San Francisco Chronicle, 20 March 2012

The San Francisco International Film Festival will give its Founder's Directing Award this year to Kenneth Branagh, and honor him with a tribute at the Castro Theatre.

The award will be made at the Film Society Awards Night, April 26. The tribute, which includes an onstage interview with Branagh, a clip reel and a screening of his "Dead Again" feature, takes place April 27. This year's festival, the 55th, runs April 19 to May 3.

Melanie Blum, the festival's interim executive director, said in a statement that Branagh is in "the midst of a much-lauded career that has included a number of the most innovative stagings of Shakespeare's work ever to be put on the screen."

Branagh's most notable Shakespeare film adaptation is "Henry V" (1989), for which he received Oscar nominations as both best actor and best director. More recently, he won another Oscar nomination (best supporting actor) for his portrayal of Laurence Olivier in "My Week With Marilyn."

The directing award (known as the Akira Kurosawa Award before 2003) is given in honor of festival founder Irving M. Levin.

The full film festival schedule will be announced March 28.