Atom Egoyan Awarded $1 Million Dan David Prize

By Andrew Gnerre
URL: http://www.moviemaker.com/blog/item/atom_egoyan_awarded_1_million_dan_david_prize_20080303/
On February 11, 2008 the winners of the annual Dan David Prize were announced. In addition to Al Gore and Tom Stoppard, this year’s group of prize laureates who have had “an outstanding scientific, technological, cultural or social impact on our world” included moviemaker Atom Egoyan. Writer-director Egoyan shares the $1 million “Past” award with Stoppard and author Amos Oz.

The Dan David Prize has been awarded annually since 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Dan David. Each year specific fields are chosen within the temporal categories of Past, Present and Future.

Born in Egypt to Egyptian-Armenian parents, Egoyan has been making movies for more than 25 years. His most widely recognized film, The Sweet Hereafter starring Ian Holm and Sarah Polley, garnered him two Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Orignal Screenplay.