lee_daniels.jpgHOLLYWOOD, Calif. (PRNewswire) – Lee Daniels will be honored with the Hollywood Director Award at the Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony on Monday, Oct. 21, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

“It’s a great honor for us to recognize Lee’s outstanding work with this top directing honor of the year,” said Carlos de Abreu, founder and executive producer of the 17th Annual Hollywood Film Awards. “His tremendous vision and versatility provides us with films that are both critical and box office successes.”

The Hollywood Film Awards honors stars, filmmakers, and up-and-coming talent, and traditionally kicks off the film awards season with the biggest stars and top industry executives in attendance.

Past Hollywood Director Award honorees have included Kathryn Bigelow, Clint Eastwood, Marc Foster, Tom Hooper, Ron Howard, Michael Mann, Sam Mendes, Bennett Miller, Martin Scorsese, and Olive Stone.

The 2013 Hollywood Film Awards has also announced that it will honor actress Lupita Nyong’o with the New Hollywood Award for 12 Years A Slave and actor David Oyelowo for The Butler.

Daniels is perhaps best known for his Academy Award winning film Precious, adapted from the New York Times- bestselling novel Push by Sapphire (a.k.a. Ramona Lofton). Precious was nominated for six Academy Awards, including nominations for Daniels in the category of Achievement in Directing and Best Motion Picture of the Year, and wins in the categories of Best

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay.

Daniels was the first African American to be nominated for a Director’s Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film on behalf of Precious. The film won both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, only the third film in Festival history to do so.

It was also nominated for three Golden Globe awards, including Best Picture Drama, and was nominated for eight NAACP Image Awards, six of which it won, in categories including Outstanding Motion Picture and Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture, Theatrical or Television. The film also garnered a total of five 2010 Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Feature and Best Director.

Daniels’ production company, Lee Daniels Entertainment, made its feature film debut with Monster’s Ball, making Daniels the sole African-American producer of an Oscar®- winning and Oscar®-nominated film.

Daniels also produced The Woodsman, which was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards. The film received the CICAE Arthouse Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the Jury Prize at the Deauville International Film Festival, and Special Mention for Excellence in Filmmaking from the National Board of Review.