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The Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival is honored to present the ACHIEVEMENT IN ACTING Award to Samuel L. Jackson. Mr. Jackson is truly the best of both worlds; that rare cross-over actor who can command multi-million dollar salaries and pack seats in blockbusters year after year while still making time to deliver consistently unforgettable performances in groundbreaking, critically-acclaimed, independent films.

To movies both large and small, Mr. Jackson brings a gravity, a presence, and a spark that can be matched by few actors on the planet. He always delivers the goods, and his performances truly are a delight and a treasure for all types of audiences around the world and across all film genres.

Mr. Jackson’s 80-plus films have combined worldwide grosses of almost 4 billion dollars, more than any other actor in film history. Whether playing a heroic galactic paladin (STAR WARS EPISODES I, II, III), reluctant action flick tag-along (DIE HARD 3, THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT), emotionally shattered father (A TIME TO KILL), physically shattered villain (UNBREAKABLE), wisecracking hero (THE INCREDIBLES), or pure action-adventure (JURASSIC PARK, DEEP BLUE SEA), Mr. Jackson’s strong performances have provided a solid foundation to many a movie. A classically trained actor, Samuel L. Jackson began his career on the stage, demonstrating his hard-earned dramatic chops in innumerable indie gems, from THE RED VIOLIN to CHANGING LANES imbuing the characters he inhabits in these risky, challenging films with passion, fire, and life, garnering award after award for doing so.

Mr. Jackson’s most feted roles are probably his Oscar ® -nominated, Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award-winning performance as PULP FICTION’S indelible, scripture-quoting, casually savage hit man Jules, and his Silver Bear-winning turn as ruthless hustler Ordell in JACKIE BROWN. But he was making waves long before he met Quentin Tarantino. Few Spike Lee fans can forget Mr. Jackson’s joyous role as the conscience of Bed-Stuy in DO THE RIGHT THING, or his raw and heartbreaking turn just a few years later as a doomed, dancing junkie in JUNGLE FEVER -- a performance so astounding that the 1991 Cannes jury created a new award category to award Mr. Jackson a supporting actor prize.

Then, of course, there are his nuanced performances as a devious blackmailer in the fantastic SYDNEY (aka HARD EIGHT) and a philandering father in the magical EVE’S BAYOU. These last two films garnered him respectively, his second and third Independent Spirit Award nominations, and his second win when Eve’s Bayou took the “best first film” prize, which Mr. Jackson shared as producer. At the peak of his career, Mr. Jackson has recently starred in critically-acclaimed and box office hits COACH CARTER, IN MY COUNTRY, THE MAN and in the upcoming FREEDOMLAND, opening this January. There have been many other accolades, and many, many other fantastic roles, but rather than continue to try and compress a career so filled with great films into a few highlights, we at HIFF simply say this: Congratulations to Samuel L. Jackson, our recipient this year of the “Achievement in Acting” Award. We invite all HIFF Ohana to join us at the gala celebration where we present Mr. Jackson with his award.

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