Her performances include that of a doe-eyed girl in Swingers, with Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn; an ambitious young actress in Frank Oz’s Bowfinger with Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy; and the tragic Mary Kelly in Albert and Allen Hughes’ From Hell opposite Johnny Depp, as well as roles in The Guru with Marisa Tomei; Hope Springs opposite Colin Firth; Committed with Luke Wilson; Ed Burns’ ensemble Sidewalks of New York; James Toback’s Two Girls and a Guy with Robert Downey Jr.; Lost in Space with Gary Oldman and William Hurt; and Six Degrees of Separation starring Will Smith. Her upcoming film projects include Baby on Board opposite Jerry O’Connell and John Corbett, and Boogie Woogie alongside Stellan Skarsgard and Gillian Anderson (for director Duncan Ward).
Graham executive produced and starred in the feature film Cake, a romantic comedy also starring Sandra Oh and Cheryl Hines. In 2004-2005, she received rave reviews for her guest starring stint on NBC’s critically acclaimed series “Scrubs.” On stage, Graham made her theatrical debut off-Broadway in Playwrights Horizons’ “Recent Tragic Events.”
BIFF’s Career Achievement Tribute honors an actor or actress whose work has had a major impact and advanced the frontiers of cinematic artistry around the world. Past recipients include Academy Award® winner Alan Arkin, multiple Academy Award® nominee Johnny Depp, Academy Award® winner Nicolas Cage, Academy Award® nominee Laurence Fishburne, critically acclaimed actress Daryl Hannah and the esteemed Roger Corman.
The complete BIFF program lineup can be found online at www.bintlfilmfest.com . Bookending the Festival this year are GK Films’ “The Rum Diary,” which opens the Festival Thursday, December 1st and the sports dramedy “Breakaway,” which will close out the Festival on Sunday, December 4th.
BIFF 2011 begins Thursday, December 1st in Nassau and runs through Sunday, December 4th. For additional information please visit www.bintlfilmfest.com.
By ROGERS & COWAN for BIFF
